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"The 2008 Global Summit in Budapest was one of the most
extraordinary conferences Ive been to and Ive been to almost 40
conferences in the past four years alone. Whats the big deal (and
it is a Big Deal)? This community embodies the values they speak
about: the members of this community are open, inclusive,
transparent, engaging, respectful, mindful, diverse, committed,
innovative, energetic, proactive, creative, responsible, serious,
humble, fun and humorous. Is that all? Not even close, read on, if
you will." (link)
Patrick Philippe MeierHarvard Humanitarian Initiative
Thank You!This was our third and biggest Global Voices Summit
ever, and we were overwhelmed by the generous support of our
friends and sponsors. We couldnt have done it without you.
More than 200 people traveled from various parts of the world to
join us in a conversation that has grown more urgent and more
exciting that we could ever have imagined only a few years ago.
Citizen media has become a force to be reckoned with. Activists
around the world are learning from each other in their struggles
for freedom of expression, and we are learning from them too.
The alliances we are building are leading to concrete
initiatives. We are working to
increase global access to anonymous blog-hosting for those who
really need it, and weve just awarded micro-grants to 6 new citizen
media health projects in Africa and East and Central Europe.
In Budapest we launched our 16th translation site: Italian. And
Swahili is on the way. Our Olympics coverage of Chinese blogs is
beginning to make waves, and our Voices without Votes site is
gearing up for the US elections.
We have lots more planned!
More than 200 people from all continents attended the Global
Voices Summit(Photos by: Joi Ito, Elia Varela Serra, Yazan
Badran)
McCormick TribuneFoundation
Produced by: Solana Larsen, Paula Ges &
Georgia Popplew
ell
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What people said:
Dozens of articles, hundreds of blog posts
Chris Vallance, BBC Radio 4"I'm not sure there is a
representative from Antarctica, but every other continent must be
represented...For these people, and the governments who expend
significant efforts oppressing them, blogging is much more than
vanity publishing." (link)
Evgeny Morozov, openDemocracy"The Budapest gathering represents
one of the major benefits of today's internet revolution: the
radical democratisation of the global flow of ideas." (link)
Heather Ford, Mail & Guardian"The Global Voices Summit ended
two days ago, and I still have such a palpable sense of this great
emerging, truly global community that is discovering for itself
just what a special role it plays in the world. (link)
Antony Loewenstein, TheNationThe Budapest conference showed yet
again that the mainstream media remains woefully under-prepared and
unwilling to cover vast swathes of the world. (link)
Monique Doppert, HIVOS"It was a wonderful, energetic, diverse
and fascinating gathering. Light-hearted in a serious way.
Optimistic and creative despite difficulties and uncertainties.
Lots of stories, videos and more can be found via on the Global
Voices pages." (link)
Joi Ito"I'd seen the site growing and growing, but the scale,
quality and commitment of the community involved in running this
multi-national, multi-lingual blogging effort really hit me after
attending this conference and I'm even prouder than ever to be able
to part of this movement." (link)
ADVOCACY MEETINGThe day before the public Summit, around 80
activists, NGO workers and technologists met for more in-depth
discussions about building a global network of online activists and
the tools available. A new Global Voices Advocacy project was
announced, and HIVOS proposed the idea of a fund for imprisoned
bloggers.
SUMMIT DAY 1Leading online activists facing and working to
combat attacks against freedom of expression in various parts of
the world, shared first-hand experiences of living in under
censorship. They described the tools and social media services used
in major campaigns for freedom of expression in their countries.
Among the countries represented were Kenya, Iran, Egypt, Morocco,
Singapore, China, Hong Kong, Belarus, Pakistan, Japan, Thailand,
Bangladesh, Tunisia and Syria.
SUMMIT DAY 2Brand new bloggers from developing world communities
described the
experience of finding a global audience through projects
supported by Rising Voices, Global Voices outreach section.
Bloggers talked about their influence upon elections in Venezuela,
Kenya, Iran, and Armenia. Translators described their ambitions for
a multi-lingual Web; and Chinese citizen media experts discussed
the clash of local and international biases surrounding media
coverage about China. Indian, Kenyan, and Malagasy bloggers
described effective information media campaigns by citizens in
their countries.
INTERNAL MEETINGAfter the public Summit, Global Voices held two
days of internal meeting for editors, authors and translators
attached to the project, to strategize about the next phase of
activities.
Photos by: Georgia Popplewell
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Kristen Taylor, Knight Foundation"About a week ago, I was
sitting in a large room in Budapests Novotel Centrum,
stunned. Like the fireworks I watched Friday night from a
rooftop at George Washington University in D.C. . . . my
understanding of global blogging conversations was being exploded
as I listened to fiery bursts from the mouths of impassioned
activists and advocates from around the world." (link)
Silvia Fukuoka, Google Policy BlogThese bloggers are critical to
the promotion of free expression and transparency
on the internet. They engage in political debate and expose
issues often ignored by more traditional information sources in
their countries. (link)
Romina Oliverio, blogger"On a personal note, in addition to the
priceless information I walked away with, for
me the Global Voices summit sessions exemplified a true sense of
interconnectedness. People from all walks of life, all colors, all
religious denominations, all political affiliations, all sat in a
room for hours at an end listening intently, speaking of their
triumphs and their struggles, sharing laughter and even shedding
tears. All were different yet all were present for the same reason;
to unite their voices in unison and make them resonate even louder
around the world. A cohesive global community of change; united
they stand, and united blog. (link)
See videos and photos from the Global Voices Citizen Media
Summit 2008 at the Summit website:
http://summit08.globalvoicesonline.org
Visit Global Voices at:http://www.globalvoicesonline.org
What people said:
The world is talking. Were listening.
The Economist"The aim, says Ethan Zuckerman, a Harvard academic
who cofounded Global Voices, is to build networks of trust and
co-operation between people who would not instinctively look to the
other side of the world for solutions to their problems. That is a
worthy if ambitious goal. Doubtless, authoritarian governments are
in close touch too, sharing the best ways of dealing with the
pestilential gadflies and troublemakers of the internet. But they
will not be posting their conclusions online, for all to see. Which
way works better? History will decide." (link)
BBCs Pods & Blogs"The Summit focused on issues of censorship
and the repression of bloggers. While these can seem like dry
subjects, many of those who attended the conference had paid a high
price for their determination to express themselves online."
(link)
Lokman Tsui, Annenberg School"Its a bit overwhelming, imagine
hearing all the different forms of censorship practices worldwide
in one day and it only reinforces the importance of open spaces
online. Sometimes the discussion about censorship can become quite
abstract - but the discussions today ground us back into reality
again." (link)
Photos by: Joi Ito, Neha Viswanathan, Amira Al-Hussaini, Elia
Varela Serra