Media & communications - openDemocracy (Page 114)

The Islamic State and radicalisation: the need for informed opinion and proportion

Tough grandstanding, as when London Mayor Boris Johnson called for the reversal of the legal presumption of innocence when Britons are caught travelling to Iraq and Syria, is dangerous and counter-productive.

By Chris Chaplin

/ 22 Oct 2014

The Snowden reboot

On working with Edward Snowden, and how he changed the way we view our world. Interview.

By Tom Engelhardt and Laura Poitras

/ 20 Oct 2014

A lesson for the Dalai Lama

There is undeniably a great difference in cultural values between Tibetan Buddhists who grew up within their community in India and the western converts who were raised with liberal western values. But this is no longer the end of the story.

By Johannes Nugroho

/ 17 Oct 2014

Two years after Leveson, why is the UK government’s media dealings still shrouded in secrecy?

They talk of 'transparency' but the reality is still a quiet word behind closed doors, shut off from public scrutiny. Westminster and Whitehall have no intention of letting the public know what dealings they have with media chiefs.

By Justin Schlosberg

/ 15 Oct 2014

Open protocols and open people: preserving the transformational potential of social media

People are the most valuable thing on the internet, so the power to connect, share and work together shouldn’t be curbed by companies who exploit us for monetary value while limiting the flow of information.

By Kaliya Identity Woman

/ 15 Oct 2014

Six ways to bring more empathy to the internet

How can web users promote more empathetic interaction online? This is the fifth installment in our series on social media and social transformation.

By Liz Pleasant and Jim McGowan

/ 30 Sep 2014

Small steps, big changes: how social media contribute to social transformation

Social media facilitate differing degrees of involvement in political action, helping more people to take small steps as part of a larger movement: the fourth piece in our series on social media and the transformation of society.

By Alice Neeson

/ 29 Sep 2014

The war with images

Social and political militants have all now transformed into marketing activists as they struggle to find ways to convince the public that the Palestinian cause is righteous.

By Bashir Saade

/ 22 Sep 2014

Democratic dreams and political reality in Europe

A report on European attitudes to democracy, backed up by data from the European Social Survey, is launched today to mark the UN day for democracy. The main message for the political class is that an increasingly qualified and demanding public opinion does not deserve to be administered from above

By Daniele Archibugi

/ 15 Sep 2014

Why we can’t trust current analysis of the Islamic State

The rise of the Islamic State in Syria and Iraq has taken everyone in the west by surprise, resulting in a frenzy of speculation as we try to piece together a number of complicated factors and events. We first have to recognise how our understanding is shaped by a sensationalist, alarmist and soun

By Richard McNeil Willson

/ 11 Sep 2014

What I learned from going cold turkey on technology

After I developed RSI, the use of social media led to crippling pain which forced me to confront my compulsion to react. What would life be like if everyone thought twice?

By Niki Seth-Smith

/ 8 Sep 2014

What do you do with a problem like ‘news’?

The BBC Trust has a new chair but the problems of the BBC’s constitutional position – problems which centre on news provision – are scarce likely to be solved by this appointment.

By Brian Winston

/ 4 Sep 2014