Municipalist

Video: Israeli New York Consulate leverages social media to engage the world

David Saranga was kind enough to answer Municipalist's questions back in January 2009 about the world's first Twitter press conference held by a government office, in this case Israel's New York Consulate.

"Since we entered Twitter, I think the definition of public diplomacy has changed," Saranga says in this video.

Saranga told Municipalist: "Our Twitter account has been an effective tool for communicating and dialoguing directly with people all over the world. Some of these people may never have had access to Israel’s messages, which we could share with them through Twitter, and now they have the ability to speak directly with the Israeli government."

State Department to Twitter: The world needs you

The U.S. State Department has apparently actually asked Twitter to postpone a scheduled maintenance downtime so that tweets from Iran can continue to the outside world following that country's sham elections this weekend, and CNN is all over it.

The irony is that the Twittersphere was burning up over the last few days with claims that CNN had ignored the Iranian election story on its networks.

The "CNN FAIL" movement now even has its own blog.

More from Reuters on State Department and Twitter.

Among the recommended Twitter users from Iran to follow: @persiankiwi, who as of this moment has more than 22,000 followers.

Continuing its enthusiastic rush to utter irrelevance, the U.S. State Department blog Dipnote is silent on the entire affair.

Chinese government finally engages its people

More great cartoons can be found at Cagle.com.

British Foreign Office embraces Web dialogue

I first came to learn about the impressive blogging operation from the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) when Stephen Hale, whose title at FCO is Head of Engagement--Digital Diplomacy, linked his blog to Municipalist. I was immediately taken by how enthusiastically Britain's equivalent to the U.S. Department of State had embraced the Web.

For instance: Britain's Foreign Secretary, David Miliband, blogs frequently. That is: Posts appear under his name, and seem to be authentic. Miliband had experience blogging even before taking over the top diplomatic post in 2007, as he explained on his site:

"Politics should be about dialogue and debate, and new technology makes this more possible than ever. But the gap between politicians and the public seems to be growing.

"This is why in my last ministerial job I began writing a blog. I found it a great way to engage with people: to explain my work and my thinking in a more personal and less formal way than the usual Ministerial speeches; and to hear directly what people thought of what I was doing."

Miliband seems completely at home in the format, calmly and directly blogging about a variety of issues controversial and otherwise. He reads an article he likes, he blogs about it. He sees a controversial report about Hamas, he blogs about it. No fears. The result is the man comes off as accessible, thoughtful, engaged.

No American Secretary of State has attempted regular blogging under his or her own name. A new program called Text the Secretary places obviously staff-written words under the byline of Hillary Clinton. The result is formal, stilted, dull, and simply nowhere near as engaging as Miliband's posts.

Like the U.S. Department of State, the British Foreign Office is also active on Twitter, YouTube, and Flickr.

It is my intention to track down Mr. Hale and others from the FCO blogging network in the coming days for a Q & A. Stay tuned.

Q & A: The story behind the first Twitter 'citizen's press conference'

The Consulate General of Israel in New York City took a big step forward into the social media universe on Dec. 30,  2008, the day it hosted a 'citizen's press conference' on Twitter. War in Gaza was of course the topic at hand. [See our post on that day for more details and examples of some tweeted questions and answers.] The live event attracted attention from around the world, creating quite a buzz across the Internet as well as throughout mainstream press.

David Saranga, Consul for Media and Public Affairs, and his team answered our questions. Text in brackets are my adds:

What actually inspired the idea for your Citizen's Press Conference on Twitter? When we logged on to Twitter at the start of the recent operation, we found a spirited debate, often, but not always, on the issues. Some of these conversations were promoting anonymous and distorting information. We decided the best thing we could do as part of the government of Israel would be to join the discussion and provide an official, credible and informed voice.

We have been working for some time with the new media, through outlets such as our blogs, IsRealli (the first governmental blog) and IsraelPolitik [ " ... as a platform for the Consulate General of Israel in New York to directly address audiences throughout the world and to serve as a vehicle to better communicate the State of Israel’s message of hope and peace"], Facebook, and MYSpace. We have noticed the growing popularity of Twitter, especially during the recent American Presidential campaign, and, since we already had similar platforms, began thinking of ways in which communicating via Twitter could help us in our work.

Our search for the best petrodictatorship video blog in the world is finally over!

My wife is fluent in Russian. After the 23-1/2-month-old gets to bed tonight, I am planning on calling her in to my darkened yet cooly-sophisticated office/man cave and requesting she translate the Kremlin Web site for me. [Oddly, this sounds sorta' hot.] In particular, the video blog of President Dmitri Medvedev. Russian's News Agency Novosti reports the site has 3,500 registered users on its second day.

In order to leave a comment on the president's personal video blog, visitors have to register with the official Kremlin site. The registration process requires users to provide a screen name as well as their name, age, education, e-mail address and the country or region where they live.

No word if home addresses will be required. Yet. Which reminds me of a line from Yakov Smirnoff,  a very wacky Russian comedian popular in the U.S.: "In America, you can always find party! In Russia, party finds you."

Also no word if the Medvedev site will be selling Vladimir Putin judo videos.

Such a great, glorious, wonderful country, with amazing people, food, culture, history. Too bad it is run by a pack of corrupt, slimy, journalist-murdering thugs.

One voice of sanity is the leader of a small but determined and sophisticated opposition group called The Other Russia: Garry Kasparov, who uses the Web as well, and very effectively. Here is video of Kasparov on a visit to the U.S. in 2007 (scroll down). And here is a terrific a piece by Kasparov published in the Wall Street Journal this week provocatively but predictably titled: "Why Russia stokes Mideast mayhem." 

National Journal's Tech Daily Dose has a good wrap-up on Medvedev's new blog.

Israeli New York consulate uses Twitter to speak to and listen to the world

[This is updated here.]

It is easy to commend the work of the Israeli consulate in New York City today for its Citizen Press Conference on Twitter. The clear success of the project should go a long way to setting a standard that many governments throughout the world should investigate closely, then immedialy get to work replicating. Simple tool, simple plan, simple to participate, simple to succeed.

Read more about it from the participants here and in the Jerusalem Post here. The team announced it will continue answering questions by end of day Wednesday. Some highlights:

@AriNahmani: What is the biggest misconception about Israel in the current conflict? Thanks from Tel Aviv.

[@israelconsulate]: That Israel provoked it. People forget that 10000+ missiles and mortar rounds have been launched from Gaza since 2001.

@churchillone: How is a police station in Gaza a “military installation”? Stop the lying and please answer me!!!!

[@israelconsulate]: Since Hamas took control over Gaza in 2007, Government installations were turned into Hamas military bases. Today, all Hamas activity is done from Police stations. See: http://dover.idf.il/IDF/English/News/the_Front/08/12/2701.htm

You get the idea. Both questioners for and questioners against are treated the same. With fast, immediate answers. Often with links to more info. Most in 140 characters or less, though some answers were expanded upon at the project's Web site: http://www.israelpolitik.org/.

And to all questioners like the one above, who helpfully insist on including such elegant, oh so smart quadruple exclamation points: Nothing better communicates a calm, thoughtful, reasoned mind. So, thanks!!!

Additionally: Blogger and social media expert AriWriter offers great background and perspective on David Saranga, who has been finding ways to use new media for his cause for awhile now. And here is a photo of Saranga's team at work.

Also: Commentary magazine's blog wonders why YouTube removes Israeli Defense Forces videos.

And here is Benjamin Nethanyahu's YouTube video, saying "imagine your town, your neighborhood, your home was being rocketed again and again by thousands of incoming missiles, again and again. Imagine what you would do."

Q & A: Tracking government bloggers in Romania

"It's the Wild West, really, which is why it's so interesting," says Mihnea Dumitru, a Ph.D. candidate, describing his country's blogosphere. At his blog here, Dumitru tracks the Romanian blogosphere, which he says is characterized by "complete disrespect for intellectual property," he says. "Info is hounded from anywhere and posted without any laws to properly enforce intellectual theft." Yee-ha! He estimates about 100 blogs in that country are published by elected officials.

Dumitru worked in Romania's National Security Department and something called the Antifraud Office. His blog is written in Romanian. Alas. But Dumitru does speak English, and here are his answers to our questions, minus the questions:

I'm a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Bucharest, Romania. I'm of Romanian citizenship, birth and life, although a certain 8 years of that period were spent in South Korea, Canada and the UK. I hold a BA Hon from York University (Toronto) in International Relations and an MA with Merit in Diplomacy from Nottingham University (UK). Having returned to Romania about 4 years ago, I worked for the private and government sectors and am currently PhD-ing, so to speak.

Government blogging gets a start down under

Lindsey Tanner from the Australian newspaper The Age writes about his work on a government blog. Tanner's commenters vary from outright ridicule to total support of the idea.

The ridicule:

"haha a govt blog, OMG spin city eh. Be seen to be doing something. Wasn't this a West Wing story line too?"

The support:

"Given that politicians are elected as representatives of all people, it seems imperative to me that they remain accessible and accountable to all people, a reminder that they're in the job by virtue of our votes (including those who didn't vote for them). Then, given the Internet is the fastest growing information resource on the planet, it makes good sense to set such a blog up. Yes, it will need to be moderated, but I would implore you that it not be censored ... "

Blogging and reform: A team for the ages

Good Christian Science Monitor story here on a serious blogger getting elected to parliament in Malaysia.

Ooi has no regrets about his career switch from IT consultant. “The keyboard is mightier than the sword…. Even a blogger can no longer tolerate the quality of governance that the country is having now,” he says.

I love that: "Even a blogger." Now here is our question: When will this happen in the U.S.?

Georgia-Russia Internet war escalates

The Internet access war between Russia and Georgia is now officially two-way.

Washington Post: Attacks on Georgia Internet infrastructure began long before the tanks rolled

Here is the Washington Post following up on reports about attacks on Georgia's Internet infrastructure:

The Georgian government accused Russia of engaging in cyberwarfare by disabling many government Web sites, making it difficult to inform citizens quickly of important updates. ... The attacks against Georgia's Internet infrastructure began nearly two months before the first shots were fired, according to security researchers who track Internet traffic into and out of the countries. Such attacks, known as "denial of service" attacks, are triggered when computers in a network are simultaneously ordered to bombard a site with millions of requests, which overloads a server and causes it to shut down.

Here are additional details from Defense Tech:

Multiple government websites were down or inaccessible for hours. This led them to make perhaps the most strategic move to date in cyber warfare. This impressive move came when the Georgian Government decided to relocate President Mikhail Saakashvili's web site to a web site hosting service in Atlanta, Georgia in the United States.

The strategic thinking surrounding this move was twofold. First, the Russian cyber attackers would surely think twice about attacking a web site hosted on servers located in the United States. Secondly, if the Russian cyber attackers were to go after the President's web site hosted on U.S. soil, that action might bring the United States into the conflict.

I was told by a Georgian insider that "We were not prepared for the use of computer weapons against our communications infrastructure." Other sources in the Estonian military also told me that they had offered their assistance to the Georgian Government early on in the cyber attack. She said that they (Estonia) had gained valuable knowledge from the forensic analysis of the cyber artifacts left behind after they were attacked in April/May of 2007.

More from New York Times here, Wall Street Journal here.

And we are deep into Day 7 of the Dipnote Blackout.

Georgia government blog stays active, as U.S. State Department blog takes it easy

A blog purporting to be from Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgia is staying busy. Dipnote, the blog purporting to be "The U.S. Department of State Official Blog" is not. As of 11:45 a.m. Eastern time here in the U.S., number of posts to Dipnote mentioning Russia's invasion of Georgia: zero.

But it turns out that the U.S. State Department does know how to blog. Here is a regularly-updated blog from John Matel, whose title is provincial reconstruction team leader in Al Al Asad, Al Anbar Province, Iraq. Informative, and worth a read as you root for the success of this work.

But why can't the State Department make the translation, from Iraq to this ugly but still horrifying war in Georgia? Why not post updates and stories from U.S. diplomats on the ground there? Answer questions from readers, engage, listen, push back, participate?

We have the statement. We want the discussion.

The main State Department site, attractive and efficient, seems to be updated regularly. Dipnote is linked prominently on the right side of that main page, as if to suggest: Click here from some value add. But there is no value. And no add. State Department tweets are silent as well.

Here is the only Georgia government Web site Municipalist can get to based in Georgia, with the ".ge" URL. We have not done an extensive search yet. Many Web sites within Georgia are under attack. From somebody.

State Department blog is silent yet again on another major crisis

Where is the "U.S. Department of State Official Blog" on the shooting war going on between Russia and Georgia? Hours after the rockets began to rain down, no posts at all on this. We have the frustratingly brief statement from the Secretary. But why not make use of the blog for this?

There is precedent.

Report: Malaysian politicians to start blogging

Blogging is big among Malaysian politicians and others in public life, reports Indo-Asian News Service:

Deputy Prime Minister Najib Razak announced that the government would join the ‘cyberwar’ to explain its side of the story on each issue. ...

The bloggers community, which was treated with distrust and even contempt before the last general election, has gained a measure of respectability, with the ruling administration admitting that failure to engage the netizens was a factor in the BN’s poor showing at the polls, The Sun newspaper noted Saturday.

The blog by the country's former long-time prime minister attracted about one million hits in May, IANS reports. Here is more local analysis from blogger Lester Chan.

Head of HHS blogs from China

Secretary of Health and Human Services Mike Leavitt has been blogging since August 2007. Recent posts have been from Leavitt's visit to China. Including one post about "traditional Chinese medicine."

A number of months ago, Municipalist made a request with Leavitt's staff to have the secretary participate in an email Q & A. The staff member was hopeful, but after a couple weeks then finally told us that the answer is no. The staff member said he had no idea why. The offer still stands, Mike.

Blogs in Africa open new avenues not only for free speech, but for propaganda

From Christian Science Monitor: the complicated story of blogging in Africa.

Argentina Parliament members are blogging

For Weblogs Parlamentarios Argentinos, check out Diario de Gestion.  If only the U.S. Congress were as wired.

Putin seeks to shut down Russian bloggers

A Russian blogger has been charged with 'inciting hate' for writing on a popular Web site that thug cops should be incinerated.

"The case comes at a time of growing concerns in Russia that authorities have begun to tighten control over the Internet," reports AP. "Web logs, online newspapers, chat rooms and other Internet sites have emerged as a vibrant source of critical news and commentary in Russia, compared with much of the national media.

"During outgoing President Vladimir Putin eight years in office, much of the once-critical mainstream media has been brought to heel. Major television stations have been taken over by the state, or by state-owned corporations. Reporters often resort to self-censorship fearing retribution by officials."

China blogger beaten to death

The real face of China is revealed again and again, but too many around the world choose to turn away. Here is a chilling account of the death of a blogger in China who simply raised his cellphone to record a demonstration. Reporters Without Borders has worked to get the word out to the world. The reaction in China as well has been shock, reports CNN.

Advice for Ayman, or: Ask a Terrorist

With rumors today of another Bin Laden video on the way, Municipalist offers recent words of wisdom from Andy Carvin, of National Public Radio, whose blog analyzes all things Web. 2.0. Last week, Carvin helpfully offered some social media advice to Ayman Al-Zawahiri, after a previous video arrived with a brief note announcing that Osama Bin Laden's wing man would like to take questions from the public and answer them in a future video. From Carvin's oddly serious tips:

Consider tagging. One failing of the YouTube debate was that users had to go to YouTube to submit their questions. 10questions.com, on the other hand, let users go to a variety of uploading tools and then "tag" that content with a keyword, so it could be aggregated easily. For example, if you told users to upload their question to whatever site they chose (including their own blog) and tag it AskDrZawahiri or AskATerrorist, you'd go a long way in terms of winning kudos from folks who are skeptical of anything YouTube does.

And:

Remember to have fun with it. You're bound to get lots of questions like "How could a person trained to do no harm adopt a philosophy that seeks to do as much harm to innocent people as is humanly possible?" or "What do you expect to gain from killing so many of your fellow Muslims?" Try mixing it up a bit and consider questions like, "So Ayman - what's the story with your forehead?" You know you're bound to have that question rise through the voting ranks like a softball question for Ron Paul, so why not embrace it? You know we're all dying to know.

Russia rising: This time on the Web

Vladimir Putin is no blogger, but Russian government officials are finally learning that the Web has power, reports the Washington Post, and that is not good news for the cause of freedom there:

Allies of President Vladimir Putin are creating pro-government news and pop culture Web sites while purchasing some established online outlets known for independent journalism. They are nurturing a network of friendly bloggers ready to disseminate propaganda on command. And there is talk of creating a new Russian computer network -- one that would be separate from the Internet at large and, potentially, much easier for the authorities to control. ...

Many people here say they believe Putin didn't mind a free Internet as long as it had weak penetration in Russia. But with 25 percent of Russian adults now online, up from 8 percent in 2002, cyberspace has become an issue of increasing concern for the government.

Some Russian Internet experts say a turning point came in 2004, when blogs and uncensored online publications helped drive a popular uprising in Ukraine after a pro-Moscow candidate was declared the winner of a presidential election. Days of street protests in the capital, Kiev, led to a new vote that brought a pro-Western politician into the presidency.

Today, the Kremlin is ready with online forces of its own when street action begins.

It's a scarier piece than these excerpts show. One question: How many U.S. office holders, instead of blogging themselves, are "making use of a network of friendly bloggers ready to disseminate propaganda on command"?  Meaning not the innumerable bloggers supporting a particular presidential candidate, but instead the increasing cozy relationships between local/state officials and local bloggers. As bloggers of local issues and races and candidates gain more influence, and this is happening rapidly, this will continue.

Important piece. Click through both jumps at the Post and read the whole thing.

Governments cracking down on bloggers

Municipalist wonders: If more government leaders themselves were regular bloggers, would there be so much recent bad news for bloggers around the world? The Washington Post finds quite a bit to worry about within the annual Reporters Without Borders ranking of press freedoms among 169 countries around the world:

Government repression in some countries has shifted from journalists to bloggers, with the vitality of the Internet triggering a more focused crackdown as blogs increasingly take the place of mainstream news media, according to Lucie Morillon, Washington director of the advocacy group Reporters Without Borders.

"Countries that were not sentencing journalists to prison terms anymore have been doing it these last months for bloggers. This is the case in Egypt and Jordan," she said yesterday as the group released its sixth annual World Press Freedom Index. Egypt ranked 146th and Jordan 122nd in press freedom among the 169 countries for which data were available.

The Reporters Without Borders ranking is here. BBC also has this:

According to the group at least 64 people are currently imprisoned worldwide because of postings on the web, eight of them in Vietnam.

They flagged up the case of Abdel Kareem Soliman, an Egyptian blogger jailed for four years after he used his web log to criticise the country's top Islamic institution, al-Azhar university, and President Hosni Mubarak, whom he called a dictator.

Now, to be clear: Obviously, this is not to suggest that if only Hosni Mubarak had his own blog, Egyptian bloggers would not be treated so cruelly. My larger point is simply that blogging is certainly a powerful tool for freedom. So what would that energy look like if it came also from within governments, and not just from without?