Reporter arrested in Iran

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Wednesday June 17, 2009 · 5:31 AM PDT

2009/06/17 · 05:31

A Demotix citizen-journalist has been arrested and had his camera seized in Iran.

The contributor, who submitted videos from the streets of Tehran to Demotix, contacted us late last night after being released from custody by police. His camera, car and ID card were seized by police, and he was told to report back to police today, 17 June, to be handed to a judge.

andydemotix

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Tuesday June 02, 2009 · 7:54 AM PDT

2009/06/02 · 07:54

China has blocked huge swathes of the internet in preparation for the twentieth anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre on 4 June.

Authorities seem to be attempting to suffocate potential sources of protest by blocking access to social networking sites such as Twitter. The Twitter platform has proved to be an extremely useful tool for protest movements, driving the organization of spontaneous demonstrations for example in Moldova in April this year.

andydemotix

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Thursday May 28, 2009 · 4:28 AM PDT

2009/05/28 · 04:28

The economic depression is having a deleterious impact on the rights and freedoms of journalists around the world, a report by Amnesty International today reveals.

The report reveals that imprisonment, violence and even death remain a risk for journalists in many parts of the world. Governments and institutions on every continent are using legislation and extra-legal coercion to restrict hostile publications.

andydemotix

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Friday May 15, 2009 · 8:10 AM PDT

2009/05/15 · 08:10

A Guatemalan Twitter user has been arrested and accused of inciting "financial panic". The news was broken on citizen-journalism site Demotix by reporter Surizar.

Jean Anleu, known as "Jeanfer" on the micro-blogging site, suggested in a tweet that people who had funds deposited in Banrural should remove those funds, and doing so "break the bank of the corrupts".

The arrest comes at a time of acute political pressure for President Alvaro Colom and his government, with crowds forming on the streets Friday to demand his resignation. Opponents believe that the regime has become increasingly authoritarian, and allege that the president ordered the death of a prominent lawyer.

The full story with pictures is available at www.demotix.com.

Demotix 3.0 - the strategy weekender

andydemotix

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Tuesday April 07, 2009 · 2:29 AM PDT

2009/04/07 · 02:29

www.demotix.com

This weekend, Demotix CEO Turi Munthe, CTO Alex Macfadyen and Commissioning Editor Andy Heath decamped to Hellens Manor in Herefordshire to discuss the future development of Demotix. With huge sheets of paper and coloured pens, we took Demotix apart and tried to reform it for the future. Now we want to share our early thoughts with you and ask for your thoughts and priorities.

andydemotix

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Tuesday March 10, 2009 · 6:25 AM PDT

2009/03/10 · 06:25

Let's face it, most of us rely on the internet on a daily basis to go about communicating, working and even spending a lot of our leisure time. In Cuba, however, it is only the elite and tourists that are graced with a privilege such as internet access. According to a UN study, a meagre 2.1% of Cubans have internet access. First of all, your average Cuban can't afford the extortionate prices and if they can, it's extremely unlikely that they'll get much done because the connection speed is so excruciatingly slow. According to a Reporters Without Borders investigation, the "international connection" costs a third of your average cuban's monthly wage and in an hour "you can read three emails and three google news stories," if you're lucky. The "national connection" is more affordable, but is painstakingly slow and limited to email access only. So why the delay in releasing a Cuba 2.0? Is it an intentional policy of the government to deprive their citizens of another outlet for dissidence or to make sure their minds aren't soiled by any of the counter-revolutionary material available at the surfers' fingertips? Maybe it's simply due to a lack of funding? Probably a mix of both.

andydemotix

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Wednesday January 28, 2009 · 9:08 AM PST

2009/01/28 · 09:08

Is paying our photographers and reporters against the spirit of citizen-journalism?

Given the success of Wikis, Creative Commons and open-source, it is tempting to see the future of journalism in free-to-edit, unpaid websites. These sites, such as NowPublic, are popular but have been criticized for being opinion-driven and derivative. You can judge for yourself the standard of articles on such sites, but what is undeniable is that only a small minority of stories are based on first-hand new information. Original journalism is in short supply.

In recent years, virtually all major news organizations have incorporated some user-generated content into their publications, programmes and websites. CNN has i-Report, the BBC asks users to Have Your Say, and Reuters has teamed up with Yahoo to feed it citizen-produced content. However, these projects are dependent on photographers giving away their content for free, whether in charity or ignorance. Their business model is based on citizens’ willingness to surrender their copyright.

andydemotix

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Thursday January 22, 2009 · 4:30 AM PST

2009/01/22 · 04:30

A Demotix citizen-journalist has been caught up in police action against photographers in Iceland.

andydemotix

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Friday December 19, 2008 · 3:59 AM PST

2008/12/19 · 03:59

Four months after the Olympic Games, China has begun again to tighten its grip on the internet.

The news that various websites have been blocked in China, including the BBC and versions of YouTube, is bad news for its 253million internet users. It marks an important shift in policy by the ruling Communist Party, and is a strong indication that the regime will not allow concessions made in the run-up to the Olympics to become permanent.

The government has refused to officially give any reason for the block or even to confirm it, but has hinted that the websites have been banned for commenting on the status of Taiwan. Many websites discussing Hong Kong and Taiwan, and the versions of YouTube located in those regions have also been prohibited. In a press conference this week, a spokesman told reporters, "If a website refers to 'two Chinas' or refers to mainland China and Taiwan as two independent regions, we believe that violates China's anti-secession law, as well as other laws."

andydemotix

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Wednesday December 17, 2008 · 6:42 AM PST

2008/12/17 · 06:42

At the Toledo Prison in Havana, journalist Omar Rodríguez Saludes is about to begin his seventh year behind bars. A talented photojournalist, his work documenting and often criticizing the Communist regime brought him international recognition but also political suspicion at home.

In 2002 he launched Cuba's first non-government publication since the Cuban Revolution and became editor of the country's major independent news society. But in 2003, Rodríguez Saludes was arrested and tried for "acting against the independence or territorial integrity of the state." He was sentenced to 27 years, the longest handed down to an independent journalist in Cuba yet.

Rodríguez Saludes is one of 125 journalists who are currently imprisoned as a result of their work, according to a report released this week by the Committee for the Protection of Journalists.

RSS

Reporter arrested in Iran

China's internet crackdown ahead of Tiananmen anniversary

Journalist freedoms in the world today: the Amnesty report

Guatemalan Twitter User Arrested for "Inciting Financial Panic"

Demotix 3.0 - the strategy weekender

Cuba 2.0

Should citizen-journalists be paid?

Photographers pepper-sprayed in Iceland

Rebuilding the Great Firewall

Imprisoning journalists continues, especially online