It really all comes down to fear.
Media
Recently, six of us Mantle bloggers were asked to discuss the one story we were going to keep an eye on for 2011.
When one thinks of Cameroon, the country's vibrant music scene and consistently good national soccer team come to mind. Corruption and the curtailment of democratic freedoms aren't usually associated with this central Africa state. Perhaps that's because a paltry number of citizens can engage with the world via digital media. Carol-Ann Gleason discusses Cameroon's technological obstacles, and promises.
On October 30, political satirist Jon Stewart co-hosted a massive rally in Washington, D.C. The "Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear," which attracted 215,000 Americans to the National Mall, was a call to bring greater civility to political discourse. In this essay, Max Currier, who attended the event, finds that Stewart's rallying cry and the philosophy on which it is based have serious implications for a politically charged, American democracy.
The United Nations Digital Media Lounge recently held in New York City welcomed bloggers and other new media journalists. The outreach signifies that the UN recognizes the impact grassroots media can have in social and political arenas. Minal Bopaiah files this report from the conference.
I left the international stage at Brooklyn Book Festival 2010 twice, the second time was to stretch my legs and make my rounds at the vendors selling their wares and promoting their presses in the cold September ra
[Read part 1 here.] I’ve been following issues in Afghanistan and Pakistan, as usual, and fully exposed to US media coverage o