Exploring the question of why the normally totalitarian government of Turkmenistan has suddenly and aggressively striven to increase internet access among its population, this article is ultimately a reflection upon the impact of technology upon human society. As a piece of what can only be described as “journalistic philosophy”, I’m particularly pleased with how it turned out; indeed, its core ideas are why I am a committed cyberjournalist.
Note: a shortened version of this editorial was published under the title, “A Pandora’s Box“, in the “Our Take” section of Transitions Online (TOL). The expanded version, republished below, originally appeared on neweurasia under the current title (click on the image above to read it).
It’s a philosophical riddle as old as when humanity first learned to harness the power of fire: Will technology bring freedom or slavery? Lately, observers of Turkmenistan find themselves asking this very question about the Internet.
Turkmenistan has one of the world’s lowest rates of Internet penetration: According to Internetworldstats.com, a website that measures global Internet access, a meager 1.4 percent of Turkmenistan’s population is wired, putting the country in 216th place out of 226.
However, two years ago, Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov, recently ascended to the Turkmen presidency, vowed to expand the Internet in his nation. Speaking at Columbia University in September 2007, he remarked, “Let me tell you frankly that the atmosphere today in Turkmenistan is just incredible. Our children feel such a strong and intense yearning for knowledge that we just can’t fail and let them down.”
At the time, neweurasia’s pseudonymous blogger Conquistador noted that the speech was accompanied by a presentation showing young students typing on new laptops. In light of the paranoia that marked the previous regime of Saparmurat Niyazov – during which Internet access was sequestered to a tiny elite – the images were a bold statement.
“Will any of this emerge?” Conquistador asked. “That remains to be seen.” Yet, remarkably, it seems that the Berdymukhammedov regime is actually intent on keeping its word.
In September Turkmenistan hosted an IT-themed exhibition called Turkmentel 2009 and a scientific conference. Berdymukhammedov personally addressed the audience, saying, “We are doing our best so that every citizen of Turkmenistan has access to the Internet and modern communication technologies.”
Subsequently, the government declared its intention to launch Turkmenistan’s first ever communications satellite.
World Press Freedom Day
3 May, 2009
Today is World Press Freedom Day, an annual day of advocacy for the freedom of the press, as well as commemoration for journalists who are suffering restriction and imprisonment, or have made the ultimate sacrifice, for the sake of the free flow of information. “As they investigate sensitive issues, unveil disturbing truths and question policies, journalists find themselves in the firing line of those directly or indirectly exposed by their reports,” writes the World Association of Newspapers.
In the lead-up to the event, four members of Reporters Sans Frontiers have have been on a hunger strike since this past Tuesday in support of Iranian-American journalist Roxana Saberi, who has been sentenced to eight years in prison in Iran on a charge of spying for the United States. The day before, in Paris, the RSF also staged an event for the two Asian-American journalists currently being held by the North Koran government. “The detention of Saberi, Lee and Ling on arbitrary charges demonstrates more than ever the importance of World Press Freedom Day,” writes the RSF.
Obviously, if journalists from the world’s leading power aren’t safe, then imagine the insecurity faced by journalists and their support staff throughout the world. For example, according to a source who wishes to remain anonymous, Radio Free Europe’s Afghanistan service, Radio Azadi, routinely receives threats from the Taliban. Last year, two of its reporters were kidnapped by the insurgent group, but were later freed. As of this past Wednesday, group has threatened a suicide bombing against Radio Azadi’s main bureau in Kabul.
Freedom of the press saves lives. “Azadi has a real impact in the country,” the source writes in an e-mail “A would-be suicide bomber once called them and said, ‘Thanks to your programs, I have decided not to explode myself.’ Can you imagine?”
Read the full post @ neweurasia…
Obama 2.0 and police brutality…
16 January, 2009
…what do they have in common? Web-based New Media, that’s what. It’s time that we asked ourselves: what will be the long-term consequences of our emerging electronic democracy?
Two videos showing a San Francisco Bay Area police officer fatally shooting an unarmed, cooperating 22-year-old man have surfaced, due to the efforts of a vigilant teen and an anonymous videographer.
Both individuals used their cellphones to record the horrific event, and as you can see from the list of related videos in the embedded video above, the story is quickly breaking out across YouTube. Call it the revenge of the Fifth Estate.
Defenders of civil liberties should rejoice that this horrible — and fatal — violation on the part of the police officer has been brought to light so quickly, raw, and true. We have technology, coupled with the videographers’ patriotic use of it, to thank.
However, by the same token, can “patriotic New Media” take our nation down an unpatriotic path? We should all be on the alert about a secret new development occurring within the office of the president e-elect.
If the shoe (bomb?) fits… Patriotism, professionalism, military intervention, and journalistic integrity
16 December, 2008
Did Muntader az-Zaidi cross the line between professionalism and activism, or was he acting in the journalistic spirit?
Hopefully this will be my last post on “shoe-gate,” or, the “shoe intifada.” I’m heading off for South Africa in a few days and I need to concentrate on preparations. So, as you can see from my extended subtitle, I intend to kill a lot of birds with one (shoe).
Ali the Translator, an Iraqi blogger, on the day of Muntader az-Zaidi gave his now famed send-off for his dearly beloved Bush, remarks, “No matter how funny it was, it was kinda disappointing at the same time cuz ‘Journalists’ are supposed to be professional and neutral.”
Consider also American blogger Rick Perlstein, who waves his finger at liberals:
Liberals should not make light of or license the physical assault on the leader of a sovereign state, no matter how much he’s deservedly hated. This is not how we do politics, unless we’re in favor something tending toward anarchy, or fascism. This seems open and shut to me: the Iraqi journalist should go to jail for a rather long time.
And indeed, Perlstein may very well get his wish. The BBC reports that az-Zaidi is getting a warm reception in Iraqi jail, and by “warm” I mean a broken hand, broken ribs and internal bleeding. Which leads me to a troubling phenomenon: the defamation of Iraqis as “ungrateful” by American bloggers.
Cyberjournalism: a (re-)definition
20 November, 2008
“Cyberjournalism.” It’s a term rarely used in journalistic and academic parlance, but one I’d like to promote as the world’s first ever International Cyberjournalism Congress approaches (click the link to go directly to the ICC website; click the image above to read Javier Díaz Noci’s post on the event).
“I don’t get it,” you say. “What the heck is ‘cyberjournalism’ and how is it distinct from ‘online’ or internet-based reporting?” The answer isn’t so much that “cyberjournalism” is distinct from online journalism as much as online journalism falls within its rubric. “Cyberjournalism” is a re-definition, a new category and lens through which we may come to understand the evolution of reporting in computerized mediums.
In other words, all forms of computerized journalism qualify as “cyberjournalism.” That includes…
- “online” or “digital,” the most famous medium of which is the ubiquitous blog and its many variations (journalistic, contemplative, artistic, literary, and whatever else the heart desires), but also e-zines and online forums, as well as the online wings of “physical” news services (and vice versa, e.g., Slate.com);
- networked forms of reporting, such as e-mail listservs, text message alerts and newsletters, and even many kinds of communications that occur within closed intranet systems like Sega Dreamcast, Microsoft X-Box, or the United States Department of Defense; and,
- alternate or virtual reality, such as Wirtland (e.g., The Times of Wirtland) or Second Life (e.g., New World Notes and the AvaStar).
But what of content? Like their counterparts in the “old media” of print and broadcast journalism, the varieties of cyberjournalism are reciprocally influenced by the new cybernetic modes of expression. Cyberjournalists are not constrained to report on matters wholly “RL” (“real life”); they can and do report upon matters wholly “VR,” as well. For examples of what I mean, click on the various links above.
A successful lecture, a new LinkedIn group, and a new look
13 November, 2008
I’m pleased to report that my lecture, “Log on, tune in, blog out: citizen-journalism, New Media, and subversive activity,” presented at Saint Joseph’s University, was well-received. I’ve made it available for download in four parts (click on the thumbnail to the left). I invite academics and journalists, as well as friends and readers, to make use of it and pass it around!
The lecture is a general survey of the darker side of Web 2.0-enabled New Media. In particular, I explore some of its frightfully hilarious/hilariously frightful uses by subversive and revolutionary groups on the fringes of contemporary global society. My case studies:
- the French National Front on Second Life;
- the Stormfront White Nationalist Community;
- the global anticapitalism movement (specifically, the IndyMedia Network);
- radical Islamism (specifically, AqsaTube);
- and the Second Life Liberation Army.
I lightly get into some of the theoretical issues, in particular the nature of New Media and today’s internet, and the role culture plays in determining the extent to which a subversive or revolutionary organization goes “high tech.”
The lecture is decidely “low tech,” intended for non-specialists and all-around end-users. However, it may also be of value to those with technical or journalistic backgrounds who may not be aware of the various fringe subcultures forming around the new technology.
