Archive for the 'Current Affairs & Politics' Category

The postal strikes continue here in the UK and with Xmas looming, it’s decision time for those of us who send Xmas cards. While I conduct most of my business and personal communications digitally these days - by email, instant message, Facebook messaging and Twitter - every Xmas so far, I’ve made the effort to sit down and write Xmas cards, enclosing a printed newsletter with some cheery reports and photos of what we’ve been up to in the past year.

This dead-tree method of keeping in touch with about 100 or more friends is a bit of a chore and often, we’re usually so busy that we only manage to do it all in a mad rush in the last weekend before the cut-off date for posting our cards in time for the festive season. Every year, during that pressurised weekend, I wonder, why don’t I just scribble a link to my blog where all my up to date news is already waiting anyway….? But many of my friends seem to live their lives un-digitised (though how on earth they manage that is beyond me….!) and anyway, if we’re shelling out lots of money on stamps, it makes sense to include something more than a couple of signatures to a pre-printed card.

But with the postal strike about to force us to make the choice of either sending out our Xmas cards ludicrously early this year or risk them arriving in January next year, we’re wondering about switching over completely to sending e-cards with perhaps a pdf newsletter or a link to my blog. And even as we were discussing this option at the weekend, The Times reported today that “people may snub postal service because of dispute“. Royal Mail’s chief executive Adam Crozier is quoted in the piece as saying, “The danger of the strike is that the trend that is there already gets exacerbated by this and that people speed up [the move away from] not just sending Christmas cards but paying bills by direct debit or standing order. People all over the country have changed the way they communicate.”

The thing is, in this time of digital communications, Xmas cards are still the one last remnant of that excitement we used to get when the postie arrived.

Back in the old days, it was an exciting moment, especially if you were in love or waiting for news (like whether your novel had been accepted by an agent) - you’d grab the post and sift through it, hoping to find the handwriting of your beloved or an envelope that might be from a literary agent. Now, the post just brings junk mail and bills and all the excitement has been transferred to the beep of a text message from your honey bun or a silent email slipping into your inbox from the one person who can make or break your writing career.

But at least once a year, at Xmas time, the traces of that old thrill is awakened. Amongst the junk are white or coloured envelopes, handwritten in script that you vaguely recognise. You put all those in a pile and bin the rest, then play a little game of guessing who each one is from. That looks like so-and-so’s writing; this one has a stamp from Oz, so it must from my cousin; wait, I recognise that writing - is it X or is it Y, they have such similar styles… And of course, the colourful cards are great to hang around the house or stand up on any flat surface, adding to the festive air of the season.

So I’m undecided. Shall I send Xmas cards but do so in November? Or shall I go entirely digital and send some sparkly pixels instead?

What’s your advice? What will you be doing about your Xmas cards this year?

Photo: thanks to a.drian from flickr.com (CCL)

Everyone is talking about the power of citizen journalism these days. Social media tools that allow instant publication, such as blogging and Twitter, enable anyone with access to the Internet to report on what is happening around them. In many cases citizen journalists have scooped the news ahead of traditional news media — e.g. the ordinary guy who happened to be at the right place at the right time with his mobile phone to take a photo of the plane that crashed into the Hudson River in New York earlier this year.

There has been a lot of hand wringing by media commentators and the traditional newsgathering organisations. If anyone can be a journalist nowadays — and be happy to report on events for free — then what is the future for professional journalists with years of training who need to earn a living while reporting the news?

Last night, watching the rising tidal wave of news and speculation on the Internet about Michael Jackson’s death was an object lesson in why we still need serious journalists and why we need to find a way to continue properly remunerating them for fact-checked investigative reporting of the news.

I checked out my Twitter stream late last night after dinner and noticed a lot of Twitterers mourning the passing of Michael Jackson, posting “RIP Michael Jackson” and honouring his memory with reminiscences of his wonderful music and talent. Naturally, I checked out the news websites immediately — the BBC, CNN in particular, as well as newspaper sites such as The Guardian. None of the news websites were actually making the statement that Michael Jackson was dead — instead, they were reporting that he had been rushed to hospital and was not breathing. A couple of them said that he was in a coma.

I set up a live blogging event using Scribble Live to record my “in the moment” responses to the unfolding news and speculation: Michael Jackson – Dead or Alive? (The complete live blog post also updated in real time here on my blog). At the same time, I had the BBC live video stream open on another tab in my browser and was listening to their continuing commentary and updates. I tweeted my own comments on what was happening — that the news sources were not saying that he was dead although the Twitterverse were already mourning him.

The BBC news report was very careful to use phrases such as “it is reported that Michael Jackson is dead ” or “reports say”. They kept emphasising that they did not themselves yet have “independent confirmation”. What was particularly interesting to me was that it was another traditional news website that was reporting the death, the LA times, as well as an online entertainment site, TMZ. The BBC WAS at pains to say that these news sources were very well respected and were reputable sites. However, they were unwilling to make the definitive statement that Michael Jackson was dead until they had obtained their own independent confirmation.

While I was live blogging all this, a number of other people on the Internet had obviously found my site as Scribble Live was telling me that up to 38 people were “watching” my life blogging. Some of them added their own comments to say that Jackson was in a coma and others were wanting to know whether he was dead or not, and whether it was 100% confirmed that he was dead.

This was a fascinating experience. If I had been at work or in a party space and we had heard this kind of news, we’d have turned on the TV or radio and while the reports would be coming in, we’d all be wondering and chatting and talking about Michael Jackson and what was the latest moment by moment news. As I live blogged my views and what I was hearing from the BBC, it felt exactly as if I was in that sort of environment, albeit with people I didn’t personally know. It is such a human instinct to gather at times of crisis to find out what’s going on. And tools like Twitter and Scribble Live make it so easy to gather in a way that makes geography irrelevant.

In terms of the news sourcing, what was interesting to me was this. The LA Times, a respected and reputable news source, said that Michael Jackson was dead. Did I — and many others around the world — believe them? Instinctively, I was waiting for the BBC’s confirmation so at some level, I evidently did not trust the LA Times as much as I trust the BBC. From the reaction of other people online, this seems to have been their response as well. I believe that the LA Times reported the death at around 10:30 PM London time but the BBC only confirmed this fact through their independent verification at approximately 11:46 PM. So in terms of news reporting, the LA Times scooped the BBC on this story — but it was only when I heard the BBC’s, authoritative voice say “It has now been confirmed that Michael Jackson is in fact dead” that I was ready to face the reality of the pop star’s passing.

It was also interesting to note that the BBC’s live report remarked that there was a lot of rumour and speculation on the Internet and via Twitter during the few hours following Jackson’s admission to hospital. It seemed a very 21st century moment — while we were watching the news, the news was also watching us.

For me, the significance of this is event that, while many of us “ordinary folk” can publish our views and opinions online instantaneously, this kind of interaction is rife with the potential for rumour and speculation. At best, we are generally at one remove from the news. There are of course ordinary people who are caught up in extraordinary events and have the opportunity to blog or twitter about their experience in the moment — such as what has been happening in Iran — and I do not mean at all to disrespect what they’re communicating to the world about their personal experiences. I just want to emphasise that trained journalists adhere to a rigourous code of ethics, including vigourous fact checking before making their reports and this is an important and valuable function — it is sometimes better to be late with the correct facts than early with a sensational scoop.

Photo: thanks to groupieblog

• 11:16 PM fusionview - Watching unfolding news and speculation online about whether Michael Jackson has died
• 11:17 PM fusionview - Saw people saying how tragic it was on Twitter about 20 mins ago
• 11:18 PM fusionview - Checked out news sites BBC and CNN and all they said was that he had been rushed to hospital not breathing
• 11:19 PM fusionview - Ustream claimed live coverage - “Ustream Michael Jackson passes away- live coverage- www.ustream.tv“
• 11:19 PM fusionview - But too many people on the Ustream site made streaming freeze
• 11:20 PM fusionview - Many in Twitterverse claiming he’s dead and posting RIP etc
• 11:29 PM fusionview - Michael Jackson taken to hospital bit.ly
• 11:30 PM fusionview - Interesting to see difference between professional journalists and social media observers.
• 11:30 PM fusionview - Journos cautious until facts confirmed
• 11:30 PM fusionview - Journos use terms like “reports”/ “reported”. Cautious tone. BBC report what other news agencies said. But “no independent confirmation”
• 11:34 PM fusionview - CNN reporting Jackson in coma. BBC “not clear what the position is”
• 11:35 PM fusionview - Live BBC online stream now filling time with review of Michael Jackson’s career while waiting for more news
• 11:38 PM fusionview - LA Times reported Jackson dead but BBC don’t believe them. They want “independent confirmation”
• 11:38 PM fusionview - Is LA Times less reputable than BBC?
• 11:39 PM fusionview - Perhaps that’s why the world tends to believe BBC as dependable? They won’t say anything till they themselves are absolutely sure
• 11:39 PM fusionview - This is a fascinating object lesson in why we need real journos
• 11:40 PM fusionview - Fans gathering outside hospital
• 11:40 PM fusionview - TMZ and LA Times apparently have inside line to hospital staff, say BBC
• 11:41 PM fusionview - BBC careful to emphasise TMZ and LA Times very respected
• 11:41 PM fusionview - Assoc Press also now reporting Jackson dead
• 11:41 PM fusionview - BBC still not committing
• 11:41 PM fusionview - Hospital wouldn’t give info to BBC
• 11:42 PM fusionview - Anyone else out there have any views?
• 11:43 PM fusionview - Yes, coma seems a certainty
• 11:44 PM fusionview - BBC just confirming he’s dead
• 11:44 PM fusionview - BBC: “We can now confirm…”
• 11:44 PM fusionview - BBC: we have confirmaiton now he has died aged 50
• 11:45 PM fusionview - Is news true and 100% only when BBC confirms it?
• 11:45 PM fusionview - BBC: rumours spreading before confirmation due to Twitter & social media
• 11:45 PM fusionview - So even while we’re watching BBC, they are watching us
• 11:46 PM fusionview - RIP Michael Jackson
• 11:46 PM Courtney Rafter - hearing he’s in a coma
• 11:47 PM fusionview - Yes, BBC has confirmed he’s dead
• 11:48 PM fusionview - BBC live stream news.bbc.co.uk
• 11:52 PM fusionview - I’m now closing this live blogging feed. Thanks to everyone who has been watching and adding comments. My condolences to Michael Jackson’s family, friends & fans

If anyone is still sceptical about the power of social media, all you have to do is take a look at its role in the making of America’s first African American president. Of all the candidates, Barack Obama has probably been the most socially connected online throughout the Democratic nomination race and also in the last year going head to head with John MCain. So, what platforms was he using and what effect did they have on the outcome of the election?

Back in the summer of 2007, I spotted that Obama had signed up for a Twitter account so that his fans and followers could keep up to date with his every movement. As of this week, you can see the “tweets” alerting his followers of the last frenetic activity on his campaign trail as he tried to squeeze as much face time with the public as possible.

The tweets link to live video on his very own social network my.barackobama.com, developed with the input of Facebook co-founder Chris Hughes. Obama also has a Facebook page with over a million “friends” and a Facebook application as well as a presence on MySpace. TechPresident.com gives a good analysis of these three social networks in “You’ve Got a Friend in Barack Obama”.

There is an official Obama Blog on his website, run by staffers and with a range of multimedia content, including live video such as his victory speech streamed via social networking video site Ustream, as well as YouTube videos.

Beyond this handful of tools, you can see on his blog links to “Obama Everywhere” - other platforms where he has an online presence, including interactive opportunities via mobile phone.

But a bunch of social media tools in themselves are not going to make a president all by themselves. The key is how they were used by the Obama campaign. Supporters, fans and followers were encouraged to take an action to show their support for the campaign - whether by organising local events or giving a donation, however small or large, or raising funds. According to the BBC, Obama’s online campaign “attracted more than three million donors. They donated about $650m (£403m) - more than both presidential contenders in 2004 combined.” With an overflowing war chest, he could out-do McCain by buying more airtime in the traditional broadcast media and also extend his own on-the-ground real world contact through more local outreach offices than the Republican campaign.

The BBC also reports that “Mr Obama had an unprecedented level of support among young people and new voters in the 2008 election. He won the votes of those under 30 by an impressive 66% to 31%, much higher than in any previous election. He also has a huge majority of those who voted for the first time, who supported him by 68% to 31%.” The Washington Post comments that the Millenials (those under 30) “are migrating toward each other, regardless of race or ethnicity. … (They) may have found their first president — one who engages them in their own space.”

Obama’s success was not entirely due to social media but he used it smartly in conjunction with other communication tools. Broadcast media is still hugely influencial and there’s nothing that will replace face to face human contact whether it’s through speeches at rallies or simply walking amont the people and kissing babies. But social media broadened his reach to those people he might not have otherwise been able to connect with and it also enabled ordinary people to do small things which came together as a whole to contibute to an enormous win.

Picture: screenshot of the official Obama website

You don’t have to be glued to the telly this summer to follow the Olympics. You can watch it online from your desk at work or on your mobile phone anywhere you can access the mobile internet. According to Fierce Mobile Content, an up to the minute study by NBC Universal reports that, “74.6 million viewers tuned in for Friday’s Opening Ceremonies–while television accounted for 94 percent of the audience, online viewing represented 5.7 percent, mobile TV accounted for 0.03 percent and only about 36,000 viewers (0 percent) watched via video-on-demand.”

This is likely to be the first time that many people are using their mobiles to watch TV, according to the report, and no doubt a lot more people are watching online who cannot get to a TV. So the increased viewer numbers overall is good news for the US TV channel NBC as they are one of the key US broadcasters offering live coverage of the Olympics online and via mobile - once people get the hang of using new technology and get used to having that universal access, they are likely to want more. Increased access to content via a variety of media means, of course, increased viewer numbers overall and that’s good for advertising revenue - and may even translate into people willing to pay in the future for the convenience of, say, mobile content delivery.

The NBC online site offers viewers the option to be alerted when an event starts as well as “video to go” if you missed it. There are also downloads of highlights, results and medals listings, information about competing countries and online games to play. And, evidence of the growing Hispanic demographic in the US, a Spanish version of the site.

In the UK, the BBC also offers live video coverage of the Olympics online with a live text commentary. You can receive video masterclasses on your mobile phone - eg explaining the art of tae kwan do - and also take part in a live streaming discussion via text (Text 81111 with “OLYMPICS” as first word - UK users only). You can also receive text alerts for the events you want to watch live. For the mobile site, type http://news.bbc.co.uk/mobile/ into your phone’s browser. Like the NBC site, there are medal and results listings. There is also a section featuring BBC Sport’s Olympics Monkey - a cartoon mascot of sorts derived from the Chinese mythic hero Monkey - with games and quizes.

In fact, checking out the BBC mobile page opened up to me a whole world of mobile BBC content beyond the Olympics - including previews of the thriller series Spooks, text recipes from a cookery programme and the chance to share your snapshot of a newsworthy event direct from your mobile phone.

In China, too, mobile coverage of the Olympics is ubiquitous, according to Reuters. The report quotes Yun Weijie, president and chief executive of Telegent Systems, a Silicon Valley semiconductor maker: “TV will become a standard feature for cellphones in China by the end of this year, just like cameras.”

Back in 2006, Microsoft announced: “that effective July 2008 Bill Gates, chairman, will transition out of a day-to-day role in the company to spend more time on his global health and education work at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The company announced a two-year transition process to ensure that there is a smooth and orderly transfer of Gates’ daily responsibilities, and said that after July 2008 Gates would continue to serve as the company’s chairman and an advisor on key development projects.”

Now that we are in 2008, Bill has made his last keynote speech and is winding down for July. This is a video of that last speech, which includes a little home movie that he made with his mates about what he might do after he steps down from his day-to-day role at Microsoft….

The speed of communications is ever increasing, especially now that online messages can be zipping round the world virally via digital word of mouth in the time it takes you to type an email message or blog post.

Now that anyone can be pundit or citizen journalist who has a mobile phone, camera, laptop or just an opinion and access to the internet, anyone out there can share their views or stories about you in moments. Equally, anyone can express an opinion or a view or tell a story without deliberating over it or checking the factual basis for it - and indeed, online social media encourages that rapid action and reaction because of the ease of uploading content easily, cheaply and quickly.

For those whose every move makes news - like high profile politicans, world leaders, celebrities and the like - this trend is becoming a huge challenge. How do you control misinformation or misinterpretation of your actions and words in this rapid response world?

Taking legal action or sending out cease and desist letters can make you the “heavy” in the drama, causing more damage than good. Legal processes can also take time - and through that very process could keep the issue in the news more than you would like.

Hilllary Clinton’s campaign has come up with a clever way to deal with misinformation about her and her campaign for the US presidency, reports The New York Times. She has “introduced a Web site dedicated exclusively to the instantaneous rebuttal of charges or news reports it deems offensive or wrong”, called Fact Hub.

On the Fact Hub, Clinton’s team painstakingly sets the record straight wherever she has been misinterpreted or where others have got their facts wrong about her statements and actions. For example, it corrects Barack Obama with an statement headed Obama Misrepresents Hillary’s Views On Social Security and there is a rebuttal of a claim that Clinton and her team did not leave a tip at a diner where they had a meal (which is the subject of the New York Times article I just mentioned).

It looks like the website uses a blogging platform and includes an RSS feed so you can subscribe to it to receive the latest updates - another example of innovative ways to use blogging technology and blogging without calling it a blog.

For those of us of less grand profiles, it is still useful to keep an eye on what is being said about you online and to consider carefully how you would respond to any erroneous claims being made about you or your business. I am curious to know what processes you are using to monitor what is being said about you on the online grapevine at the moment and what plans you have in place to deal with any erroneous claims about you or your business. Please add a comment or email me using the Contact form above.

Photo: thanks to sskennel from flickr.com (CCL)

This post also appears on the EuroComm Blog today, where I am one of the blogging team

When I was writing my article Blogging Thrives in Malaysia for IABC’s journal, Communication World, I was struck by how quickly news of events travels in the new era of online communications.

I started researching and writing the article in July this year and as I finished it and was about to send it to the journal editor, Malaysian blogger Nathaniel Tan was taken into custody and I had to quickly update the article with that latest news.

Just after I sent it off to the editor, I got an urgent email from one of my interviewees, Asohan Aryaduray, the New Media Editor at The Star newspaper in Malaysia saying that there had been “some serious and troubling changes in the political landscape” and giving me an update on further crackdown and potential changes in the laws affecting blogging.

I had to recall the article and revise it yet again with these latest updates.

On Saturday, I was building on the research I had so far on blogging in Malaysia for the book I am working on about New Trends in International Public Relations and came across reports online of riots in Kuala Lumpur during a political rally for electoral reform, within hours of it happening. A link was posted on the Facebook group “Save the Malaysian Judiciary” to a YouTube video of an Al Jazeera TV report showing police spraying demonstrators with chemicals during the march.

When I first found it on Saturday afternoon, it had been viewed 240 times. When I checked back 3 hours later, it had been viewed over 8,000 times.

Some further digging led me to more videos around the event, including a video from a little while back that was one of the rallying calls for the protest.

More and more, the way we receive news and information is going to be a mix of traditional news media and citizen communication - people passing on news around the world through emails, social networks and social media tools. Right now, it’s still new and worth commenting on but soon, it will be the norm. We’ll still most likely turn to the journalist-produced content for news that has been fact-checked and produced according to professional standards and guidelines (though journalists can still get things wrong!) but alongside will be a stream of information passed on by non-professionals. The trick will be identifying the non-professional sources you can trust and those that may be scaremongering, gossiping or pushing their own agendas.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This post and others in the category New Trends in International Public Relations is part of my research project for the book of the same name that I am co-authoring with business communications expert, Silvia Cambie. I am focusing on the social media aspects while she is working on the wider public relations issues.

To find out more about my research for this book, see my book wiki.

To see who has contributed to my research for the book, take a look at my Contributors List.

If you can help with my research for the book, please contact me via the book wiki contact link or email me via this blog.

I’ve been taking longer than I planned researching a section on Conversation and Democracy for my bookproject, New Trends in International Public Relations. What I’ve been finding fascinating is the different attitudes that the East and the West have to social media in the world of politics.

Western politicians and social media

The main presidential candidates in the US are all embracing blogs, YouTube and Twitter and many observers say that this is the first presidential race where social media is playing a major role. The televised debate between the Democratic candidates, for example, included questions posted on YouTube by members of the public - these videos were played on a giant screen in the hall where the debate took place and the candidates took it in turn to answer the questions. Critics of this have said that this does not truly show political leaders “embracing” social media in its truest form ie as a free-for-all, open dialogues between equals and peers. The questions were carefully vetted and chosen beforehand instead of being an open, forum where anyone can take part (in the way that people can add their comments more freely on a blog, say). I think it’s very naive to think that politicians will ever hand over that level of control - they might be willing and comfortable having a “town hall” meeting where they roll up their sleeves and have an impromptu chat with the audience (who are no doubt carefully selected by invitation in the first place) of several hundred but it’s a different matter of scale where anyone in a population of several hundred thousand could send in a video. There will always be a hierarchical structure of some kind even in the most modern of democracies and those hierarchies will always seek to manage the flow of information. To me, what is significant is that they are using this medium at all and making an attempt to engage with their constituents in as open a way as they are able, given those hierarchical constraints.

Asia’s discomfort with social media

This attitude of acceptance - that social media is a force to be reckoned with and a new medium to reach out to voters - is all the more striking when I look at the attitude towards social media in Asian nations. Awhile back I researched an article on Blogging in Malaysia, with the input of Kevin Anderson, the Blogs Editor at The Guardian, UK and Asohan Aryaduray, the New Media Editor at The Star, Malaysia on the issue of political blogs there. Many outspoken political critics who blog their views find themselves arrested. There is a general anxiety and unease about this new medium that allows ordinary people to voice their opinions freely. For examples of more repressive and authoritarian Asian nations’s attitudes to bloggers, we only have to look at China, which routinely censors blogs and most recently, Burma, which restricted internet access during this summer’s protests.

West v. East

The cultural and political roots go much deeper than a mere suspicion of social media on the part of Asian authorities. There has been a much longer history of citizen protest and action being tolerated in the West and every year, there are marches and demonstrations in London and major American and European cities for all manner of causes. I remember as a student taking part in a march through the streets of Oxford in solidarity with my co-students. Although I did not feel very strongly about the cause they were protesting about, I wanted to see what it was like to be part of a protest march. It felt dangerous and rebellious and anarchic for me, coming from Malaysia where such protests were banned. In reality, it was rather tame and boring as we strolled down the High Street and various student leaders ranted through their megaphones.

So in the last few weeks as I’ve been researching this topic, I found myself getting side-tracked thinking about the cultural roots of Western political discourse and engagement versus the cultural roots of Asian nations who generally seem more comfortable with authoritarian government, and also authoritarian versions of democracy. That’s a whole separate book in itself, I expect, but I’d be interested to know your thoughts about these two differing political heritages.

To see my research in detail, check out my book wiki where I have posted my research online in the Conversation and Democracy section.

Do you know any Asian politicians who blog?

I am not aware of any politician in the ruling party in Malaysia who blogs - if you know of anyone, can you please correct me and let me know the URL of their blog? I’d also like to know if any politician in a ruling party in any other Asian country blogs or engages in social media eg via videocasts or podcasts. I want to ask them why they blog and what benefits they see coming from engaging in social media. And what might be some of the disadvantages.

From those Asian politicians who don’t blog, I’m curious to know why they don’t and what they think about their citizens using social media for political commentary.

If you are a professional communicator in Asia, what are the issues around politics and social media if you are advising politicians or business leaders about their communications strategy.

You can add a comment or email me using the Contact form above. If you prefer to remain anonymous, I can understand and respect that and I will not publish your name or email address* on my blog or in the book (or book wiki).

*The email address is a required field but it is not visible to visitors to this blog. As a matter of policy, I do not disclose email addresses from comments or emails to me in any event.

Photo: thanks to pietroizzo from flickr.com (CCL)

I received an email in my Inbox a moment ago from the Online Journalism Review reporting that a German website is calling on the world to declare today, 04 Oct, “Free Burma Day”. The article explains:

“The state-controlled media in Myanmar has been tight-lipped, to say the least. Communication with international news organizations has been spotty, and soldiers continue to turn reporters away at the borders. The message has been clear: “Nothing to see here.”

But armed with cell phones, cameras and laptops, common citizens and protesters stepped in to expose the conflict in real time. Some ran blogs of their own. Many dispatched pictures and videos of police violence to off-shore bloggers and news sites. Either way, they loosened the government’s chokehold on communication.

Now, with the ebb and flow of information from within at a standstill, the offshore sites are left to sustain awareness. A brand-new site out of Germany, Free-Burma.org, calls on bloggers around the world to post a “Free Burma” awareness graphic on any posts today, Oct. 4. Organizer Philipp Hausser talked to us about “International Bloggers’ Day For Burma” and the impact of Myanmar’s citizen-journalist phenomenon.”

You can read the full article Bloggers organize international day of support for Burmese freedom

I’ve been watching the escalation of the tension in Burma through the blogs and online news. Here are some links:

Burma Digest - disturbing photos, videos and reports from right there in the demonstrations.

YouTube channel of niknayman - including footage of a dead monk floating in a river

The Democratic Voice of Burma

The Times article on bloggers who risked all

Del.icio.us tags for “Burma” - these show items bookmarked by web users around the world who have found articles and videos on Burma and tagged them in their bookmarking account at del.icio.us. (There’ll be those related to non-political events as well)

To find out how you can take action, spread the word, do your bit, go to the Free Burma website.