Surfette

The World's Best Blogs: The power of alternative news, a conscience and a fictional mommyblogger

What are the world's best weblogs? Here's a link to the list of winners of The BOBs - Best of the Blogs contest.

Apparently, we on the Jury Award committee have a lot in common with users who elected the popular User Prizes -- as you'll see, more than once the same blogger wins both categories. Even where two different blogs win, I see similar values at work--when you click through, see if you agree that I may lump these 26 winners into these three categories:

• Alternative news - These blogs deliver exceptional current events coverage by bloggers who regularly break news and provide an important perspective on traditional media coverage -- or, in the case of some governments, provide news instead of official propaganda. See Best Weblog Overall - User Prize, Special Reporters Without Borders Jury Award and User Prize, and, of the Best Journalistic Blogs, the English Jury Award, French Jury Award, German User Prize and Chinese User Prize.
• Conscience-as-commentary - These bloggers are columnists whose blogs (some of which are fiction) reflect their personal insights into the human condition, via relationships and world events. See Best Weblog Overall - Jury Award, Best Multimedia Blog, Best Journalistic Blogs - French User Prize and German Jury Award.
• Both! See Best Podcasting Site, and the Best Journalistic Blogs Chinese Jury Award, English User Prize, and both the Jury Awards and User Prizes in Arabic, Persian, Russian and Spanish.

As the judge representing English blogs, I'm happy. As I wrote in the comments that appear on this page about Global Voices Online, the winner of the Best Journalistic Weblog - English Jury Award:

"The Global Voices Online uber-blog has delivered what no other media organization with an international mission would -- or perhaps could: Direct distribution of diverse, authentic, original commentary, news, information, insight and culture from every wired corner of the world to a hungry and neglected global audience. By organizing, recommending, broadcasting and linking hundreds of bloggers by nation, Global Voices opens the door to a broad spectrum of voices, which the user may discover by country or by topic."

In my opinion, Global Voices is the most important blog in the English speaking world, bar none. This site is more than an up-to-the-minute guide and encyclopedia of the international blogosphere. Global Voices Online is a mega-blog the covers free speech by a global citizenry--and covers it well. It's so important at a time when so many international voices are denied free speech by their governments and, in the United States, a very few, English-speaking, first-world media conglomerates dominate and determine the ownership, distribution and content of news. Kudos to founders Rebecca MacKinnon and Ethan Zuckerman, and all the writers on the site.

Unfortunately, I was unable to effectively argue to award Global Voices Best Weblog Overall because two jury members for this year's BOBs contest have written for the site -- Hossein Derakhshan and Julien Pain. This conflict of interest (or appearance thereof, depending upon which judge you ask) was enough to disqualify the site from the overall category.

That said, I am indebted to Ignacio Escolar Garcia and José Luis Orihuela Colliva for introducing the rest of us to "Mas respecto, que soy tu madre," Hernán Casciari's enormously popular Spanish language "blogonovela" or illustrated fictional blog. This blogstory about daily family life in rapidly-changing Argentina is told from the perspective of a fictional 52-year-old matriarch-with-an-attitude, Mirta Bertotti. I love it. (Further proof of the power of mommy blogging - for more see here.)

I also am thrilled to see that another blog I nominated (and doubtless others did too), Body and Soul, won the User Prize for Best Journalistic Weblog in the English category. Of the solo voices out there, just about nobody raises the alarm about how humans treat each other with the same consistency and well-honed words as blogger Jeanne d'Arc.

Joining this jury was a self-conscious experience. Who are we to judge the world's best blogs, I wondered?  Now I'm glad I did it -- although I'm equally sure we missed many gems. While I was very concerned that I was the only woman on the jury, I was thrilled by the diversity of the suggestions made by the other jurors. In tallying up the results, I see that as many as 13 of the winning blogs are written or co-written by women and 13 are written by men. (For the record, we never discussed blogger gender in the jury room as a criterion...it was all about quality, quality, quality.)

Deutsche Welle has done a terrific job with the BOBs contest to date. I think the online team's next step is to grow the contest and invite jury members from Africa and Southeast Asia. In addition to considering some of this year's winners, I recommend Sokari Ekine and Dina Mehta as a great place to begin.

Wang Yi's roving microphone

What do you do when authorities block your blog? You move it.

That's what Wang Yi did. Wang Yi, as I mentioned in Typing as a radical act, is a Chinese lawyer and intellectual whose blog was blocked by local Chinese authorities when he blogged about political reform. As a result, the BOBs jury was unable to consider his blog for an award.

Now my BOBs jury colleague Zhao Jing, a.k.a. Michael Anti, writes me via email that Wang Yi is blogging again. Yi's Chinese-language blog includes this graphic to the left, in which the piano player, looking a lot like a typist, wears a bulls-eye under the headline "Shoot the Piano Player!" Kudos to Wang for a wry and beautifully subtle graphic homage to shooting the messenger.

Here's an excerpt from Michael Anti's email, provided with his permission:

"After his blog was shutdown, Wang Yi changed the name of  his another blog (http://zhivago.blogchina.com/) to "Wang Yi's Microphone Version 2: the Beauty Surprised the Communist Party Center". He explains the name of his blog:

"From then on, a microphone comes always with a bug, and the bug comes with a microphone. The internet is the microphone plus the bug. Who robbed my microphone? Never mind, I have also my own throat. Please contact me at wwy73-at-hotmail.com."

On Nov 14, Wang Yi posted on his blog an essay, entitled "Updated news about Bush's Visit in China: Jail and Church", which was quickly deleted by BSP webmaster. He then left the content blank, and blamed the BSP, "This blog was deleted again. I only wanted to say something about a precondition of his visit and a proposal. Americans can publicly order their requirement but Chinese can only listen on the sneak. The guy who deleted my blog is American's running dog.  Such a bully!"

Thanks Michael.

Typing as a radical act

As I've mentioned, I'm helping judge The BOBS - Best of the Blogs, a multilingual international blogging competition. Today we the jury issued a statement in partnership with the founder of the BOBs, German broadcaster Deutsche Welle, and Reporters without Borders, condemning Chinese authorities for censoring a Chinese lawyer's blog, Wang-Yi's Microphone. We also celebrate the accomplishments of an Egyptian couple who blog in Arabic to advocate for human rights, Manal and Alaa's Bit Bucket.

You can read the whole story below. In my opinion, blogs like ‘Bit Bucket’ and “Wang Yi’s Microphone” remind us that typing can be a radical act. If you’re a blogger and you live in a society that doesn’t protect your right of free speech, as these bloggers do, I hope our action as a jury encourages you to continue to get your word out. For those of us who do experience the privilege of free speech, it's time for us to stand up for our virtual colleagues and help them draw attention to this situation. 

As you'll see, we timed the statement to coincide with the second phase of the UN World Summit on the Information Society, which embraces Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, "that everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression."

The statement reads:

Deutsche Welle International Weblog Awards 2005:
Jury protests blocking of Chinese Weblog

· Arabic Weblog "Manal and Alaa's Bit Bucket" wins Special Award from Reporters Without Borders -- Announcement comes early in light of United Nations World Summit on the Information Society

The 12-member jury of the Deutsche Welle's 2005 Weblog Awards unanimously condemned the blocking of "Wang Yi's Microphone" and called on Chinese authorities to end their censorship of Weblogs and the Internet. Failure to declare their protest in light of the World Summit on the Information Society from Nov. 16 to Nov. 18 in

Wang Yi's Weblog (http://zhivago.tianyablog.com) was among the final three candidates for the Special Award from Reporters Without Borders (RSF). Also among the top three nominees were a blog written by Tunisian judge Mokhtar Yahyaoui and the Egyptian Weblog "Manal and Alaa's Bit Bucket," which went on to win the award (http://www.manalaa.net/).

On Oct. 24, 2005, the Deutsche Welle announced the nominees in its annual BOBs -- the Best of the Blogs Awards. Shortly after the candidates were announced, access to "Wang Yi's Microphone," which was nominated in the Reporters Without Borders and Best Weblog categories, was blocked by local Chinese authorities in the Hai-Nan province.

A lawyer by profession, Wang Yi regularly used his Weblog to criticize the government. His courageous efforts to promote freedom of expression and an independent judiciary system in in China were among the reasons why he was nominated in this year's Deutsche Welle Best of the Blogs awards.

"Bloggers like Wang Yi, who are courageous enough to publicly protest against government bans, deserve the support of the international community," emphasized Guido Baumhauer, Editor in Chief of DW-WORLD.DE, the Deutsche Welle's online presence.

"This action really shows that the Chinese government has no respect for freedom of expression," underlined Julien Pain, a member of the BOBs jury and head of the Reports Without Borders Internet Freedom Desk. "The Chinese government started censoring the Internet a long time ago, it is not the first time that a blog has been shut down, but it shows again that each time a new form of circulating information is created, the Chinese authorities manage to control it and shut it down -- and that's scary."

The Chinese jury member Zhao Jing, who is better known as Michael Anti, said he finds the Chinese authorities' decision to be a grave mistake.

"Blogs play an important role in freedom of speech, and the fact that the Chinese government is censoring them proves how far China is from accepting free speech," he said.

"Manal and Alaa's Bit Bucket" won the Special Award from Reporters Without Borders in the Deutsche Welle's 2005 Weblog Awards. The wife-husband pair has become an institution among Arabic bloggers and journalists critical of the Egyptian regime. Manal and Alaa strive to promote freedom of expression and protect human rights as well as highlight the need for political reforms in

“Blogs like ‘Bit Bucket’ and “Wang Yi’s Microphone” remind us that typing can be a radical act,” said Lisa Stone, the English-language judge. “If you’re a blogger and you live in a society that doesn’t protect your right of free speech, as these bloggers do, I hope our action encourages you to continue to get your word out. Blogs are today’s printing press; I hope the World Summit on the Information Society will incorporate protections for bloggers and journalists into its plan of action.”

“Congratulations to Manal and Alaa, whose Arabic language blog has used this technology to promote human rights and develop other new voices,” said Stone.

The winners in the other 12 categories will be announced -- as planned -- on Nov. 21, 2005 . In total there are 13 awards honoring blogs in nine languages.

The 12 Best of the Blogs jury members are:
Hossein 'Hoder' Derakhshan (Iran), Lisa Stone (USA), Ammar Abdulhamid (Syria), Loïc le Meur (France), Yegor Bykovsky (Russia), Michael Anti (China), André Lemos (Brazil), Jose Luis Orihuela and Ignacio Escolar (Spain), Konstantin Klein and Jörg Kantel (Germany) and Julien Pain (France, Reporters Without Borders).

Media and cooperation partners are:
Reporters Without Borders, CBC.ca (Canada), Handelsblatt.com (Germany), LeMonde.fr (France), Clarín.com (Argentina), Folha Online (Brazil), Shargh Newspaper (Iran), Lenta.ru (Russia), Iran-Emrooz.net (Iran), and Phoenix TV (China). The 2005 Deutsche Welle International Weblog Awards are supported by the Maritim Hotel Bonn.

14 November 2005 

http://www.thebobs.com

http://www.dw-world.de

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No, not the end of this "incalculably damaging story"

Finally...Judith Miller and The New York Times have parted ways. Below I recommend some links that I think speak for themselves. I'll only offer this: I agree with David Halberstam that this event has been "incalculably damaging." (He didn't say about what but I'll put journalism at the top of my list.) 

However, I disagree with Mr. Halberstam that this story has reached its "very sad end." It's not over yet. Why? These links tell the story:

From the Times: Times and Reporter Reach Agreement on Her Departure and Times Editor's Memo to Staff on Judith Miller

From Judith Miller: judithmiller.org

Perspectives worth reading:

• Franklin Foer: A Last Hurrah - "Now that they have extricated Miller from the building, perhaps the Times will be liberated to finally speak honestly of the mess that just transpired. Although based on its record this past year, I wouldn't count on it."
• Will Bunch (on Bill Keller): The Editor Who Cried 'Wolfowitz' - "Bill Keller has his own "entanglement" problem. Keller's entanglement was with Paul Wolfowitz, the then-deputy defense secretary and so-called "chief architect" of the 2003 Iraq invasion. Keller's apparently chummy relationship with Wolfowitz explains a lot..."
• Jenny D for Pressthink: Why Oh Why Did the Society of Professional Journalists Give Judith Miller a First Amendment Award? - "This is another part of the slow rot that’s eating at the work of newsgathering and reporting and writing and producing. Journalism has, as its core, the trust between reporters and editors, and reporters and the public. As that erodes, the whole enterprise starts to crumble. People turn away from news and reporting. Other forms can rise and steal the hearts and minds of citizens."
• Maureen Dowd: Woman of Mass Destruction (Hat-tip: Truthout.org)- "Judy is refusing to answer a lot of questions put to her by Times reporters, or show the notes that she shared with the grand jury. I admire Arthur Sulzberger Jr. and Bill Keller for aggressively backing reporters in the cross hairs of a prosecutor. But before turning Judy's case into a First Amendment battle, they should have nailed her to a chair and extracted the entire story of her escapade."

I welcome your trackbacks below.

Off to judge the BOBs, where I won't be able to surf Wang Yi's Microphone

As posted on Legal Blog Watch. - LS

This is my last post until Monday -- As I blogged recently, I'm boarding an airplane to join the other judges in The BOBs, a international competition for the world's best Weblogs, podcasts and multimedia blogs.  (You're a judge, too, by the way: This competition awards both user prizes and jury awards. Go vote!)

I'm horrified to report, however, that one very special blog I won't be able to surf with my colleagues on the jury this weekend is that of professor Wang Yi (http://zhivago.tianyablog.com). Why? As Reporters Without Borders announced on their Web site today, Yi's blog was closed down days after being nominated for the BOBs' "freedom of expression" category:

"The company that hosts the Tianya website closed the blog down on the orders of the Internet surveillance bureau in Hai Nan province (southwest of Guangzhou). When Internet users now try to access the blog, they see an error message saying it is "no longer accessible."

"A teacher at Chengdu university in the southwestern province of Sichuan and member of the international writers' association PEN, Wang initially created the site to make all his writings available in one place. He gradually turned it into a blog dealing with sensitive subjects. One of his last articles was about a campaign by peasants in Guangdong province to remove a village chief accused of corruption." (See also Julian Pain's post on Global Voices Online.)

"Terrible," writes Ann Althouse, whose Audible Althouse also is a BOBs nominee. "Reminds me of Australia." See her post, The BOB nominations -- and Chinese repression, for coverage of this story by The New York Times.

If you're writing about this story, I welcome your trackbacks below. I'll try to add to this post while surfing in the airport.