Innovative Communication for Advancing Social Justice
July 24, 2008 1 Comment
Senegal President Abdoulaye Wade is one of the high profile speakers at this year’s Unity Convention, and it hasn’t gone unnoticed.
Read this article about a group of Senegalese protesters angered by the lack of press freedom in their own country.
I will be attending his workshop, and will report on what he says. He is expected to discuss climate change, but I am hoping the moderator will at least force Wade to answer his critics.
July 24, 2008 Leave a comment
Buy-out, lay-off and stressed out are common words so far at the Unity Convention here in Chicago. Many came to the conference to regain confidence that they might keep their newsroom jobs. But the reality is that most of the media outlets showcasing at the convention are simply not hiring. I saw many booth representatives taking resumes without giving direct answers as to whether they actually have jobs to offer.
Job cuts in America’s newsroom have affected all journalists, but particularly journalists of color, as you can read in a previous post.
“When money gets tight in the newsroom, diversity hiring and training are the first to go,” said Barbara Ciara, President of the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ). “We have to continue to argue that diversity shouldn’t be just a line item in the budget.”
While I agree that lacking diversity in the newsroom is a problem, I also noticed another problem at Unity. For all the talk of dying racial and ethnic voices in the mainstream media, there is hardly any representation from another dying voice – ethnic media. I understand that a convention of this magnitude couldn’t happen without the corporate money, but as journalists of color we are obligated to help sustain ethnic media. Buried under all the corporate sponsorships from major media outlets, various black, Latino, Native American and Asian media outlets were sparse. Geez, I was hoping to at least see a booth for the Chicago Defender…
April 25, 2008 Leave a comment
Description: James Buck, a graduate student from the University of California-Berkeley, was in Mahalla, Egypt, covering an anti-government protest when he and his translator Mohammed Maree were arrested April 10. On his way to the police station, Buck took out his cell phone and sent a message to his friends and contacts using the blogging site Twitter.
Tools Used for the Action: Twitter
Outcome: Within seconds, colleagues in the United States and his blogger-friends in Egypt – many of whom had taught him the tool only a week earlier — were alerted of the arrests. Twitter is a social-networking blog site that allows users to send status updates, or “tweets,” from cell phones, instant messaging services and Facebook. Buck sent only one message with his cell phone – “Arrested.” Buck’s friends started to write regular updates on their blogs about his arrest, as they weren’t sure how long he was going to be able to communicate with them. Fortunately, he was able to continue to send updates, and his entries set off a chain of events that led to his college hiring a lawyer on his behalf. Buck was released from prison the next day, and sent another update saying “Free.” However, his translator, Maree, was transferred to another police station, and has not been heard from since. There are conflicting reports from the Egyptian government about whether Maree was freed and his whereabouts. Buck has now started another campaign on his Twitter page as a way to find Maree.
“James’ case is particularly compelling to us because of the simplicity of his message — one word, ‘arrested’ — and the speed with which the whole scene played out,” said Twitter co-founder Biz Stone. “It highlights the simplicity and value of a real-time communication network that follows you wherever you go.”
