Can bloggers save Darfur?
A couple of bloggers in the past few days have been considering what the blogosphere can do for Darfur.
Our friends at Global Voices tipped me off to the We Blog for Darfur initiative. And Google Blogoscoped asks the question: "Is there anything that we can do - with our knowledge of means and methods of communication - to get world leaders to act, finally, to prevent the death and suffering of millions of people?"
One of the issues facing bloggers is whether it is best to start new initiatives or to focus on boosting existing ones.
A routine search on Youtube for 'Darfur' gave me nearly four hundred videos including several covering September's 'Day for Darfur' protests, advocacy networks targeting politicians -- Genocide Intervention Network -- and TV executives -- beawitness.org.
What has struck me, however, is the shortage of material coming from Darfur itself. I've written elsewhere on this blog about the UN envoy's extraordinary diplomacy blog, and Sleepless in Sudan was for a while a riveting eyewitness account of reality on the ground.
But there isn't much else. And my question for bloggers is this: what, if anything, can be done to encourage more bloggers from the scene to give us the reality of life in this conflict?
Any views expressed in this article are those of the author and not of Reuters.
7 responses to “Can bloggers save Darfur?”
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Mark Jones is Global Community Editor for Reuters and has run AlertNet for nearly five years. He's interested in what makes media reporting of humanitarian crises so inconsistent and whether bloggers can fill the gap.
27 Nov 2006 08:21:04 GMT
Mark, Anything you can do to promote The Darfur Wall, http://darfurwall.org - will be vastly appreciated.
In response to your last question, Nicholas Kristof of the New York Times has a series of articles written from Darfur, as well as videos, and a blog.27 Nov 2006 08:21:44 GMT
Here is one innovative, audacious effort to 'do something' - The Darfur Wall - http://darfurwall.org. This site combines metaphor, Web 2.0 concepts, imagination, design vision, and hope. It aims to enlist 400,000 people to combat the violence in Darfur.
A lot of people deplore the 21st centuryâs first genocide but feel powerless to have any impact on events that are happening thousands of miles away. The Darfur Wall will bring thousands of these people together to empower them. There is strength in numbers. Donât say you donât know, or donât know what to do. No one can stop the violence or end the conflict overnight, but we can all contribute in some measure, and by working together we can be effective. Visit the Darfur Wall and join with thousands of others!28 Nov 2006 09:31:58 GMT
OK, and get world leaders to do what, exactly about Darfur? Invade? Bomb pharmaceutical factories? Impose crippling sanctions?
I'm sure there are some other better things that could be done too. Just be careful what you wish for. Who would trust Bush & Blair (or the UN for that matter given how well things are going in Kosovo and Timor Leste) to do a good job making the lives of people in Darfur better?29 Nov 2006 15:15:25 GMT
Hi, I hope you can take the time to read this
http://www.mideastyouth.com29 Nov 2006 15:15:49 GMT
Simon, drop by my blog more often if you can. I discuss those things on regular basis.
For a start let's get the AU troops strengthened.29 Nov 2006 18:30:07 GMT
http://sudanesethinker.com
30 Nov 2006 12:00:27 GMT
Cooper, as the comment above yours shows, Drima is the Sudanese Thinker, and he's one of the leaders of this campaign.
Also, I'm very glad that you're blogging about this often. Keep it up.