Recently, Random House published a book by Robert Pape titled Dying to Win: The Strategic Logic of Suicide Terrorism (2005). The book looks at what we know from many news reports of suicide bombing attacks in the Middle East. Here is an excerpt from the Wikipedia article about the book:
Pape claims to have compiled the world’s first “database of every suicide bombing and attack around the globe from 1980 through 2003 — 315 attacks in all” (3). “The data show that there is little connection between suicide terrorism and Islamic fundamentalism, or any one of the world’s religions. . . . Rather, what nearly all suicide terrorist attacks have in common is a specific secular and strategic goal: to compel modern democracies to withdraw military forces from territory that the terrorists consider to be their homeland” (4). It is important that Americans understand this growing phenomenon (4-7).
from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dying_to_Win accessed 2/25/09
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Suicide Attacks
Friday, February 20, 2009
WikiNews
If you don't know about WikiNews, you've got to learn about it. The journalists at WikiNews very much have the spirit of We Are The News. Here is the link to their home page:
http://en.wikinews.org/wiki/Main_Page
I see the Google Page Rank of their home page today is 6/10 and their Alexa Traffic Rank is 12,411. Those are pretty good numbers, especially the traffic ranking.
The WikiNews people have developed their sense of purpose over time. Initially, they published a manifesto. Here is an excerpt from that manifesto:
We seek to promote the idea of the citizen journalist, because we believe that everyone can make a useful contribution to painting the big picture of what is happening in the world around us. The time has come to create a free news source, by the people and for the people. At the moment, only a small minority of us can participate, but you are free to help us find practical methods of crossing this digital divide. We invite you to join us in this effort which has the potential to change the world forever. excerpted from http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikinews_manifesto accessed 2/20/09
Subsequently, the manifesto was revised to the following Mission Statement:
Wikinews seeks to create a free source of news, where every human being is invited to contribute reports about events large and small, either from direct experience, or summarized from elsewhere.
While Wikinews aims to be a useful resource of its own, it will also provide an alternative to proprietary news agencies like the Associated Press or Reuters; that is, it will allow independent media outfits to get a high quality feed of news free of charge to complement their own reporting.
Wikinews follows key principles which have made Wikipedia and other Wikimedia websites what they are today: neutrality, free content, and an open decision making process. from http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikinews#Mission_statement accessed 2/20/09
The current Mission Statement at WikiNews reads as follows:
To present up-to-date, relevant, newsworthy and entertaining content without bias
Wikinews promotes the idea of participatory journalism because of the belief that citizens know what is news like no others. You are invited to join in this effort, and share news that is of interest to you.
The Wikinews project is a free content news source of the Wikimedia Foundation that seeks to provide content where everyone is invited to contribute reports about events large and small, either from direct experience, or summarized from elsewhere. Wikinews is founded on the idea to build a unique news environment to enrich the media landscape.
Wikinews' use extends beyond original reports, by providing free, neutral, integrated summaries of the news from elsewhere. It will already be useful even if the subject range covered will be full of gaps—because in these subject areas, we will already benefit from the collaborative wiki model. It will grow to become more useful every day.
While Wikinews aims to one day be a useful resource of its own, it will also provide an alternative to proprietary news agencies like the Associated Press or Reuters; that is, it will allow independent media outfits to get a high quality feed of news free of charge to complement their own reporting. Thanks to copyleft, anyone can create their own free news source—even a non-neutral one—on the basis of this work.
There are many challenges. Wikinews adopted the key principles that made Wikipedia and the other Wikimedia websites what they are today: neutral, free content and open decision-making processes. from http://en.wikinews.org/wiki/Wikinews accessed 2/20/09
The citizen journalist (i.e., you, me and everyone else with access to the internet) can learn from WikiNews how to prepare an article for publication at WikiNews by reading their page at http://en.wikinews.org/wiki/Wikinews:Writing_an_article.
And now you know something about WikiNews!
As We Transition
As we transition away from newspapers and toward online news journals, we may stop to consider whether we agree with the position taken by Sara Stein Lichtman of New York. She likes the content she's getting in newspapers and is glad to spend money to get the paper rather than look for the newspaper online, avoid paying anything for the news and, in so doing, contribute to the demise of the newspaper. Read her Letter to the Editor of the NY Times:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/13/opinion/l13news.html?ref=todayspaper
I expect the NY Times, the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal and other newspapers will begin partnering with internet providers. The news providers will be able to provide news to subscribers on a "for your eyes only" basis. Subscribers will not be able to redistribute any portion of the news that the owners/providers of the news don't want redistributed.
What We Call The News
from http://sendables.jibjab.com/originals/what_we_call_the_news
We Are The News dot net
Tonight while surfing the net I found www.wearethenews.net.
JOIN our website and be part of «We Are The News» — a news correspondents network in the Middle East and in the Balkans.
Stories & Opinions provide you an insight into two fascinating regions.
Based in Switzerland, this website serves as an opportunity for young people in the Middle East region and in the Balkans to author articles and podcasts about their immediate environment. Every contribution is reviewed by professional journalists from the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) and from the Swiss National Television (SF). «We Are The News» correspondents also get personal feedback on how to improve their writing and researching skills. The aim of wearethenews.net is to foster independent media coverage, brought to you by engaged and critical thinking young people. To find out more, click join.
Unfortunately, when I click on the "join" link, what I get is the following:
Header
Main Content
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit. Praesent aliquam, justo convallis luctus rutrum, erat nulla fermentum diam, at nonummy quam ante ac quam. Maecenas urna purus, fermentum id, molestie in, commodo porttitor, felis. Nam blandit quam ut lacus. Quisque ornare risus quis ligula. Phasellus tristique purus a augue condimentum adipiscing. Aenean sagittis. Etiam leo pede, rhoncus venenatis, tristique in, vulputate at, odio. Donec et ipsum et sapien vehicula nonummy. Suspendisse potenti. Fusce varius urna id quam. Sed neque mi, varius eget, tincidunt nec, suscipit id, libero. In eget purus. Vestibulum ut nisl. Donec eu mi sed turpis feugiat feugiat. Integer turpis arcu, pellentesque eget, cursus et, fermentum ut, sapien. Fusce metus mi, eleifend sollicitudin, molestie id, varius et, nibh. Donec nec libero.
H2 level heading
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit. Praesent aliquam, justo convallis luctus rutrum, erat nulla fermentum diam, at nonummy quam ante ac quam. Maecenas urna purus, fermentum id, molestie in, commodo porttitor, felis. Nam blandit quam ut lacus. Quisque ornare risus quis ligula. Phasellus tristique purus a augue condimentum adipiscing. Aenean sagittis. Etiam leo pede, rhoncus venenatis, tristique in, vulputate at, odio.
What is that? Apparently they have a bit of work ahead of them. But who am I to talk about them? I started this blog a year ago and am only beginning to do anything with it now..
