Journalist Executed by Drug Cartel

According to a report in the radical French newspaper Humanité Norberto Miranda Madrid, a journalist in a North Mexican paper became the latest Journalist to pay with his life in defence of the truth. According to Humanité , Madrid was executed last week by a death squad on behalf of one of the powerful Mexican drug cartels. Having written a series of stories on the increasing public insecurity in the North West of the country, Norberto was gunned down himself by 5 killers in his newspaper office in the small Mexican town of Casas Grandes. Reporters Sans Frontieres (Reporters without Borders) and the Committee to Protect Journalists have increasingly warned of the dangers to journalists from those involved in the growing drug trade.

Ha-ha! Dein Medium stirbt (Ha -ha! Your Medium is dying)

“Der Zugang zu Kommunikation und Information berührt Grundfragen demokratischer Beteiligung. Wer mo- derne Kulturtechniken nicht beherrscht oder keinen Zugang zur digitalen Welt hat, kann sich an einem wachsenden Teil demokratischer Willensbildung nicht beteiligen.  Die privaten und weltweit tätigen Tele- kommunikations- und Netzbetreiber mausern sich ohne kulturellen Auftrag, ohne öffentliche Kontrolle und Trans- parenz zu Sendeanstalten von morgen und bedrohen das gesamte duale, öffentlich-rechtliche und private Fernseh- und Rundfunksystem.  Mit der Digitalisierung entstehen auch neue Möglichkeiten, das Verhalten der Nutzerinnen und Nutzer zu steuern und auszubeuten. Die technische Be- schränkung eines freien und gleichen Informationsflusses im Netz nimmt zu. Interessengeleitete Forderungen und Begehrlichkeiten nach Internet- sperren bei Urheberrechtsverstößen werden lauter”. Die Linke Bundestagswahlprogramm 2009

Access to communication and information has to do with fundamental aspects of participation in the democratic process. Those who do not have a command of modern cultural technologies or have no access to the digital world are unable to participate in a growing segment of democratic decision-making.
The private, globally active telecommunications and network operators are mutating into the broadcasters of tomorrow, without public monitoring and transparency, and are threatening the whole dual system of public and private television and radio. Digitalisation is creating new possibilities of controlling and exploiting the behaviour of the users. The technical limitations on a free and equal flow of information on the net are increasing. The demands from special-interest groups for Internet filters to safeguard their copyright are becoming louder. From the Manifesto of Germany’s Left Party – standing in next Sunday’s elections.

An interesting aspect of Germany’s forthcoming elections is the possibility of a major advance in the votes of Die Linke – a new party formed from the amalgamation of the former ruling party of East Germany and disaffected members of West Germany’s traditional socialist party the SPD.

Starting their statement with a quote from Nelson Muntz – the bully of the Simpsons (slagging off  a print journalist……….), they are very critical of current developments in Germany’s monopolised media sector, they call for the adoption of ‘a democratic media policy’ that would further regulate developments in the digital media. The state that their goal is to ‘safeguard programme and content diversity, preserve and extend freedom on the Internet and defend human creativity against progressive commercialisation’. They argue that increasing commercialisation is leading to continuing media concentration with financial investors invading the media and press sector with the consequence that ‘reporting, culture and entertainment become shallow and commercialised’.
They argue that existing health and safety regulations and conditions at work are increasing being overridden  with permanent positions now the exception. Die Linke argue that they are working to safeguard the interests of all those who are employed, often precariously, in the media and film industry. It will be interesting to see what the voters think.

Blogging in favour of Asylum Seekers

Some disgraceful coverage last week in the British press of the forceful clearing of the so called “Jungle” camp of asylum seekers near Calais. The epithet ‘Jungle’ seemed to be used with some glee by various commentators in the press, the clear implication for me being that those in this temporary camp were somehow akin to animals – certainly different from you and I. Even the BBC to its disgrace used the epithet when reporting on the clearing – never to my knowledge – drawing attention to the racist undertones of the term.  Marie Barbier, a journalist from ‘l’Humanite’ the daily paper of the French Communist Party has been regularly blogging about the plight of the ‘sans-papiers’ (those without papers – ie authorisation to stay). Her blog – ‘laissezpasser.info‘ (in French) is a good example of trying to give a voice to those who do not get into the traditional media.