BRIDGE BLOGGING Onnik Krikorian

1. BRIDGE BLOGGING Onnik Krikorian Caucasus Regional Editor, Global Voiceshttp://www.globalvoicesonline.orghttp://peace.oneworld.amonewmphoto@gmail.comhttp://twitter.com/onewmphoto

2. What is Global Voices? Global Voices is a community of more than 300 bloggers and translators around the world who work together to bring readers reports from blogs and citizen media everywhere, with an emphasis on voices that are not ordinarily heard in the mainstream media. Global Voices is translated into more than 30 languages by volunteer translators, who have formed the Lingua project. Additionally, Global Voices has an Advocacy website and network to help people speak out online in places where their voices are censored. We also have an outreach project called Rising Voices to help marginalized communities use citizen media to be heard. Technology for Transparency examines the use of online tools in increasing transparency and accountability globally.

3. Global Voices Impact Four websites most consistently account for links between countries: YouTube, Wikipedia, the BBC and, a distant fourth, Global Voices Online. The last of these, launched at Harvard University in 2005 […] works to create links between bloggers in different countries, and to find what it calls “bridge bloggers” […] The Economist, 2 September 2010 Working relationships with BBC, Reuters, Pulitzer Center for Crisis Reporting, La Stampa and many others. Frequently quoted by CNN, BBC, New York Times, The Economist etc.

4. Bridge Blogging [...] The world we live in is so complicated and interconnected that many problems, both big and small, require openness, understanding and the ability to communicate with people from different cultures. Imagine trying to solve climate change without talking with Indian and Chinese citizens… or living a full life in an urban neighborhood without connecting with your neighbors who speak different languages. By “bridge figure”, I mean someone who acts as an interpreter between cultures, introducing people who look at the world in one way to another way of looking at the world. [...] Ethan Zuckerman, Global Voices co-founder, Bridgeblogger and Xenophile, a tale of two bloggers http://www.ethanzuckerman.com/blog/2008/12/05/bridgeblogger-and-xenophile-a-tale-of-two-bloggers/

6. Caucasus 2.0 Twitter@gvcaucasus

8. Global Voices Oxfam project

9. Russia-Georgia War

10. New & Social Media in Conflict Anyone who believes that all citizen media are objective and impartial is either mad or hasn't actually read any citizen media. […] What's become very difficult is using citizen media to understand what's actually happening on the ground. As we all know, some of the reports from both camps in the South Ossetian conflict were likely manufactured and inaccurate. This sort of situation can get even more complicated when there aren't impartial journalists on the ground. Ethan Zuckerman, Global Voices co-founderhttp://www.eng.kavkaz-uzel.ru/articles/13149/

11. Nagorno Karabakh • 1994 ceasefire • Approx 25,000 dead • Approx 1 million refugees and IDPs • 14-16 percent of Azerbaijan controlled by Armenian and Nagorno Karabakh forces • Border skirmishes and clashes, increase in sniper incidents • New generations living without contact with the other side • Peace deal still elusive • Threat of new war

12. Media & Civil Society • Media practices self-censorship • Subjective and/or selective reporting, misinformation and propaganda • Nationalist narratives and terminology over objectivity and neutrality • Rumor and speculation becomes accepted as 'fact' • Political forces manipulate conflict for domestic political gain • Communication and/or contact with the 'enemy' discouraged

13. Media Perpetuating Conflict? [A] negative context [is set] in the public consciousness, which hinders dialogue and mutual understanding […] Without more accurate and unbiased information […] free of negative rhetoric and stereotypes,Armenians and Azerbaijanis will continue to see themselves as enemies without any common ground. Armenian and Azerbaijani International News Coverage – Empirical Findings and Recommendations for Improvement, Caucasus Resource Research Centers (CRRC)http://epfound.am/files/mb_fg_report_finalized_edited_12.27.2008.doc

14. Media Perpetuating Conflict? [...] people are often inclined to consider their existing attitudes and beliefs to be true and filter the news through this lens. Thus, they accept messages in order to maintain their original perceptions. […] bias in the local media [...] serves as a means to fuel and perpetuate hatred. This is a role the media has and continues to play with regards to the conflict over Nagorno Karabakh. Armenian and Azerbaijani International News Coverage – Empirical Findings and Recommendations for Improvement, Caucasus Resource Research Centers (CRRC)http://epfound.am/files/mb_fg_report_finalized_edited_12.27.2008.doc

15. Another Alternative? Throughout history, war has affected media, with conflict often creating an information void. In the 21st century, media has begun to affect war more than ever before. Digital media technologies [...] have increased communication and information dissemination in conflict settings [...]. These new tools can be used to foment violence or to foster peace, and it is possible to build communication systems that encourage dialogue and nonviolent political solutions. Ivan Sigal, Global Voices Executive Director, Digital media in conflict-prone societies, Center for International Media Assistance (CIMA)http://cima.ned.org/publications/research-reports/digital-media-conflict-prone-societies

16. Social Media Crossing Borders

17. Social Media Crossing Borders • Blogs • Facebook • Skype • Twitter • Collaboration with traditional media • Cooperation with NGOs and international organizations

18. http://peace.oneworld.amCaucasus Conflict Voices

19. http://peace.oneworld.amCaucasus Conflict Voices

20. Alternative Narratives We hear far too little of what I call this “third narrative” of the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict, a narrative of peace. It spins the idea that the two peoples are capable of getting along fine, have lived together in the past and, if politicians are able to overcome differences on the Karabakh conflict, can live together in the future. International mediators are too timid to speak this narrative or feel that it is not their business. The media in both countries suppresses it. Thomas de Waal, senior associate in the Russia and Eurasia Program at the Carnegie Endowment and author of Black Garden: Armenia and Azerbaijan through Peace and Warhttp://peace.oneworld.am/conflict_voices_may_2011.html

21. Cyber Utopian or Skeptic? The reason why the KGB wants you to join Facebook is because it allows them to learn more about you from afar. It allows them to identify certain social graphs and social connections between activists. Many of these relationships are now self-disclosed by activists by joining various groups. Evgeny Morozov, author of The Net Delusion: The Dark Side of Internet Freedomhttp://www.rferl.org/content/interview_morozov_internet_democracy_promotion/2284105.html

22. Imaginary Cosmopolitanism I study the ways new media shapes people's perceptions of the world. It's my fond hope that social networks such as Facebook will help users broaden their perspectives by listening to a different set of people than they encounter in their daily life. But I fear services such as Facebook may be turning us into imaginary cosmopolitans. [...] Is Facebook a space for cross-cultural interaction? For fomenting reactionary hatred? Or is it primarily a space for online interaction with our local, offline friends? Ethan Zuckerman, Global Voices co-founder, Does Facebook unite us or divide us?http://edition.cnn.com/2010/OPINION/08/03/zuckerman.facebook.global/index.html

23. Imaginary Cosmopolitanism [...] we could well see a big jump in citizen to citizen diplomacy across this next year, as universities and even high schools step up their efforts to integrate international awareness into their curriculum. We are seeing all sorts of interesting uses of Skype, iChat, and other online video platforms to connect students around the world in meaningful international experiences. [...] Will we become the best informed societies thanks to the information available, or the most polarized societies as we gravitate to the networks (media and social) that share our biases? [...] Sheldon Himelfarb, Associate Vice-President at the United States Institute of Peace (USIP)http://www.usip.org/publications/media-and-peacebuilding-trends-in-2010-and-looking-ahead-2011

24. Cyber Realism I think you can’t do it just with social media tools, but as we’ve seen over the past 15 years, you definitely can’t do it by meeting in Tbilisi for a weekend every summer.[...] However, I think that both approaches combined could propel things along. Micael Bogar, Projects Manager at the American University's Center for Social Mediahttp://globalvoicesonline.org/2009/08/01/caucasus-an-interview-with-micael-bogar/

25. Cyber Realism Mary Joyce of the Meta Activism project has warned that a key factor in successful online activism appear to be novelty – it’s hard to articulate “best practices” because one of the best practices is to be the first to try a particular technique. [...] Ethan Zuckerman, Global Voices Co-founderhttp://www.ethanzuckerman.com/blog/2011/05/27/who-freed-eynulla-fatullayev-and-what-does-his-release-mean-for-twitter-activism/

26. Food for thought […] the internet is not magic; it is a tool. Anyone who wants to use it to bring nations closer together has to show initiative, and be ready to travel physically as well as virtually. As with the telegraph before it—also hailed as a tool of peace — the internet does nothing on its own. The Economist, A cyber-house dividedhttp://www.economist.com/node/16943885?story_id=16943885