Editors Weblog: Search Results

Tiananmen Square anniversary recalls the 'Great Firewall of China'

Posted by Christie Silk on June 5, 2009 at 12:00 PM

"Twenty years later, it is still impossible for the Chinese media to refer freely to the ruthless suppression of China's pro-democracy movement in June 1989" said Reporters Sans Frontières. The report was initiated as concerns mounted towards the reactions of the Propaganda department and the political police to the internal and external media coverage of the Twentieth anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre.

The inexorable rise of the Internet in China has provided freedom activists, working both within and outside of the country with alternative platforms for expression and access to information, presenting serious challenges for the Chinese censor. China has an estimated 300 million Internet users.

China: the blogosphere to pass 100 million

Posted by John Burke on May 10, 2006 at 1:31 PM

Fons Tuinstra at Poynter has found that most analysts gauging the Chinese blogosphere were missing 50 million blogs. That added to the 33.4 million that one research group estimated and the 100,000 blogs per day that one blog supplier claims are created in China, the booming country will have well over 100 million blogs by 2007. Still, some doubt that this massive amount of blog will lead to any organized freedom of expression concerning the countries politics.

Sources: Poynter (here and here), We Media's Morph blog

In spite of the blogosphere, the mainstream press still influences opinion

Posted by John Burke on April 25, 2006 at 3:53 PM

At the Eurasian Media Forum last week, I was asked to talk about how with the rise of citizen media, the traditional press is no longer the opinion former it once was. Although from some perspectives this might be true, I didn’t totally agree.

Do newspaper website paid walls work?

Posted by John Burke on October 25, 2005 at 1:02 PM

The New York Times' paid wall experiment raised a lot of fuss in the online media world back in September and still gets on the nerves of the blogosphere. But is it really all that hard to find those hidden articles? What about other paid subscription sites? Do paid walls work?

Middle East: Bahraini bloggers push for freedom of expression

Posted by John Burke on May 20, 2005 at 11:25 AM

Mark Glaser at Online Journalism Review has written an article describing the plight of bloggers in a Bahrain, a country whose government regularly censors the press. The government's Ministry of Information requires that all Websites and blogs register with the government, a decree to which Bahrain's most prominent blogger, Mahmood Al-Yousif, head of a tech company Computer Point, refuses to comply. He doubts that others will give in to government demands either, esteeming that they will simply post anonymously, possibly under multiple names in order to avoid censorship.

Mr. Al-Yousif's example helps promote the blogosphere as a tool for freedom of speech around the world. There is much speculation as to how repressive regimes will react once their populations start blogging, such as in Iran and in China. As blogs spread, it is highly likely that the joys of free expression of repressed populations will spur the proliferation of liberty and just democracy throughout the world.

Source: Online Journalism Review

Middle East: Bahraini bloggers push for freedom of expression

Posted by John Burke on May 20, 2005 at 11:25 AM

Mark Glaser at Online Journalism Review has written an article describing the plight of bloggers in a Bahrain, a country whose government regularly censors the press. The government's Ministry of Information requires that all Websites and blogs register with the government, a decree to which Bahrain's most prominent blogger, Mahmood Al-Yousif, head of a tech company Computer Point, refuses to comply. He doubts that others will give in to government demands either, esteeming that they will simply post anonymously, possibly under multiple names in order to avoid censorship.

Mr. Al-Yousif's example helps promote the blogosphere as a tool for freedom of speech around the world. There is much speculation as to how repressive regimes will react once their populations start blogging, such as in Iran and in China. As blogs spread, it is highly likely that the joys of free expression of repressed populations will spur the proliferation of liberty and just democracy throughout the world.

Source: Online Journalism Review

China: the blogosphere arrives

Posted by John Burke on May 19, 2005 at 5:10 PM

It's not just mobile newspapers that have hit China's media world (see previous posting). Wired reports that China is also getting a taste of the blogosphere. A 24-year old New York University MBA holder, Edwyn Chan is using Gawker's Nick Denton as a model to launch his own company. Starting with kangri.blogku.com (in Chinese), Chan received 10,000 hits in the first four days of its launch. He plans to add a humor blog, a blog about gaming, and a beauty blog to his start-up. But can the free spirited nature of a blog survive in a country whose government controls the press? Chan has already been visited by Chinese officials, but instead of shutting him down, they merely requested that he remove several postings. How will Chan avoid future knocks on his door? Well, he simply won't include a political blog in his blog mélange.

Source: Wired

China: the blogosphere arrives

Posted by John Burke on May 19, 2005 at 5:10 PM

It's not just mobile newspapers that have hit China's media world (see previous posting). Wired reports that China is also getting a taste of the blogosphere. A 24-year old New York University MBA holder, Edwyn Chan is using Gawker's Nick Denton as a model to launch his own company. Starting with kangri.blogku.com (in Chinese), Chan received 10,000 hits in the first four days of its launch. He plans to add a humor blog, a blog about gaming, and a beauty blog to his start-up. But can the free spirited nature of a blog survive in a country whose government controls the press? Chan has already been visited by Chinese officials, but instead of shutting him down, they merely requested that he remove several postings. How will Chan avoid future knocks on his door? Well, he simply won't include a political blog in his blog mélange.

Source: Wired