Of particular note is “The Revolutions Were Tweeted,” which is presented here in a very cool graphic.

Also, my paper co-authored with Sahar El Zahed, ” “I’ll Be Waiting for You Guys”: A YouTube Call to Action in the Egyptian Revolution,” which focuses on the videos created by youth activist Asmaa Mahfouz and argues that a new political media logic has formed in Egypt, is part of the collection. (See original video below.)

Image via Wikipedia

The US version of the UK’s Guardian has arrived.

In their explanation for why they are attempting to crack the insular American market, they mention the popularity of their Middle East and other international coverage with US audiences.

Why might they succeed?

My research with Douglas Bicket suggests: “Cultural familiarity” for US readers along with “shared vales of Anglo-American journalism.”  Different but not too different.  British news overall is more aggressive and cheekier (and some claim sloppier) than American.  They thrive on reporting from around the world.  They talk back to politicians.  They’re not afraid of Rupert Murdoch.

Where might they have trouble?

Consider The Guardian’s attempt to insert itself into the US Presidential election in 2004 when it launched a letter writing campaign in a county in Ohio. They  asked their global audience to contact residents in Clark County (the Guardian would supply addresses of registered voters)  and explain to them how their vote affected people all over the world due to US foreign policy.  While newspaper “campaigns” are common in Britain, this one at least didn’t take with American audiences.

A huge backlash ensued.  Their site was hacked and the American media (don’t like competition do we?) piled on.

Good luck to the Guardian.  You may need it.

Image via Wikipedia

My paper co-authored with Treepon Kirdnark about geotagging Flickr photographs of Muslims will appear in a forthcoming issue of new Media &  Society.

We argue that geotags  - markers designating longitude and latitude on an online map – associated with photographs of Thailand’s Muslims might be replicating common stereotypes of that minority group.  LIke in the US, most Thais are part of a majority religion (for them, Buddhism) but there is in fact a diverse range of Muslims in Thailand (ethnically Malay Muslims, Chinese Muslims, South Asian and Middle Eastern Muslims, etc.)

Our findings are interesting in part because the arguments about participatory media are that they open up new spaces and news ways of representing previously ignored groups.  Yet our research suggests that isn’t necessarily so.   One reason may be the lack of Thai participation on Flickr and similar sites.

Photo by Ell Brown, Creative Commons License

In two studies — “Window on a Wider World“ and “BBC News in the U.S.: A ‘Super-Alternative’ News Medium Emerges” – Dougie Bicket and I argued that elite British news media such as the BBC, The Economist and the Guardian experienced large increases in US audiences not long after 911.  We suggested that the British news media were filling a void created by shrinking US international news coverage as well as providing a broader range of liberal political views.

The BBC in particular carries an aura of credibility and independence from US forces that sets it apart from US mainstream news media.  Yet its rise is not without problems. The conservative triad of blogs, print media and think tanks try to keep even foreign media such as the BBC in line once they show up on our shores. (See The “Baghdad Broadcasting Corporation”: US conservatives take aim at the BBC).

Photo by Satsueisha Wiki (Creative Commons)

With Thailand’s elections coming up in a few days, I thought it was worth mentioning that I’ve got a couple of book chapters (co-authored with Bangkok University’s Treepon Kirdnark) on the intersections of participatory media and Thai politics coming out later this year.

“Digitizing Discontent: YouTube and Thailand’s Red Shirt Uprising” will appear in Ralph Berenger’s edited volume, Social Media Go to War: Rage, Rebellion and Revolution in the Age of Twitter.   

“The Blogosphere in the ‘Land of Smiles’: Citizen Media and Political Conflict in Thailand” will be part of Tatyana Dumova and Richard Fiordo’s  Blogging in the Global Society: Cultural, Political and Geographical Aspects.

With all the attention on the Middle East, it’s worth considering how other parts of the world are using networked communication forms amidst political turmoil.