the synthetic jungle
Briefs
Bhutto’s disappearing legacy
For Al Jazeera: Bhutto was the first woman elected to lead a Muslim state and was twice Pakistan’s PM [EPA] The United Nations is due to release the findings of its inquiry into the assassination of Benazir Bhutto, the late Pakistani opposition leader and former prime minister. Killed in an attack at the end of [...]
Liveblogging the Haiti earthquake
At 2153 GMT on Tuesday, the Caribbean nation of Haiti was hit by its strongest earthquake in more than 200 years, causing what is being described as “a catastrophe of major proportions”. Heavy casualties are feared after numerous buildings were levelled by the 7.0 magnitude earthquake. I’m keeping a live blog on the quake on [...]
Explaining Hajj
Hajj, the journey millions of Muslims make to Mecca and surrounding areas yearly, is no easy task. Pilgrims shuttle back in forth from the sacred site at Mina, Arafat and Muzdalifah, often without a full night’s rest, sometimes risking life and limb. If you find it all confusing, or perhaps just want to understand it [...]
Gearing up for Hajj
Hundreds of thousands of pilgrims have already gathered in Mecca in preparation for this year’s Hajj, which will begin on Wednesday, November 25. On average, between two and three million Muslims take part in the five-day journey every year. A decreased turnout had been anticipated this year due in part to both fears of an [...]
TimeSpace – A world of news
The Washington Post (WP) has a new plaything which, though I’m sure still needs some refinement (fullscreen mode just crashed my Chrome browser), seems to be off to a good start. TimeSpace presents WP stories, photos etc on a map within a specified timeframe, further refined by keywords (tags?). It utilises Google Maps, and has [...]
Music through obsolescence (Radiohead remixed)
Big Ideas (don’t get any) from James Houston on Vimeo. Radiohead, the popular UK rock band, has been asking fans online to remix (rehash, reconfigure, remake) a track from their (relatively) new album in rainbows, which itself made news for the fact that they offered the two-disc set to fans online for whatever price they [...]
Al Jazeera’s Sami al-Hajj freed from Guantanamo
Sami al-Hajj, an Al Jazeera camerman held for more than six years without charge in Guantanamo Bay prison, has been released. The Sudanese national was flown to Khartoum, where he was met by family and friends, and underwent a medical examination. UPDATE: Upon release, he said “rats are treated with more humanity” in the US [...]
Organics sell out to the man
Monica Hesse of the Washington Post explores green greed and the way some eco activists have fallen by the wayside, seeking to push back the tide of global warming by buying more – more expensive imported organic cotton sheets, more hybrid luxury cars – and using fewer hand-me-downs or used goods. It seems the three [...]
ONA panel: Covering elections
Elections always get lots of coverage, but how much of that really informs the electorate? With the U.S. presidential contest already underway — and several other countries girding for their own elections — this panel will take a look at how online news organizations can prepare themselves and come up with new ways of helping [...]
ONA panel: Covering a Tragedy
Among the many questions asked following the tragedy at Virginia Tech was a journalistic one: how did people on campus get their information? And where did journalists turn to look up names and faces? From Facebook to SMS, new resources and tools are helping people find each other in a crisis. How does this impact [...]
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