Receive posts by Email
Entries (RSS)
Tactics: Tibetans Get the News Out Despite Media Censorship
Written by Mary on March 16, 2008 – 5:31 am -Description: Last week hundreds of Tibetan monks took to the streets in and near the Tibetan capital of Lhasa to protest Chinese rule. Although the heavily censored Chinese media refused to cover the story, both Tibetans and foreign tourists used the Internet to get the news out. According to the Vancouver Sun, “Amateur cellphone photos and video clips showing what were described as confrontations between police and Tibetans protesting Chinese rule poured onto websites big and small, including those for major news media, Tibetan rights groups and tourist blogs.”
Organizer: unclear
Purpose of Action: To protest Chinese rule of Tibet.
Organizing Tools: e-mail, digital photos, mainstream media sites that accept user-generated content (like BBC), web sites of sympathetic NGOs, travel blogs of tourists, cell phone video uploaded to YouTube.com,
Outcome: Bringing global attention to protests that the Chinese government would prefer to silence.
Ease of Replication: Unless the government shuts down the Internet, as occurred during the recent protests in Burma, using individual e-mail accounts, cell phones, and blogs to distribute information and images is an effective way to get around domestic media censorship.
cell phone image of protests published on the site of a Tibetan rights NGO based in India
Tags: blogging, china, citizenjournalism, mobilephones, NGOs, tibet, travelblogs, vancouversun, youtube
Posted in Asia, Blogs, Digital Images, Tactics | 2 Comments »
Digitally Active Org: Mjaft!
Written by Mary on January 28, 2008 – 3:39 pm -Web site: www.mjaft.org
What was it?: The Mjaft! Movement’s primary vision is to achieve a well-governed Albania with active citizens, strong communities and a positive image in the world. Mjaft means “enough” in Albania and is a reflection of the frustration of the founders who returned from university in the US and Western Europe and were shocked at the corruption, poverty, crime and failing public services in their country.
Where is it?: Tirana, Albania
Tools: MMS (multimedia messaging service), cell phones, web site
Tags: albania, corruption, crime, easterneurope, mjaft, mms, mobilephones, poverty, translation
Posted in Europe, Organizations | No Comments »
Tactic: Pakistanis Use SMS and E-mail to Mobilize
Written by Mary on December 21, 2007 – 6:27 pm -Although President Musharraf ended the state of emergency on December 15, this video is still worth a look. It recounts how Pakistani’s used SMS and e-mail to organize protests against the state of emergency, which was declared November 3rd.
Here’s a key quote from Semar Benala, a protester: “Actually, we do this through e-mail, through SMS’s, because even all the television channels have been shut down, but because we want to bring about change we are, like, trying out other mediums of communication.”
click the image to be taken to the Daily Motion site.
Tags: dailymotion, email, mobilephones, musharraf, organizingtechnique, organizingtools, pakistan, protests, SMS, southeastasia, successstory, video
Posted in Asia, Mobile Phones, Tactics | No Comments »