I am looking at the media coverage on the blog ban. it is covered by all national & International press & channels. Times of india Dedicated a large chunk of its front page & wrote an Editorial. Indian Express also posted a Front page news that analysing content of blocked sites. NDTV & CNN-IBN are projected it as a top story for last 2 days. NDTV even conducted a poll with sms votting. And the news is slashdotted. Bloggers suceeded in making it as an international issue. Guardian, BBC, New York Times, WSJ , Asian age, washington post, list is very big.
At the same time bloggers setup alternate access mechanisms like inblogs & tools.superhit.in . worked out campaignes to popularise tools like tor & privoxy.
While looking at the group of protest bloggers it is only less than 100 in number. The bloggers collective group only have around 360 members. Even though they can make this much voice.
It clearly shows the power of blog as an alternate media. The power with bloggers is the power of media. Then what will be the effect if we can use this power for marginalised communities. the other india ? . When main stream media fails to address the peoples’s movements & issues of existance & livelihood blogs & a collective work by the bloggers can do a lot of mediation. The formation like Bloggers collective can also think on that direction ( even if it is a very much vulnarable group).
I am ending up with the post with a brilliant poem by Renjini Narendranath on her blocked blog on Blogspot.
Yea, I will still blog.
Yea, I will still blog.
I still continue to blog.
Blog my random thoughts.
They can’t stop me from talking.The other friend asked,
Who are these ANTique kings ?
They attacked our blogs. *Yes, they attacked in some name.
“Terrorism” they call it.I say, this is terrorism.
Taking away ones freedom.
Without a word.
Without a clue.
One fine day, take it away ?I don’t know what their arguments are.
Did they put it on the desk to debate ?
No.
Where we asked ?
No.
They just attacked the blogs.July 13th was a black day.
This blog is my black badge.
A statement.
A statement for them to exit !
Flush the ban !
Else I fear an aftershock.
It is on the hold.
Exit our domain.
Let us thrive here.
You usurpers !
Exit the ban.
Throw open the Gateways.
The bloody internet is
Fourth dimension of life.
We are the citizens here.Why don’t you ban the bloody MNC’s
Usurping our young minds ?
Why can’t you ban the bloody Colas ?
Why not ban the advertisements ?
The collateral damage is more there.
Don’t you see this?
If you do, then batter them.
Not the bloody blogs !
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Comments ( 2 )
Anivar, Very true. Blogs are medium for inexpensive personal publishing. We are tired of main stream media and magazines, that looks for sentational “stories”. Our life aren’t mere stories, read and to be gone with the disposable paper stack. It is something to be talked about. Whose issues need to be conceptualized and debated. It need to be permanently etched somewhere. Blogs are condusive medium for that. So, in that sense, blogs were a boon. And the recent ban is a fiasco. So, those who are peeved by the blockade? Slap them back. Write more. Increase activity. Two more sites (in addition to to the ones you have mentioned above) for anonymously entering the blogs are http://pkblogs.com/ and http://anonymouse.org/ . Don’t worry. If they block these too, we will find yet another such sites.
– Renjini
Renjini added these pithy words on
Jul 20 06 at
7:06 pm
But I think issue here is not only the bloggers freedom. It is also a question of accessibility to an interactive media. The freedom to comment on article is the right of a common man. Here bloggers have enough tools to post on site. But how many common people knows it. Btw. DOT ordered to cancell the mass ban. Here I can access blogspot domains except the blocked. But still cant access typepad domains & geocities. But the mystery is why they blocked a site like http://dalitstan.org which is talking about dalit nationalism
anivar added these pithy words on
Jul 20 06 at
7:23 pm
