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Why State's New Media Delegation Went to Iraq

BY Nancy Scola | Thursday, April 23 2009

(Photo by Scott Heiferman) Read More

Road Trip! Social Tech Execs Make State Department Visit to Iraq

BY Nancy Scola | Tuesday, April 21 2009

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This Week's Favorite Political Videos

BY Editors | Friday, October 5 2007

It's Friday, which means it's time for our weekly list of our favorite online political videos. Some of these videos have begun to go viral and spread around the web; others are here because we think they're ... Read More

Obama "New Hampshire at War" Video

BY Spencer Overton | Wednesday, October 3 2007

Increasingly, new tools are empowering local "amateur" campaign staffers to produce quality content centered around local people. Read More

Coming Soon... AllawiForIraq.com

BY Alan Rosenblatt | Thursday, August 23 2007

Democracy Now reported this morning that the Republican lobbying firm of Barbour, Griffith, and Rogers is working for former Iraqi interim prime minister Ayad Allawi in his upcoming bid to replace current Iraqi Prime ... Read More

The Rise of Ron Paul

BY Micah L. Sifry | Thursday, May 24 2007

I'm not sure how far we should take this analogy, but Ron Paul is to the Republicans of 2008 as Howard Dean was to the Democrats of 2004: the one candidate speaking out prominently against the war when his colleagues ... Read More

Evaluating MoveOn.org's First Online Town Hall

BY Micah L. Sifry | Thursday, April 12 2007

No one doubts that MoveOn.org is one of the most powerful and versatile e-organizations of the 21st century. But a quick glance at participation rates in the group's first "Virtual Townhall" this week might make you ... Read More

Daily Digest: 3/29/07

BY Joshua Levy | Thursday, March 29 2007

The Web on the Candidates President Bush is now quoting bloggers, Sheryl Gay Stolberg of the Caucus reports.  "I want to share with you how two Iraqi bloggers — they have bloggers in Baghdad, just like we’ve got ... Read More

News Briefs

RSS Feed wednesday >

In India, Voice Messaging Mobilizes More Effectively Than SMS

In the midst of the terrible drought that struck the Indian state Maharashtra in March 2012, a political scandal broke and revealed a top minister was helping divert water from farmers to power plants. Greenpeace India launched an awareness building campaign on May 22 by unfurling a 250 foot banner that read “Water For Farmers / Not Power Plants” over a dam. Although an online petition garnered support from urbanites, Greenpeace India needed to reach people in rural areas, the ones hurt most by the drought. The Digital Mobilisation Lab at Greenpeace (MobLab) blog took a critical look at what worked and what didn't, and interactive voice response comes out a winner.

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New Report Says Canadian Politicians’ "Digital Offices" Need a Makeover

Canada has seen steep drops in political participation of late, as well a general decline in political engagement, according to Samara, a Canadian non-profit dedicated to improving political participation. The organization believes their MPs’ lackluster online presence has something to do with it; they released a report last week, detailing their survey of websites for Canada’s MPs. GO

tuesday >

Tech Journos in Iran Arrested For "Contact With Foreign Media," Among Other Charges

In the past three weeks 24 journalists, bloggers and technologists at online media companies have been arrested by Iran's elite force of revolutionary guards. Yesterday, some of those arrested appeared on state television, handcuffed and with their faces to the wall, obscuring their identity.

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For Transparency Advocates, NYPD Crime Map is Just A Starting Point

The NYPD on Sunday released a map showing the locations of major felony incidents such as murders, rape, grand larceny and robbery within the past two years, but transparency advocates say that the new map is just a starting point in the effort to gain more transparency. GO

International Human Rights Day in Vietnam Marked By Launch of Blogger Network

Today a coalition of Vietnamese bloggers launched the Network of Vietnamese Bloggers (NVB), a new advocacy and watchdog group that will hold the Vietnamese government accountable for their United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) obligations and commitments. The launch was set for December 10 to coincide with International Human Rights Day.

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monday >

Japanese PM Thinks His People Just Don't Understand The State Secrecy Bill

In spite of objections from human rights activists and members of the media around the world, Japan's upper chamber made the controversial State Secrecy Protection Bill law in a “raucous, late-night session” last Friday, December 6, Reuters reports. The House of Representatives passed the bill on November 26. Under the new law, state employees could be jailed for up to 10 years if they leak secrets, and journalists could be jailed for up to five if they use “grossly inappropriate” tactics to uncover state secrets. The passage of the bill has sparked uncharacteristically large protests in a country where protesters have often been considered a part of the political fringe.

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friday >

Twitter Angling For More International Users

Twitter is following Facebook and Google's lead in creating an avenue for feature phone users to access their service, even without an Internet connection. They have partnered with the Singapore-based company U2opia Mobile, Reuters reports.

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thursday >

Pakistanis Show Their Love For YouTube in Vimeo Video

Although YouTube (the website) has been banned in Pakistan for more than a year now, that didn't keep YouTube (the mascot) from walking the streets of Karachi last month, asking for hugs from Pakistanis who want the video sharing site back. The self-described citizens resistance forum Pakistan for All filmed the stunt as part of their #KholoBC campaign, which opposes Internet censorship and content regulation by the government.

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