Global Voices – Frontline Club

Libya: Reporting the advance on Tripoli

Daniel Bennett — Mon, 22 Aug 2011 14:35:38 +0000

Rebel forces have jubilantly entered the Libyan capital Tripoli, although fighting still continues in several parts of the city.

For a round up of the latest news check out this list on the Small Wars Journal website.

Here are a few articles that have caught my eye relevant to the reporting of the rebel advance.

The BBC’s reporting

A) Blogger Iain Dale apologises for his tweet about the "wimp of a reporter on the BBC wearing a flak jacket" at the Rixos hotel.

B) BBC: Why war reporters are a breed apart

"Last night in a highly volatile situation, the BBC team in Zawiya, along with other major broadcasters judged it was not safe to continue with the rebels on the road into Tripoli."

C) The convoy that Correspondent Rupert Wingfield-Hayes was travelling with runs into sustained fire from government forces.

Praise for Sky News’ Coverage

Correspondent Alex Crawford wins praise for her live coverage from the advance towards Tripoli facilitated by an Apple Mac Pro, a mini-satellite dish and a car cigarette lighter socket.

The Libyan Blogosphere

An analysis of coverage available on blogs by Global Voices:

"Six months on and it is heartbreaking to look at how eerie the Libyan blogosphere is, row upon row of bloggers in Libya are silent because of the Libyan war. From the silent ones you realize that they are in the cities under Gaddafi control and therefore have no access to the internet."

Libya Twitter list

A useful list of Twitter users in Libya compiled by Mike Hills.

Twitter reaction to the Korean border clash

Daniel Bennett — Tue, 23 Nov 2010 11:43:32 +0000

Earlier today North and South Korea engaged in a cross-border clash. The North fired on the island of Yeonpyeong, shelling the area for about an hour. According to the South Koreans two Marines were killed and four civilians were injured in the attack.

The South returned fire while around 1,600 residents on the island fled for shelter. Both sides have claimed the other fired first.

Prior to the engagement, North Korea sent a message to the South saying they would not "just sit back" while the South Koreans conducted live fire military exercises – the annual Hoguk drills.

Global Voices has an interesting round up of Twitter updates circulating in South Korea in response to the skirmish. Lee Yoo Eun, has picked out a number of tweets and translated them into English giving a flavour of the discussion online:

"Just seconds after the news broke, South Koreans tweeted madly regarding possible future scenarios and evacuation plans, as well as re-tweeting news updates.

"Many scoured for accurate sources, as some unconfirmed rumors, such as North Korean leader Kim Jong-il had died, circulated online.

"Twitterers, quoting friends in the army, said the Korean peninsula was in a near-war situation. South Korea’s presidential office, Cheongwadae (@BlueHouseKorea) has tried to calm public sentiment."

Should local voices replace foreign correspondents?

Daniel Bennett — Thu, 16 Sep 2010 09:00:29 +0000

Solana Larsen, one of the co-founders of Global Voices, argues that local bloggers and journalists are able to connect us deeply to the stories they tell and are unencumbered by the news production process in Western media newsrooms:

"Events don’t look the same when they are told from the inside out. I am reminded of this daily as I compare our stories with those I see in newspapers.

And I know what we do is special when I hear from foreign news reporters who have to fight with editors to be allowed to tell (or sell) important stories from abroad.

If they do not have the luxury of reporting to an international audience, they must also find a local angle so that Western audiences will connect with the story from something other than a human angle."