'Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this
right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to
seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and
regardless of frontiers.' -Article 19, United Nations Declaration of
Universal Human Rights
"Dear friends,
Across the Middle East -- in Bahrain, Libya, Yemen, and more countries
every day -- autocratic regimes are trying to crush unprecedented
peaceful protests with brutality and blackouts. These countries are
poised on the brink between liberation and enormous bloodshed -- and
the protesters' ability to reach the eyes of the world could determine
the outcomes.
Avaaz is working urgently to "blackout-proof" the protests -- with
secure satellite modems and phones, tiny video cameras, and portable
radio transmitters, plus expert support teams on the ground -- to
enable activists to broadcast live video feeds even during internet and
phone blackouts and ensure the oxygen of international attention fuels
their courageous movements for change."
A 24/7 marathon camp on artistic strategies in politics and political strategies in art. 21/09 - 28/09/2012, Graz, Austria.
ReadOne of the four main themes of the N5M3 is the 'Post-Governmental
Organisation', a title that is meant more polemically than
descriptively. The 'PGO' label raises the question of the practical,
political and ethical impli cations of strong, potentially global,
independent organisations. The theme will be approached from different
critical, analytical and ironic perspectives in a public debate, and
the PGO Design-Show ("Get Organised!").
"If you've been following events in Syria, you'd know that the
English-language press is mostly deeply critical of the Assad regime
(while the Arabic press displays a slightly wider range of views). I
thought it would be worth trying to present a minority report on the
situation from a Syrian friend of mine, although, as you will see, he
argues precisely that his position is actually held by a very
significant majority (albeit a rather quiet and frustrated majority) of
Syrians.
Camille Otrakji is a Syrian political blogger based in
Montreal. Although he tends to keep a low profile, Otrakji has been, for
the past several years, at the forefront of many of the most
interesting and influential online initiatives relating to Syrian
politics. He is one of the authors and moderators at Joshua Landis's
Syria Comment, and the founder of Creative Syria, a constellation of
websites including Mideast Image (a vast collection of original old
photographs of Middle Eastern subjects) and Syrian Think Tank (an online
debate site hosting many of Syria's top analysts). Last year, Otrakji
courted controversy with a new initiative devoted to the subject of
Syrian-Israeli peace, entitled OneMideast.org. He agreed to speak with
me about the latest events in Syria, and I'm sure that his views will
generate plenty of discussion."
Investigation by the Expose Accenture, the Movement Research Unit, and the Progressive International
Today, the Progressive International, Expose Accenture and the Movement Research Unit release the Accenture Files, revealing the central role of the world’s largest consultancy in the global right-ward turn towards surveillance, exclusion, and strong-men: The Reactionary International.
Based on extensive fieldwork, interviews, and a comprehensive review of internal documents, our investigation demonstrates how Accenture has quietly embedded itself deep into the apparatus of security states worldwide, deploying its vast network of resources, wealth and technology to surveil entire populations, fuel the military-industrial complex and channel immense public wealth to private hands.
Migration and media-activists gather with theorists and labour organizers to discuss and share best practices in the fight against precarity and insecure labour conditions. Sharing inspiring examples of social justice unionism and creative campaigning like Justice for Janitors in the U.S. and Cleaners For a Better Future in the Netherlands.
ReadIt is tempting to portray '9-11' as a turning point. Gore Vidal warns
that, since September 11, the US is in danger of turning into a "seedy
imperial state." Make war, not politics. The new patriotism requires: "Disruption, including obstructing the view or hearing of others, will
not be tolerated." The list of measures to restrict civil liberties,
freedom of speech and privacy, or what?s left of it, doesn?t stop. A
recent conference in Perth concluded that post-September 11 reporting
adds to divisions and stereotypes. "The media's failure to provide more
perspectives to news consumers and ask critical questions is fuelling a
culture of fear and blame around the world, experts say."
The Next Five Minutes is a conference, exhibition and tv program that wants to leave behind the rigid dichotomy between the mainstream, commercial and national tv on one hand and marginal independent tv on the other. Although these differences may still be important, N5M wants to focus on tv-makers crossing the borders of tv-making and going into the spaces that the tv-world still has to offer.
The idea for the Art of Campaigning topic originates from the works of
the McLibel group [www.mcspotlight.org]. Their type of net.campaign
questions previous forms of activism, which was focused on the mass
media and their ability to influence public opinion, by staging direct
action (targeted at known media makers). Big NGO's such as Greenpeace
have built up experiences with this model for decades. The scenarios
they use have not changed much since the seventies. There is the usual
PR material: official reports, books, folders, flyers, magazine and
original video footage, shot on location. Campaigns are being planned
long in advance. The way of working does not differ much from a
campaign to launch a new product. Professionalism has taken over the
task of volunteers. Their role is being reduced to that of a local
support group, doing the actual grass roots work with the population.
Essay written in August 2002 for the New York University Tactical Media Lab, organised by the NYU Center for Media, Culture and History.
Right in time for the 1998 German elections, Christoph Schlingensief decided to found his own party with the futuristic-sounding name CHANCE2000 - motto: Vote Yourself!
Tunis March 2015
We, communicators and activists committed to multiple emancipatory communication practices across different regions of the world, freely assembled in March 2015 in Tunis, on the occasion of the 4th World Forum on Free Media, organized in the framework of the World Social Forum 2015, adopt this World Charter of Free Media, as the result of our collective reflection initiated in 2013, and as an expression of our resistance, and our commitment to just and emancipatory communication, and our engagement with world developments and humanity.
Over the past week, WikiLeaks has released 133,887 US diplomatic cables from around the world - more than half of the entire Cablegate material (251,287 cables). The new release was met with a sustained Denial of Service (DOS) attack during the first 36 hours. WikiLeaks had to rely on back-up servers for some hours. With supporters? help, WikiLeaks was able to bring in additional servers to stave off the attack.
ReadAmsterdam & Rotterdam, The Netherlands, 12-14 March, 1999
The third Next 5 Minutes, an Amsterdam based conference on tactical communications culture, featuring do-it-yourself media, dissident art and electronic media activists from around the world, took place on the 12th, 13th and 14th of March 1999.
N5M3 archived festival website
ReadThe antiwar demonstrations of February 15, 2003 proved it: theself-organization of free singularities is possible on a planetaryscale. And that was an event, despite all that followed. In amanifesto-text written just after those demonstrations, I used thelanguage of Negri and Hardt to say that the multitudes could create arift in Empire. In a context where the Aristocracy (the greattransnational companies) had been weakened by a string of financialdisasters, where the Monarchy (the political and military command ofthe earth) had fallen apart in serious dissension, I wanted toencourage the democratic action of the Plebe, against the scorn of theAmerican, British, Spanish and Italian leaders. It was a moment thathad multiplied the world's political stages, overflowing thetraditional mechanisms of representation.
tactical media event
Amsterdam & Rotterdam, The Netherlands, 12-14 March, 1999
www.n5m.org
(Source: Updated announcement Feb 11, 1999)
