Iran Blocks Facebook

This just in from the Associated Press by way of Yahoo News: Facebook block ahead of Iran vote hampers youth .

The decision, critics said, forces Iranians to rely on state-run media and other government sources ahead of the June 12 election.

It also appeared to be a direct strike at the youth vote that could pose challenges to Ahmadinejad's re-election bid.

An advisor to a pro-reform candidate was quoted as saying that "Facebook is one of the only independent sources that the Iranian youth could use to communicate." How are Emirati young people using Facebook to communicate beyond casual exchanges among friends?

Twitter -- Helping Reporters Out

We have talked extensively about social networks this semester, among them Twitter. Social networks have greatly changed how "news" is disseminated (spread). Anybody and everybody with a mobile can be a reporter today. But "real" journalists are also tapping into these social networks to help them report stories. Mashable, the social media guide Hoda investigated, has a good Journalist's Guide to Twitter . Take a look at the guide and see the many ways professional journalists are using Twitter. What do you think about it as a journalistic tool? Pluses? Minuses?

Death of Print?

Zayed University students this semester in COM 408 are in good company. The first year I taught at the Graduate School of Journalism, Columbia University, Howie (Howard) Kurtz was not only one of my students but one of my advisees. Now he's got his own Wikipedia listing and is also media writer for The Washington Post. He is really into new technology with over 4,000 Facebook friends and he twitters, but he is worried about the future of print.

"The real question is for the public, not journalists: Does it want to pony up for news, whatever the media that prevail? It's all a matter of priorities. Before you write this off as an American problem, consider who's doing the reporting that the computer aggregators are serving up as news.If major news organizations die, who reports the news? The Washington Post and Goggle are talking collaboration, but Kurtz has his doubts: Hanging over the talks is the reality that the search giant, while funneling vital traffic to news sites, vacuums up their content without paying a dime. How much would you pay for international news? Be honest.

"Muslim Nomanic Culture" Versus Pirates

The world's navies haven't stopped Somalian pirates from seizing everything from small fishing boats to a Saudi oil tanker off the Horn of Africa. In the first of a series of articles called The Pirate Chronicles, The New York Times suggests that an "Islamic Backlash" is underway in the failed nation of Somalia. ...here in Garoowe, the pirates are increasingly viewed as stains on the devoutly Muslim, nomatic culture, blamed for introducing big-city evils like drugs, alcohol, street brawling and AIDS.

Grass-roots, antipirate militias are forming. Sheiks and government leaders are embarking on a campaign to excommunicate the pirates, telling them to get out of town and preaching at mosques for women not to marry these un-Islamic, thieving “burcad badeed,” which in Somali translates as sea bandit. There is even a new sign at a parking lot in Garoowe, the sun-blasted capital of the semiautonomous region of Puntland, that may be the only one of its kind in the world. The thick red letters say: No pirates allowed.

The reader knows about the sign -- and what is developing in the lawless region -- because a journalist and a photographer were there to report. You don't get that kind of coverage from satellite photos! The reporting team interviewed many different kinds of people to provide broader perspective and even tracked down a leading pirate. Interviewed over a camel meat and pasta lunch, the pirate said, "Ha! Me eating with white men. Like the cat eating with the mice!"

The story takes you there with with words, maps, photos, links to related stories and videos and offers readers an opportunity to share their thoughts. Your laptop is your ticket to a first-hand look at what is going on in an important region. How do you like the interactive, cross-platform approach to international news?

Urban Legend or Automatic Spam Block?

I just got an email, supposedly from Blogger, saying this site, a class blog if anyone is monitoring, has been blocked as a potential spam site. Alert said that if I didn't click on a link for a review, the site would be shut down in 20 days. Before I click fill a review form, I'm trying to find out if this is legit or some spam itself. It looks as though the blog is still functioning -- I hope at least through the super news quiz. Stay tuned and email me if difficulties.

All News is Local

Just what could news about Zimbabwe and South Africa have to do with us, you probably are pondering as you review international news events since the beginning of the semester. One answer could be found in The National Business section yesterday in a story headlined Dubai World invests in Zimbabwe game park . Sultan bin Sulayem, Dubai World chairman, is quoted as saying its African subsidiary was investing " in game parks both in Zimbabwe as well as in South Africa." Political, social and economic developments in those countries aren't just happenings in far away lands. Dubai World and the U.A.E. have a growing financial stake in southern Africa. And the more the emirates invest in countries around the globe, the more local -- an important --international news becomes here.

As long as it feels good in your hands.....

This post really belongs on the Mirror blog, but I can't resist because the magazine involved is Newsweek , which long has been an important international news weekly. It is published in several languages, including Arabic. But soon nothing will be the same about the publication, launched in 1933 and now owned by The Washington Post . The new design, coming next week, "is meant to be less daunting, more entertaining and easier to navigate," writes assistant managing editor Kathleen Deveny. "It will be printed on higher-quality paper, which instantly will make it feel better in your hand. I think the new design is sophisticated and airy, and makes the stories we work so hard on seem more inviting." Well, as long as it feels good.

Welcome to Crane Country

No, it's not a bird-watching site, it's The National's new real estate blog. I just got a promotional email Introducing Crane Country which says the goal is "to become a central lens on this part of the UAE -- the construction sites, the power shifts, the evolution of skylines and disputes that are arising between different groups in the supply chain." And it's also going to look at developments in the region. Check it out for both design and content.