p2p news / p2pnet:- It’s a given that the lamescream media don’t like bloggers, who are steadily undermining the status quo, showing ‘traditional’ outlets up for what they’ve become: VVIs (Vehicles for Vested Interests).

Major newspapers and other concerns run their own blogs, but that’s because they have to and deep down, they know citizen journalistst are gradually becoming the sources people turn to for unspun news and information.

However, this also means bloggers are becoming targets and with this in mind, the EFF (Electronic Frontier Foundation) released How to Blog Safely (About Work or Anything Else) and the Legal Guide for Bloggers.

Now Reporters Without Borders has published the Handbook for Bloggers and Cyber-Dissidents.

“Blogs get people excited,” says the intro. “Or else they disturb and worry them. Some people distrust them. Others see them as the vanguard of a new information revolution. Because they allow and encourage ordinary people to speak up, they’re tremendous tools of freedom of expression.”

Read on >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Bloggers are often the only real journalists in countries where the mainstream media is censored or under pressure. Only they provide independent news, at the risk of displeasing the government and sometimes courting arrest.

Reporters Without Borders has produced this handbook to help them, with handy tips and technical advice on how to to remain anonymous and to get round censorship, by choosing the most suitable method for each situation. It also explains how to set up and make the most of a blog, to publicise it (getting it picked up efficiently by search-engines) and to establish its credibility through observing basic ethical and journalistic principles.

Bloggers need to be anonymous when they are putting out information that risks their safety. The cyber-police are watching and have become expert at tracking down “troublemakers.” This handbook gives advice on how to post material without revealing who you are (“How to blog anonymously,” by Ethan Zuckerman). It’s best of course to have the technical skills to be anonymous online, but following a few simple rules can sometimes do the trick. This advice is of course not for those (terrorists, racketeers or pedophiles) who use the Internet to commit crimes. The handbook is simply to help bloggers encountering opposition because of what they write to maintain their freedom of expression.

However, the main problem for a blogger, even under a repressive regime, isn’t security. “It’s about getting the blog known, finding an audience. A blog without any readers won’t worry the powers-that-be, but what’s the point of it? This handbook makes technical suggestions to make sure a blog gets picked up by the major search-engines (the article by Olivier Andrieu), and gives some more “journalistic” tips about this (“What really makes a blog shine,” by Mark Glaser).

Some bloggers face the problem of filtering. Most authoritarian regimes now have the technical means to censor the Internet. In Cuba or Vietnam, you won’t be able to access websites that criticise the government or expose corruption or talk about human rights abuses. So-called “illegal” and “subversive” content is automatically blocked by filters. But all bloggers need free access to all sites and to the blogosphere or the content of their blogs will become irrelevant.

The second part of the handbook is about ways to get round filtering (“Choosing circumvention,” by Nart Villeneuve). With a bit of common-sense, perseverance and especially by picking the right tools, any blogger should be able to overcome censorship. The handbook has technical advice and tips about how to set up a good blog. But a successful one is harder to ensure. To stand out in the crowd, you must be original and post news or opinions neglected by the mainstream media. In some countries, bloggers are mainly worried about staying out of jail. In others, they try to establish their credibility as a source of reliable information. Not all bloggers have the same problems, but all of them, in their different ways, are on the frontline in the fight for freedom of expression.

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Here’s what the guide is all about:

BLOGGERS, THE NEW HERALDS OF FREE EXPRESSION
Julien Pain

WHAT’S A BLOG ?
Pointblog.com

THE LANGUAGE OF BLOGGING
Pointblog.com

CHOOSING THE BEST TOOL
Cyril Fiévet and Marc-Olivier Peyer

HOW TO SET UP AND RUN A BLOG
The Civiblog system
Citizenlab

WHAT ETHICS SHOULD BLOGGERS HAVE ?
Dan Gillmor

GETTING YOUR BLOG PICKED UP BY SEARCH-ENGINES
Olivier Andrieu

WHAT REALLY MAKES A BLOG SHINE ?
Mark Glaser

PERSONAL ACCOUNTS

• GERMANY: “We promote civil and human rights”
Markus Beckedahl
• BAHRAIN: “We’ve broken the government’s news monopoly.”
Chan’ad Bahraini
• USA: “Now I can write what I think”
Jay Rosen
• HONG KONG: “I kept my promise to those who died”
Yan Sham-Shackleton
• IRAN: “We can write freely in blogs”
Arash Sigarchi
• NEPAL: “We tell the outside world what’s happening”
Radio Free Nepal

HOW TO BLOG ANONYMOUSLY
Ethan Zuckerman

TECHNICAL WAYS TO GET ROUND CENSORSHIP
Nart Villeneuve

ENSURING YOUR E-MAIL IS TRULY PRIVATE
Ludovic Pierrat

INTERNET-CENSOR WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
Julien Pain

Get the guide here, and as a back-up, we also have a copy here.

Something you think we should know? tips[at]p2pnet.net

First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win

- Mohandas Gandhi

This entry was posted on Friday, September 23rd, 2005 at 1:03 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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