<nettime> rondagram [x2: UN, citizen journalism]

[Ronda Hauben <ronda@umcc.ais.org>]

                  [digested @ nettime]

Ronda Hauben <ronda@umcc.ais.org>
     Changing of the Guard at the UN 
     Citizen Journalism ferment in Berlin 

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Date: Sat, 16 Dec 2006 15:40:18 -0500 (EST)
From: Ronda Hauben <ronda@umcc.ais.org>
Subject: Changing of the Guard at the UN 

An important change is happening at the UN:

Ban Ki-moon Inaugurated

http://english.ohmynews.com/articleview/article_view.asp?article_clas...

While only a few brief references to specific events during Annan's tenure
in office were mentioned during the speeches at the inauguration of the UN's 
new Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, the ceremony led me to recall two important 
developments which were not included.

One was the World Summit on Information Society (WSIS) held in Geneva in
December 2003 and in Tunis in November 2005.

The WSIS event was unusual for the United Nations as it reflected the
pressure of the people of the world to benefit from the technical and
communication advance that the Internet makes possible. Heads of state
from a number of nations were present. and the summit was asked for a
commitment that people around the world not merely be treated as victims
or as customers, but rather be empowered to speak for themselves and have
their voices enter the global conversation.

The second event which stands out was the U.S. invasion of Iraq. The U.S.
and Great Britain had come to the U.N. asking for a resolution supporting
their planned invasion. The U.N. did not support their attack on the
sovereign nation of Iraq, but neither did it condemn the invasion. The
power of the U.S. government in the Security Council was a force that
limited the U.N.'s ability to condemn the aggression against Iraq.


While none of the speeches about Kofi Annan's term in office spoke to
these events, the General Assembly ceremony presents the occasion to think
back over the past 10 years of developments at the U.N. and to project
ahead to what the future may bring.

------------------------------
ronda<at>panix.com
Netizens: On the History and Impact of Usenet and the Internet
http://www.columbia.edu/~hauben/netbook/

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Date: Sat, 16 Dec 2006 15:44:33 -0500 (EST)
From: Ronda Hauben <ronda@umcc.ais.org>
Subject: Citizen Journalism ferment in Berlin 

I just returned from a trip to Berlin and it was interesting to see all the 
interest in Citizen Journalism there. I am working on a longer article about 
the trip, but there is a short beginning article in OhmyNews. Ronda

Citizen Journalism Brought to Germany
'Reader's Edition': New web site modeled on OhmyNews

http://english.ohmynews.com/articleview/article_view.asp?article_class=19&no=334391&rel_no=1

One early participant, Rolf Ehlers, describes the varied and interesting 
content contributed to Reader's Edition by its readers. He writes, "Reader's 
Edition is opening a new world of  citizen participation in all political and 
societal questions.... "Reader's Edition is doing what I dreamed of with my web 
site a few years ago but which I could not then realize technically. Reader's 
Edition is more than a competitor to the known print media. It will bring new 
forms of news and views which you didn't even know existed."

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