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What is it about today’s 20-somethings?

A week ago, the New York Times (that paper I love to hate) ran a rather interesting 10-pager entitled “What Is It About 20-Somethings?“  The author, Robin Marantz Henig draws on a few examples from real life and pop culture–young people trying to make a living from blogging, haha, remaining “untethered to permanent homes”–to set [...]

27.08.2010

2 Comments

This isn’t fear, this is hate.

Not too long ago, at the late end of a conference day in some faraway country, I was having a beer with a journalist whose work (and choice of journalistic employers) I respect.  Palestine being much the topic of the day, our conversation started there and quickly evolved into media bias and American perceptions of [...]

23.08.2010

21 Comments

Government Filtering: Not the Answer

Awhile back, in response to a particularly naive column defending Australia’s proposed Internet filter on the basis that it will protect kids from child pornography, I wrote a piece on the HuffPost explaining why filtering isn’t the solution.  Yet, similar articles keep cropping up.  Most recently, CJ Lambert, writing for New Zealand’s 3 News, argues [...]

22.08.2010

3 Comments

Palin and the First Amendment

Dr. Laura Schlessinger is being posited as the latest in a victim of liberal attacks on free speech, most notably by Sarah Palin, who claimed on Twitter this week that Schlessinger was forced to step aside “bc her 1st Amend.rights ceased 2exist thx 2activists trying 2silence” her and that that was “not American and not [...]

20.08.2010

3 Comments

A Deeper Look into Tunisian Internet Censorship

This report was written jointly by Sami Ben Gharbia and Astrubal; I translated it from its original French into English and am sharing it here.  Originally posted at Global Voices Advocacy. We learned that the censorship imposed illegally on hundreds of Tunisian blogs and websites, both Tunisians and foreigners, was “shut off” temporarily for few [...]

18.08.2010

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Internet Killed Israeli PR; Israel Killed YouTube Video

In Turkey and in Thailand, and perhaps elsewhere, there are a few YouTube videos you can’t see; videos in violation of local laws–in Turkey, insulting Ataturk, and in Thailand, lèse majesté. Though both governments filter their fair share of websites (and now, Turkey blocks YouTube as well), in this case, the filtering is not coming [...]

13.08.2010

21 Comments

The New York Times’ Exoticization of the Middle East

AT first glance, they seem like typical American college students on their junior year abroad, swapping stories of language mishaps and cultural clashes, sharing sightseeing tips and travel deals. But these students are not studying at Oxford, the Sorbonne or an art institute in Florence. Instead, they are attending the American University in Cairo, studying [...]

08.08.2010

21 Comments

Digital Activism, the U.S. Government, and the Arab World

A few weeks ago, the New York Times published an op-ed by respected journalist Rami Khoury, entitled “When Arabs Tweet.” In the piece, Khoury questioned the State Department’s role in promoting digital technologies in the region. Anyone who has ever spoken with me at length about this topic knows how I feel: that the U.S. [...]

07.08.2010

9 Comments