Bloggers Busted Chinese Communist Party Official

Internet has prove itself to be the most powerful tool when it comes to disseminating information. Bloggers in China got together and made the capture of a Communist Party Official possible.  Li Xingong was the deputy director of the Yongcheng city in China. A man with great power in his hands confessed raping multiple underage girls during the police interrogation. However, his capture would not be possible without the help of Chinese bloggers.

Before his arrest, online activists has been calling the case to the public's attention. Sina Weibo, a popular Chinese blog service, has been a central area for the movement against Li Xingong's arrest. Bloggers are outraged by his actions and through blogging, Li Xingong's shameful actions were exposed. This kind of phenomenon was fairly new to the country since the flow of information is tightly controlled by the government.

The number of blog users have increased exponentially in China. This creates a perfect platform for online activists to voice their opinions and expose corruptions in China. They have been quite successful in spreading and gathering news. With the increase of internet and blog users, Chinese politicians start to fear they will lose control of the flow of information.

In class, we discussed about the different ways that blogging has come into play in our society now. However, as this news points out, blogging has created this completely different meaning for the citizens in China. It is interesting to see the power of Internet and how easily one can start a movement just by typing a few words online. As we post our weekly blog, we should think about how lucky we are to have this kind of privilege to post whatever we want on the internet.


For the complete article, click here.


Reported by Ashley Huang

Mexico Turns to Social Media and Citizen Journalism During Drug War Media Blackout

A recent article from Houston Based Blog attempts to understand the phenomena known as Blog Del Narco.

The war on drugs in Mexico has taken the lives of more thank 50,000 citizens in that country in the last six years. Journalists account for 44 of those deaths. The state of Journalism in Mexico is one of fear and complete censorship. The drug cartels have been systematically shutting down news rooms and freelance journalists by threatening to kill them and their entire families. Reporters, editors and photojournalist's bodies along with their family members, have been found along streets and sometimes hanging over bridges displaying large banners with written messages to the public known as narcomantas. At times grenades have been thrown directly in to the buildings of news rooms.

Newspapers are still being printed and news is made everyday in Mexico, the difference is, only the murder is reported. No names are used, no suspects are reported and sometimes bylines in articles are left blank. Newspaper editors have been known to approach the cartels and ask, "what would you like us to report on?" This is media coverage about the drug war in Mexico today.

The last six years however, social media has played a central role in the reporting of the drug related violence. Enter, Blog Del Narco a blog that has been up and running since 2007. What makes this blog special is the ability to stay anonymous. All that is known about the blog is that it was created by a computer science student in Northern Mexico. It is ran by a handful of editors, and moderators and it is protected by numerous firewalls that protect it's location.

This cloak of invisibility allows users to share information freely with out fear of retaliation. One can open an account and start blogging today under anonymous. Now I can shoot a video at a downtown mall where a shooting may take place and I can upload to YouTube and then post in on Blog Del Narco where I can comment on what I saw and any details of the vehicles, weapons, or identities of the individuals involved. I can warn people, do stay away from downtown  or stay of the highways.

See Video of Shootout 

This has not only proven valuable to citizens in the violent towns but it also has become a free for all information bulletin. It is believed that the site is getting up too 1million hits per months. Visitors include, private citizens, Mexican police, Mexican Federal agents, American DEA, CIA and of course the gang members themselves. cartel members will post a video of a an execution and comment on why they did it and who is next. The graphic nature of the site is what gives it part of it's credibility. The videos are not censored, the violence is raw.  

One incident occurred in 2011 where a couple of teenage boys took out cell phones while sitting on their front porch of their home. They were witnessing a shooting directly across the street. They decided to hide behind a car parked in their driveway and start filming the shootout. The five minute video showed SUVs peeling out and machine-gun fire crackling down the residential streets. Members running in and out of vehicles and eventually bodies dropping to the floor and left dead. The two boys who were cousins decided to upload the video rot YouTube as soon as they got in the house. I mean that was some great video surely it would go viral that night. What occurred next changed the way citizen journalism operated over night. The video was posted on Blog Del Narco and later viewed by the gang members involved in the shootout earlier that morning. A quick scan of the location and point of view of the camera lens, allowed the gang members to identify where the video had been shot from. The next morning, the two boys got a knock on the door.

The YouTube comments were still coming in when an R.I.P. comment read the names of the two amateur videographers.

I do not know what is going to happen in Mexico but I hope the government acts quickly to protect journalists. I also hope social media will play a larger role in the dissimanation of cartel activity in Mexico.

Journalist Expelled From China For the First Time Since 1998

What does this say about the state of journalism in nations like China, where the media is tightly-controlled?

Last week, China's expulsion of American reporter Melissa Chan, who worked for the pan-Arab news network Al-Jazeera, sparked a mass of debate from both journalists and the government alike. Melissa Chan is the first foreign journalist to be expelled from China since 1998.

Al-Jazeera has come out with a statement that this move by the Chinese government is yet another tool of keeping its international image clean amongst the flurry of authoritarian complaints that exist both in and out of the country.

Coming from a country like the United States, where the freedom of speech is explicitly protected in the 1st Amendment, and where these occurrences are few and far between, it is interesting to see the effect that journalism has on countries like China.

Oftentimes we do not realize the luxuries we have that exist in the platforms of expression that are readily available to us. Would news stations like Fox News and MSNBC -- two networks that are clear in their political leaning and censor little to prove that point -- even stand a chance aganist the government in China?

While in China, Melissa Chan reported on issues that spanned from illegal seizures of farmland to the imprisonment of petitioners. Though these news may not shine brightly on the actions of the Chinese government, they are certainly not in violation of any type of journalistic or governmental breach. It is simply the news. She was simply doing her job.

In fact, the United States government investigated on her work and discovered that Chan had violated no Chinese laws by her method of reporting.

Cultural relativity not withstanding, it is powerful how influential journalism can be in the face of a power like China.

Read the full article here: http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/al-jazeera-says-journalist-expelled-from-china-first-foreign-reporter-kicked-out-since-1998/2012/05/08/gIQA7ZeeBU_story.html

Chen Guangcheng, Technology, and the Rise of a Democratic China

Chen Guangcheng, a Chinese activist who has recently sought refuge at the U.S. Embassy, fears for his family as they have been placed under house arrest, most recently Guangcheng's nephew was beat by "thugs".  Chen Guangcheng, a blind human rights activist and lawyer, has fought for years against the excessive force used in the one child law, resulting in unwanted abortions as well a number of human rights and environmental violations.  He is currently kept in a hospital room, away from the public and under supervision by the Chinese government.  American diplomats have been warned to not get involved in the affairs of the Chinese government, which have strained current Chinese-American relations.  Activists in China have taken to Weibo, a hybrid of twitter and Facebook, to call upon fellow activists to gather and protest for Guangcheng's freedom.  The Chinese and U.S. government are still struggling to find an amiable solution for both parties, and in a video from the AP, Vice President Joe Biden expresses concern for Guangcheng and wishes to provide safety to the activist and his family through the form of a study abroad program.

Chen Guangcheng, is one of many Chinese dissidents who have tried to seek refuge in the United States, which continues to perpetuate the idea that American democracy is the purest form of democracy to the Chinese.  While their image of America is far from the realities, it shows a longtime movement toward democracy that many Chinese are hoping for.  With the advent of Weibo, despite the censorship it faces, still provides the Chinese some form of communication.  Some even argue that it may be time for East to turn democratic.  It may be difficult now,  but there are factors that show a systemic crisis on the rise and Guangcheng and his supporters on Weibo show this.  Not only that, but they are receptive to change and new technologies are giving them a new perspective.  As much as government officials try to fight the rise of technology in China, the great Chinese firewall can't censor an idea once it has started to spread.  Digital activists and citizen journalism is on the rise, as news of Guangcheng hits the states. Guangcheng, with the use of Weibo by his supporters are giving the Chinese new means to be innovative, so long as they continue to stay one step ahead of the government.  If a blind self taught lawyer is a threat to the red state, than the future of the Chinese, technology, and democracy is sure to become China's next nightmare.

Did Facebook start a Revolution?

After the revolutions in Egypt and Tunisia many people have argued that Facebook was responsible for these revolutions. It is important to value and critically analyze how the role of social media has been use as a political tool to bring change but without undermining the people who sacrificed their time, lives and families to bring about this change.  A more in depth and research essay, Streetbook: How Egyptian and Tunisian youth hacked the Arab Springby John Polluck in Technolgy Review, traces when Tunisian activists first started organizing online.


Polluck follows two Tunisian leaders from the organization, Takriz, that helped mobilized thousands of people against Tunisia’s president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali. He traces their use of internet since 1998. Waterman (real names are unknown) recalls “that the internet was the only viable option for organizers in 1998”. Since 1998, Pollock explains how more Tunisians entered the virtual world but the numbers were very limited due to Ben Ali’s censorship. By the year 2009, the numbers dramatically changed and more than 800,000 Tunisians had a Facebook.

Polluck emphasizes how Facebook and other social networks function as a medium to spread awareness and mobilize thousands of people into massive anti-government protest. Facebook enabled  people to see and share video and photos of police brutality and raised momentum for movements such as “We are all Khaled Said”. It also helped guide the protests by spreading events on the times and places where they were occurring.The strategies and media tools used by Tunisian activists greatly influenced and inspired Egyptian civilians to mobilize. Polluck describes how “Egyptian activists were following the events in Tunisia, learning from them, and even communicating with some of the leaders -- over Facebook, of course. When one of the Egyptian movement's leaders heard the news from Tunisia, he started texting: Ben Ali gone. Possibility”.

One cannot deny that Facebook and other social networking site were critical in mobilizing people and bringing political change but I find it problematic when the use of Facebook is overemphasized as solely responsible for the Arab Spring.  I feel that this statement perpetuates a Western perspective that technology is the only medium for progress and continues the misrepresentation of Arab people incapable of ruling their own countries, let alone overthrow their government. This statement creates a certain dependency between Arab countries and the Western world and it erases the power of the Arab people and competency to overthrow their government. How can we as conscious students begin to deconstruct the ways certain forms of media can belittle certain  communities?

http://www.technologyreview.com/web/38379/

Citizen Journalism App.

Citizen journalism within the last couple decades have lead to many controversies such as the Rodney King case.  Recently, a Middle Eastern entrepreneur, Mark Malkoun developed an app called Signal that lets users upload content through their smart phones.  Citizen journalism has been an important aspect in providing insight on different aspects of a certain event or phenomenon that is sometimes bias when portrayed through large media outlets.
A prime example of this is when the riots among the racial minority were occurring in France and an individual named Alex Chan.  He created a cartoon film called The French Democracy, in order to depict the ideological side of the rioters who were immediately detained and silenced by the French government without question.  Mark Malkoun's app is extremely helpful for citizens to voice their side of the story where censorship and propaganda plague media outlets with bias news. Axel Brun's analysis on the dichotomy between mainstream and off-mainstream media is important in this case because the app provides an alternative perspective to first tier media content. Especially in the Middle East where tensions of war and political debate is fierce, it serves as a useful tool for citizens to voice their opinion.

http://thenextweb.com/me/2012/04/15/this-citizen-journalism-app-that-lets-you-create-the-news-and-decide-which-story-matters/?utm_source=Reddit&utm_medium=share%2Bbutton&utm_content=This%20citizen%20journalism%20app%20lets%20you%20create%20the%20news%20and%20decide%20which%20story%20matters&utm_campaign=social%2Bmedia

http://archive.org/details/thefrenchdemocracy