“Finding the Wisdom in the Crowd” and creating spaces for knowledge sharing
It’s an infrequent occurrence on the Meedan blog that we feel pushed to hit the “reblog” button, but sometimes important blog posts coincide with even more important breaking news events, and the time comes to reblog and remix. A few short weeks ago, Nieman Reports released their summer issue – essential reading for those of us pondering the increasingly overlapping worlds of social media and news reporting, and developing tools to help make sense of the social web. As a disjointed picture of events emerged yesterday from across Syria and journalists around... Read The Rest →
Meedan partners with Syrian citizen news outlet Al-Ayyam
Meedan is working with the news newtork Al-Ayyam to bolster public voice, free expression and accountability in Syria. In a joint initiative that is designed to be responsive to critical and fast-changing needs on the ground, we seek to strengthen the role of citizen journalists to act together as a watchdog documenting the actions of the Syrian regime and armed groups operating in the country. Our objective is to provide a model for an investigative, citizen-led media in Syria and a building block of future reconciliation efforts. The partnership is... Read The Rest →
Six Steps for Fact Checking Citizen Media
Anyone can be a publisher today – thanks to the web. As a result, there are so many more sources of news and information, which makes fact checking all the more critical in fast moving news stories. When disinformation gets into the news cycle, it can lead to people being put in harm’s way. Here, then, is a set of six tips to help you get it right. 1. Who is the original source? Every piece of news has a source – the person who told you the news. Who... Read The Rest →
Global Censorship: Case Studies from Syria and Egypt
“The ubiquity of the Internet has added an additional layer of complexity to issues of government censorship. It is both an unrivaled tool for speech and an incredible tool for monitoring and surveillance.” The above paragraph is an excerpt of the description of the Global Censorship Conference that was held at Yale Law School March 30 – April 1. I had the pleasure of being on a panel with Lina Attalah, Managing Editor of Al Masry Al Youm (AMAY), discussing case studies of censorship. The panel discussed censorship in different... Read The Rest →
Meedan welcomes Alaa Batayneh at Damascus developer retreat
Damascus is surely one of the hidden gems of the world. I say hidden because there are far fewer tourists here than the historical riches would suggest. The old city in particular is breathtaking – an endlessly fascinating labyrinth of narrow streets replete with shops, restaurants, Turkish baths, mosques and churches. It surely is a match for Venice, Paris or Rome. So I guess I have been very lucky to join Meedan developers Khaled Al-Hourani and Alaa Batayneh on a three-day development retreat in this beautiful city. An established talent... Read The Rest →
Obama in the Arab Press – the view from Syria
Whither America’s Stances? – Al-Thawra, 22/1/2009, by Ghalib Hasan Muhammad So many have fallen in Gaza but Obama said nothing, with the excuse that there is “one current president,” meaning of course that Bush is still the leader of monstrousness and neo-Nazism in the White House. No one should be surprised by Obama’s stance, despite the high hopes that he will stop American bias towards Israel. It seems that the liberal elite that is coming to power will constitute a huge hindrance for the struggle for peace and justice in... Read The Rest →
5-9: Syria on the web: Where to look for a better understanding – by Boushra
9: Burhan Ghalioun, political activist and blogger A very moderate Syrian political activist and blogger. He is an expert on Syrian issues, socially as well as politically. He usually writes in Aljazeera.net. 8: Bouthaina Shaaban, Syrian minister of expatriates and writer A very clever writer who was the interpreter of Hafez Alasad and is the Syrian minister of expatriates. She is concerned about the relations between Arabs and West, and Arab women issues. 7: Imad Fawzi Alshoubi, charismatic spokesman of Syrian government He can be considered as a moderate spokesman... Read The Rest →