Citizen, Defend Thyself

Originally published in Deutsche Welle

?The government can?t protect people in their bedrooms? the prime minister angrily retorted when questioned about the brutal murder of a young couple, both journalists, in their own home. Three years later the police have not made any progress in their investigation. No charges have been brought. After the murder of the bloggers it seems, the government is unable to protect you in the streets, at a book fair or even on the doorstep of your own home.

Protesters demonstrate against the killing of blogger Ananta Bijoy Das in Bangladesh. Mr Das was hacked to death by masked assailants in the third such killing in the country in less than three months. Photograph: EPA/STR

Intolerance appears to be the order of the day in Bangladesh, impunity the general rule and denial the default? response. Since the government and the entire state machinery have been so occupied with arresting, killing and or arranging for the disappearance of opposition activists, any citizen not directly linked to the power structures is a potential target not only for the state machinery, but also for a host of racketeers, extortionists, fundamentalists or plain opportunists.? The judiciary no longer allows anyone to challenge the government even more worryingly the police are demanding that torture be made legal. Continue reading

Sneaking Social Media into the Classroom

In professional circles our school of photography Pathshala is considered to be one of the finest in the world. So it is no surprise that our students are excellent at their craft. However, having been in the profession for over 30 years and having worked in over 60 countries, I know full well that it takes more than photographic skills to become a successful photographer. People skills are essential and having a good online presence is mandatory.

So in the class I take for final year students, I no longer teach photography. There are plenty of other teachers who do that well. I help develop students? career prospects. We talk about presentation, writing grant applications, negotiating with clients and about having a strong online presence. Continue reading “Sneaking Social Media into the Classroom”

Indian police set up lab to monitor social media

18 March 2013 2114 hrs ZDNet

MUMBAI: Mumbai police have set up India’s first “social media lab” to monitor Facebook, Twitter and other networking sites, sparking concerns about freedom of speech online. Continue reading “Indian police set up lab to monitor social media”

Shahbagh online response

By Dr. Christian Prokopp on click Ittefaq

Dr. Christian Prokopp
follow him on twitter@prokopp, Google+ and read his blog
The news is fresh and details are only emerging about the murder of Ahmed Rajib Haider Shuvo, a blogger involved in the Shahbag protest. In today?s world we can view immediately online the outcry this provokes. Last week I wrote about the online echo on Twitter the Shahbag protest had. This time I am taking a snapshot of Twitter just after the news of the murder broke to illustrate how quickly such an event spreads. Continue reading

Changing audience behaviour and changing media response

Workshop by David Brewer

How technology has empowered the consumers to be the producers and what?that means for traditional mainstream media.

Venue: Broadcast & Multimedia Department, Pathshala
Address: TK Bhaban (12th floor), Kawran Bazar, Dhaka
Date: Saturday, 16 February (1:30pm to 3:00pm)
About David Brewer:
David Brewer was launch managing editor of BBC News Online and of CNN.com?International EMEA and CNN Arabic as well as the launch consultant for Al Jazeera English. Brewer started his professional life as a journalist working in print, radio, TV and online.
Brewer focuses on the workflows and content offerings, in particular creating converged/integrated newsrooms and workflows delivering multiplatform content to whatever devices the target audience turns to in order to consume news and information.
For registration call: +8801818333315 or mail to: info@pathshala.net
Registration fee: BDT 200 (free for Pathshala students)
Seats are limited

Nick Kristof live-tweets his Bahrain visa crisis

New York Times columnist Nick Kristof flew to Bahrain and found himself unable to enter the country. So he decided to live-tweet his adventure.

by?Sree Sreenivasan

?December 17, 2012 3:33 PM PST

A tweet by NYT columnist Nick Kristof about being denied an entry visa to Bahrain.

This might be the world’s first high-profile live-tweets of an entry-visa denial. Continue reading “Nick Kristof live-tweets his Bahrain visa crisis”

Creepshots and revenge porn: how paparazzi culture affects women

Relentlessly pursued ? Sienna Miller: ?I would often find myself, at the age of 21, at midnight, running down a dark street on my own with 10 men chasing me.? Photograph: Exposure Photos.com/JTBB

The row over topless pictures of the Duchess of Cambridge continues. But Kate is not alone. Young women everywhere ? famous and non-famous ? are increasingly becoming victims of voyeurism in our internet age

On the popular website Reddit, where users submit and share content, a member of?a?forum called “creepshots” was handing out advice last week. His subject? How to photograph women surreptitiously. “Don’t be nervous,” he wrote. “If you are, you’ll stand out. Don’t hover too much, get your shot and move on if you can … You’ll look less like a creep if you have photos of things other than just hot chicks’ asses.” Continue reading

Contemporary art and cultural clashes in kathmandu.

by Satish Sharma: Rotigraphy

THURSDAY, 13 SEPTEMBER 2012

“Artist advised to paint works that are pleasing …not satirical…socio political works can only be exhibited during gai jatra..?
Artist’s paintings should be self explanatory? “a picture should speak a 1000 words”.
Artists need to follow traditional parameters while painting religious iconography….modern interpretations will be considered blasphemous
The state can take action against artists if these guidelines are not observed”
Sangeeta Thapa on ?Facebook?quoting or paraphrasing the?official?’police’ reaction.
Watching the Kathmandu gallery episode unfold on social media is a fascinating eye opener . ?So much to learn ?so ?much to think about. so many spaces to open up. in the ?minds of artists and even their local audiences. Continue reading “Contemporary art and cultural clashes in kathmandu.”

What really links the 'urinating marines' video with Abu Ghraib

In the digital age, people document and share everything ? even insults to the fallen

Jonathan Jones
guardian.co.uk,?Thursday 12 January 2012 18.17 GMT

A still from a YouTube video allegedly showing US marines urinating on the bodies of dead Taliban soldiers. Photograph: Reuters

It is as much a document of the information age as a horror of war.?A video anonymously posted on YouTube this week?apparently shows four US marines urinating on the corpses of Afghans. They pose for a video camera held by a fifth marine, and perform their great deed against the dead with what looks like self-consciousness. They are doing it to be seen, in full awareness they are being filmed. Being filmed, and posting it for the world to watch, might actually be the point of the exercise. Continue reading