Category Archives: journalism

Vietnam cyber dissident released

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Vietnam cyber dissident Vietnam has entered the spotlight as the next big thing in IT outsourcing. As the economy picks up pace, the contrast with Communist-led government is even more striking.

Today, BBC reports that the authorities has unexpectedly released Le Chi Quang, 34, who was convicted in 2002 because he posted online essays (blogged?) that were critical of the government. More from that story:

[Le Chi Quang] was jailed for four years in November 2002 … The Vietnamese foreign ministry said Quang would have to serve out a three-year term of house arrest which was given at the time of his detention.

Rights groups say at least six other cyber dissidents remain in jail.

Vietnam has introduced tough measure to monitor internet use. Internet cafe owners must keep records of all sites visited by their customers, including those deemed containing “bad and poisonous information”, for 30 days.

So much for citizen journalism in Vietnam. Bloggers beware…

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Alan Johnston video

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BBC has aired a video sent by Alan Johnston’s kidnappers. The original BBC one is not share-able, so I got this one:

The BBC came out with a statement as well:

We are studying the video very carefully. We have been working very closely with Alan’s family for the past 81 days. This is a highly distressing time for them and for his friends and his colleagues. We repeat our call for his immediate release.

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Gay rights in Russia

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russia gay rightsYou might be surprised to hear what happens to gay rights activists in Moscow. I’m not … I’ve been there (Moscow), seen that.

Thirty-one people were arrested during the peaceful demonstration by the police. At the same time, the police stood aside while right-wing and Orthodox activists took the chance the exercise their “right” to violent protest by hitting many of the activists.

Here’s the news blurp, you can view the video here.

Police detained gay rights activists, among them European lawmakers, as they tried to present a letter to Moscow’s mayor yesterday in a demonstration that also attracted a hostile crowd of people who punched and threw eggs at the activists.

Police quickly grabbed about a dozen activists and forced them into a bus, including Russian gay rights movement leader Nikolai Alexeyev.

Marco Cappato, a European Parliament deputy from Italy, was kicked by one opponent as he spoke to journalists. Cappato began shouting “Where are the police? Why don’t you protect us?” and officers hauled him away as he struggled.

So let’s recap Putin’s priorities when it comes to free speech and human rights:

1) Journalists
2) Ex-spies
3) Gays

There was a recent study on how the price of petrol influences certain countries to become more/less authoritarian. Following this logic, if the price of petrol hits $100, Russia will probably become more authoritarian than the Soviet Union during the Cold War (if at all possible).

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Journalists in prison

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It’s World Press Freedom day today. BBC are taking every chace they have to remind us that Alan Johnston is still missing in Gaza.

journalists in prisonHe’s not alone. The Committee to Protect Journalists annual worldwide census found 134 journalists imprisoned on December 1, an increase of nine from the 2005 tally.

As you can see the main offenders are China, Cuba, Eritrea, and Ethiopia. Overall, there are 24 nations that imprison journalists.

Moreover, some of the worst offenders (e.g. Eritrea) have denied imprisoned journalists even the most basic elements of due process. For some, it’s not even clear if they’re alive or dead.

Another bothering statistic: a full third of all imprisoned journalists are Internet bloggers (or citizen journalists).

I’m a bit surprised that these statistics don’t include the number of journalists that have been brutally murdered in Russia or Iraq.

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Lighting web video

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Lighting web videoPoor video lighting isn’t something you can only find on the web. Amateur videos of all sorts suffer from its effects.

I wrote a little article on three-point lighting at the Wikipedia that describes the most basic lighting setup.

The three point lighting setup may be simple but it’s useful in 80% of cases – or even close to 100% if you’re shooting talking heads.

Let me give you an example of a bad lighting setup (see the image on the right). Both shots come from interviews that Miranda July did for her indie movie.

As you can see there’s a remarkable difference when you go from top to bottom. Note: the second one was shot by iFilm.

So what are the guys at iFilm doing right? Here’s a short list for you:

  • Use soft light – a single large softbox is enough
  • Use a fill light – if you don’t have a large softbox
  • Use a back light – see that highlight on her hair, it creates much needed separation between subject and background
  • Use a background light – if you’re shooting talking heads, it’s best if you use a background light with a color filter (blue) to improve the separation between subject and background

Apart from lighting, it seems that a little make up and a soft filter complete the magic.

For portraits, I recommend Tiffen’s Warm Soft/FX lens filters. Just make sure you turn the auto-focus off because sometimes it will hunt attemting to focus on the small particles in the lens filter.

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Citizen journalism vaguer than web 2.0

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This rant has been triggered by a post at TechCrunch, which describes Topix.net’s brand transformation.

In short, Topix.net bought Topix.com and in the process decided to re-evaluate their product, brand, etc. According to their CEO, they asked themselves the question: “What do you do when your success … sucks?“. So what changed?

According to USA Today (~ sister company to Topix): “Topix.com homes in on citizen journalists.”

Who?

Citizen journalists, you know, people “who post stories and pictures online” (USA Today). Hmm, if they’re painting with such broad strokes, I don’t think they’ve missed anyone I know. Even my parents “post stories” by email.

It looks like all Topix wants is to recruit volunteers to post and moderate posts about their local communities. Why didn’t they say so?

So thank you, Doctor Gonzo (Hunter S. Thompson), for providing us with a term that’s much clearer and less susceptible to hype: gonzo journalism.

If I’d written all the truth I knew for the past ten years, about 600 people – including me – would be rotting in prison cells from Rio to Seattle today. Absolute truth is a very rare and dangerous commodity in the context of professional journalism.

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BBC correspondent still missing

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BBC correspondent I’ve been following this story (I have to, because I listen to the BBC world service on my way to work and back).

Alan Johnston disappeared 19 days ago. There haven’t been any public demands by his abductors but obviously some information has trickled down as BBC has announced he is in good health.

According to the latest BBC article:

There have been numerous international demands for his immediate release.

These include appeals from the Arab League and the European Union and non-government groups such as Amnesty International and Reporters Without Frontiers.

Palestinian officials have said all possible efforts are being made to secure his safe return.

Previous “hotspots” for journalists include Russia and Iraq.

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Russia and free speech

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Ex-russian spyAn ex-Russian spy, Alexander Litvinenko, died by radioactive poisoning on Thursday. The news is still being commented and there’s no conclusive evidence about Russia’s involvement.

There’s an obvious beneficiary from this death – Russia’s current regime and/or the KGB (now FSB). The Russian parliament voted in June to allow state officials to carry out overseas assassinations.

It has been only a month since Anna Politkovskaya’s brutal death. In 2004, Viktor Yushchenko, Ukraine’s opposition leader survived miraculously a dioxin poisoning.

Both Litvinenko and Politkovskaya published articles and books criticising the Kremlin and Putin in particular. Litvienko went so far as to claim that the Beslan attack was probably carried out with KGB’s blessing.

It’s obvious now what kind of death these sort of comments get you. While Politkovskaya was gunned down execution style in Moscow, Litvinenko agonized for three long weeks as a result from radioactive poisoning.

A lesson on what citizen journalism gets you if you dare criticize Russia.

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Dead journalists

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Anna Politkovskaya shot in MoscowAnna Politkovskaya, an award-winning Russian journalist, was gunned down in the elevator going to her Moscow flat. Her criticism of Putin’s war on Chechnya made her few friends at high places.

I came back from Moscow a week ago. Frankly, I didn’t see much change since the totalitarian times. I was especially struck when I visited their Museum of Modern History. It definitely felt like history was repeating itself – a revolution followed by an authoritarian regime.

Back to journalism though, here’s the cold statistics on Russia’s track record:

The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists says Russia is the third-deadliest country in the world for journalists in the past 15 years, behind only Iraq and Algeria. Forty-two journalists have died in Russia since 1992, many slain in contract-style killings which have remained unsolved.

I can’t imagine any kind of citizen journalism happening in a country where the professionals are getting gunned down. I’ll wrap it up with another quote – this one from the great journalist Hunter S. Thompson (a.k.a. Doctor Gonzo):

If I’d written all the truth I knew for the past ten years, about 600 people – including me – would be rotting in prison cells from Rio to Seattle today. Absolute truth is a very rare and dangerous commodity in the context of professional journalism.

RIP, Anna.

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