Miami V(o)ice(s)


Global Voices team members Lova, Jeremy, Lokman and Jillian.
Not pictured: Amira, Eddie, Georgia, Ivan, Leonard and Solana.

I got back from Miami today after four days of passionate conversations about the authenticity of travel (and travel writing) and whether or not Mates of State actually sing a cover of These Days and what to name our cheese babies. I was also lucky to share breakfast sandwiches, beaches, swimming, a sweet backyard pool and a bright green stuffed ferret that looked more like a jalapeƱo pepper than an animal with some of the best housemates I’ve ever had south of the Mason-Dixon line.

(I also went to We Media Miami 2009, which you can read about here and here. A huge thanks goes to them for sponsoring part of our costs to attend the conference, which challenged the way I think and communicate about new media as a member of the “Dream Generation.”)

Jeremy wrote earlier about how blessed he feels to be working with Global Voices, and I want to echo his love for the organization and the amazing people that constitute it. I am so happy to have found this community, and jumping back into writing for them has made me happy in a way few things apart from the blogren do.

To my Global Voices housemates: A big giant Florida cheers! And I’m still pulling for the next GV summit to be held in Lawrence, Kansas.

RSF 2007 Press Freedom Round-up released

Yesterday Reporters Without Borders released their Press Freedom Round-up 2007. Some highlights for Africa:

  • 12 journalists killed
  • 162 arrested
  • 145 attacked or threatened
  • 1 kidnapped

Eight of those killed were in Somalia, where violent conflict between U.S.-funded Ethiopian troops and supporters of the Islamic Courts Union has caused hundreds of deaths in the past two years.

Also worth noting are the statistics on online journalism: 37 bloggers arrested, 21 physically attacked, 66 cyberdissidents arrested and 2676 websites shut down or suspended.

In other news, Uganda’s ranked 97th in the worldwide press freedom index, above Rwanda (147) and Burundi (127) but below Tanzania (55) and Kenya (78) — I’m curious to see how that changes in light of the media blackout surrounding the Kenyan elections.