Media & communications - openDemocracy (Page 139)

On bullshit and truthiness: Harry Frankfurt, Stephen Colbert, and Paul Ryan's Convention speech

How do we know when someone is speaking bullshit or talking with 'thruthiness'? In the latter case this is particularly important when it comes to politicians speaking in public, because we are all involved in the resulting compact. Could this be what radical democracy looks like?

By Thomas Rodham

/ 26 Sep 2012

The end of ‘Liberty’

In Soviet days foreign radio stations were a lifeline for people seeking another point of view. They continued broadcasting after the collapse of the USSR, though the BBC Russian Service programmes went online only in 2009. Now US-funded Radio Liberty is closing its doors. Mumin Shakirov, a specia

By Mumin Shakirov

/ 26 Sep 2012

Google and Skyhook: the internet privacy invasion

Commercial companies are covertly using wi-fi scanning equipment to collate large databases of what in offline contexts is considered private information. With details about the sharing of this data so unclear, the government should consider an immediate ban on such technologies as the starting po

By Mel Kelly

/ 26 Sep 2012

Surf safely!

With such tech savvy, demographically very young populations, policing the internet will always be a losing battle. Instead, we should be encouraging online engagement as a source of diverse opinion.

By Sacha Robehmed

/ 23 Sep 2012

This week's window on the Middle East - September 24, 2012

Arab Awakening's columnists offer their weekly perspective on what is happening on the ground in the Middle East. Leading the week: Being all things to all men

By Arab Awakening

/ 23 Sep 2012

“Idiots trying to trap other idiots”

The choice is difficult: none of the alternatives easy to accept. But is it not the case that those who riot in the Arab world or in our own capitals represent only a minute fraction of the billion plus Muslims in the world? Even if many were indeed shocked by this mockery.

By Patrice de Beer

/ 21 Sep 2012

Kate, hate, and “brutal display”

The idea that any public interest is served by these choices is absurd, no matter which side of the Mediterranean one is perched.

By Amyn B. Sajoo

/ 20 Sep 2012

Apple vs. Samsung: something doesn’t quite fit!

The patent war between Apple and Samsung made a great deal of headlines over the past weeks. This article argues that both have much to gain from this big fuss, while the losers seem to be consumers and patent law itself.

By Andrea Filippetti

/ 18 Sep 2012

Syria dispatches: Robert Fisk's independence

The reports from Syria of the journalist Robert Fisk raise serious questions over his credibility, say Yassin Al Haj Saleh & Rime Allaf.

By Yassin Al Haj Saleh and Rime Allaf

/ 14 Sep 2012

‘What was the true Legacy of the Olympics?’: join in the debate online

From its immediate impact on the host-city to the global reverberations, listen to the full audio recording of openDemocracy’s debate ‘Culture, Liberty and London after the Olympics’. Join the debate and help shape the Legacy of the 2012 Games.

By ourKingdom editors

/ 12 Sep 2012

Britain is considering mass censorship of the net: all to tackle porn

The UK is considering default censorship of legal, adult material. Sensible, you might think. But who says what qualifies? We may wake up in a world where BT decides what is 'adult content' and Aids awareness websites are blocked as a default. Now is the time to make your thoughts known.

By Ruth Coustick

/ 5 Sep 2012

We Are Fed Up! The power of a new generation of Sudanese youth activists

The recent protests in Sudan attest to the rise of a new generation of Sudanese youth activists. At the heart of this emerging political force is Girifna, a youth-led movement which has been using internet power, confrontational street tactics, and advocacy to stand up to the regime of Omar al-Bas

By Anonymous .

/ 31 Aug 2012