Celebrating Webloggers Worldwide™
The Dangers Of Citizen Journalism: By now I'm sure many of you have heard the story about citizen journalist Brian Conley being detained in Beijing while documenting pro-Tibetan protests during the Olympic Games. Read full article
Read this: More bloggers than ever face arrest for exposing human rights abuses or criticising governments, says a report. Since 2003, 64 people have been arrested for publishing their views on a blog, says the University of Washington annual report.
Citizens have faced arrest and jail for blogging about many different topics, said the World Information Access (WIA) report. Arrested bloggers exposed corruption in government, abuse of human rights or suppression of protests. They criticised public policies and took political figures to task. Read full article
As day breaks in the far corners of the world, I am pleased to announce the beginning of the Fifth Annual International Weblogger's Day! Happy InWeDay to you all!
Tell me, what does change mean to you?
Can we bring change to the world we live in through the words we write? What change do we ourselves want to see in this world?
Change is bringing a new perspective to an old problem, whether it be political, social or economic. It need not be seen immediately as a change for the better, but there must be a firmly grounded reason for implementing it, and there must be a consensus of the masses. That's where the online masses, you all who are blogging, day by day or sporadically, are able to spread the word and raise that consensus.
For those who have been following the United States 2008 presidential election campaigns, for example, consider the power for change in the form of the online masses who contributed $4.2 million in a single day. What are we capable of doing if we can harness that power to act to inspire change in others? What frustrates me most is precisely that spontaneous and sporadic impulse to act, where people feel compelled to help out only when it seems to benefit them the most. When the headlines fade from the front page, so do the concerted efforts that are so instrumental to supporting long-lasting efforts to promote a better, safer world.
Let's take this time to examine what matters most to us and to bring about a real form of change. It need not impact a thousand people - it could just be your neighborhood, your community, someone...
This year's theme is change. The goal of this year's event is to write one entry about change, about what has changed in your lives this past year and what you expect change to involve in the coming year.
Some events to consider:
- The earthquake in China
- Benazir Bhutto's death
- The Beijing Olympics
- Tibet/Myanmar issues
- 2008 Presidential Elections
- Food crisis, rising oil prices, subprime mortgages
Started as a grass-roots project in the spring of 2004, International Weblogger's Day, or InWeDay for short, is an unofficial online celebration held annually on June 14th. It has united in the past over 500 bloggers from over 40 nations, and has become a symbol of unity among bloggers in recognition of the power that bloggers have through the words they write. To mark the fifth anniversary of InWeDay, an official meetup will be scheduled in Philadelphia.
Contest
A prize of $30 dollars will be given to a blog that best exemplifies this year's theme. Nominate your blog with short 100-word explanation of your reason at the forum.
If you know another language, and would like to contribute to spreading the word about InWeDay, why not head over to the Translation Wiki to edit and translate pages? Your help will be greatly appreciated
