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21 Jun 2009 22:13

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Politics, Tech: Dear Washington Post columnists: Give Twitter credit for Iran

  • What the heck, guys?

    John Palfrey, Bruce Etling and Robert Faris, you guys don’t get it. You just don’t. A lengthy response to the Twitter protest tool phenomenon is not the way to go.

    You tore it apart for the very reasons it’s useful, such as its brevity (the revolution will not be in speech form), the fact that lots of people use it and create a glut of information (much of which is retweets), and the fact that dissenters on both sides can use it.

    You have one moderately valid point: The government can block the access. Good thing they’re using proxy servers!

    source
  • What the heck, guys?

    John Palfrey, Bruce Etling and Robert Faris, you guys don’t get it. You just don’t. A lengthy response to the Twitter protest tool phenomenon is not the way to go.

    You tore it apart for the very reasons it’s useful, such as its brevity (the revolution will not be in speech form), the fact that lots of people use it and create a glut of information (much of which is retweets), and the fact that dissenters on both sides can use it.

    You have one moderately valid point: The government can block the access. Good thing they’re using proxy servers!

  • A bad example

    Here’s the real reason why you really don’t get it – you credited Andrew Sullivan for creating the hype around the protests, rather than the protesters themselves.

    We’d like to use the example of @iranriggedelect. We were an early follower of the great resource, and we recommended them when they had three followers. Now they have 10,000+.

    And of course, Twitter had to nudge CNN. Face it – Twitter isn’t people just talking. It’s media. And this media works differently.

    Please figure out why. source

21 Jun 2009 11:37

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Politics, World: Iran’s parliament speaker calls out the Guardian Council

  • Although the Guardian Council is made up of religious individuals, I wish certain members would not side with a certain presidential candidate.
  • Iranian Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani • In statements critical of the Guardian Council, some members of which are transparent with their preferences of who wins (Mahmoud Ahmadinejad). • source

20 Jun 2009 23:36

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Politics, World: Analyst: Iran’s government is making a big mistake

  • Now they’ll have to hold their ground and hope that people don’t keep coming back. But history has taught us that people in these situations lose their initial sense of fear and become emboldened by brutality.
  • Mehrdad Khonsari • A consultant for the Center for Arab and Iranian Studies, based in London. Khonsari says that he feels the regime is taking an “enormous risk” by handling things this way. It could make things worse for them in the long run. • source

19 Jun 2009 15:55

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Biz, Politics: Thoughts on the news industry in light of a recent crisis

  • What happened? A group that our site has personal ties with, the Society for News Design, lost its president in an ugly and public way. Other sites have covered it much better than we can and will, but suffice it to say, a professional newspaper organization with a long, storied history and thousands of members will struggle to regain its formidable swagger. And honestly, it sucks.
  • Why is this? Ultimately, SND’s problems are a microcosm for the rest of the news industry. They’ve lost members in the wake of massive news-industry layoffs, and many former members complain that the organization focuses too much on big picture surface details at the loss of its rank and file. News companies do the same thing; they’re laying off their future right now.
  • What happened? A group that our site has personal ties with, the Society for News Design, lost its president in an ugly and public way. Other sites have covered it much better than we can and will, but suffice it to say, a professional newspaper organization with a long, storied history and thousands of members will struggle to regain its formidable swagger. And honestly, it sucks.
  • Why is this? Ultimately, SND’s problems are a microcosm for the rest of the news industry. They’ve lost members in the wake of massive news-industry layoffs, and many former members complain that the organization focuses too much on big picture surface details at the loss of its rank and file. News companies do the same thing; they’re laying off their future right now.
  • What do we change? Ultimately, SND – and the news industry in general – has to function with the Internet instead of around it. Most newspapers are organized around themselves. The Internet doesn’t cluster to walled gardens – it clusters to smart little ideas here and there. Find ways to play inside the new rules. The old rules don’t work. The structure of news needs a redesign.

19 Jun 2009 15:16

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Politics, World: Iran presidential candidate Mehdi Karoubi: Cancel the vote

  • Accept the Iranian nation’s will by canceling the vote and guarantee the establishment’s survival.
  • Mehdi Karoubi • An Iranian presidential candidate who was the only cleric to run. He, along with high-attention opposition candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi and other guy Mohsen Rezaie, will meet with the Guardian Council tomorrow to consider complaints. Keep in mind, though, that they’ll be talking to this guy. And this guy is transparently in favor of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. So, this will be a tough day for these three dudes. • source

17 Jun 2009 21:50

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Politics, Tech: You’re lying to yourself if you think you’ll make money blogging

  • Google ads pay almost nothing. Banner ads are worth almost nothing, and the market for advertising has cratered with the Great Recession.
  • Blogger Jake Seliger • Who combined the main points of two articles we recently posted about to make the argument that we’ll never make money blogging. But it doesn’t mean we won’t keep trying. Because we’re crazy and apparently aren’t sure how to stop. • source

17 Jun 2009 11:13

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Politics, World: Could Iran’s Supreme Leader throw Ahmadinejad over?

  • I think it’s certainly within the realm of possibilities. And I would argue, John, Ahmadinejad doesn’t necessarily have the loyalty of the Revolutionary Guards and the Basiege.
  • Karim Sadjadpour • An Iranian expert with the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, speaking to CNN on whether Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has the support that would allow him to remain leader under that strife he’s facing. Because, in the case of Ayatollah Khamenei, it’s about his survival, too.  • source
 

16 Jun 2009 20:24

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Politics, World: This quote about the Iran protests pretty much says it all

  • 140 characters is a novel when you’re being shot at.
  • A Twitter user based in Tehran • Responsible for the quote of the day. (By request of the user, we’ve removed credit. Tweeters have requested not to be retweeted with their usernames for fear of being arrested.) • source

16 Jun 2009 18:26

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Culture, Politics: Oh, whatever: Protesters ask for David Letterman’s firing

Whatever guys. It was just a joke he made about an opportunist politician. (Yeah, we said it. Sarah Palin is opportunist.) source

15 Jun 2009 18:12

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Politics, U.S.: Dick Cheney rebuffs criticism from CIA leader Leon Panetta

  • I hope my old friend Leon was misquoted. The important
    thing is whether the Obama administration will continue the policies that have kept us safe for the past eight years.
  • Former Vice President Dick Cheney • On CIA head Leon Panetta’s calling out of Cheney for apparent questionable motives in his sudden re-emergence into the public eye. We want to see which of these old guys would win in a no-holds-barred cage match. We’re guessing Cheney because he would probably start biting first. By the way, John McCain has Cheney’s back in this case. • source