Saturday, January 22, 2011

On the Media: Tunisia's Twitter Revolution?; Tunisian Blogger Lina Ben Mhenni

On the Media (New York City: WNYC)

Tunisia's Twitter Revolution?

Demonstrators flooded the streets in Tunisia this week calling for an end to corruption and ousting President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali. Many have attributed the wave of protests to the rise of the internet and social media in a country notorious for its censorship but Foreign Policy blogger Marc Lynch says it’s not that simple. He says the internet, social media and satellite channels like Al Jazeera have collectively transformed the information landscape in the Arab world.

To Listen to the Episode

Tunisian Blogger Lina Ben Mhenni

Blogging in Tunisia has traditionally been a risky business. Online activists have been subject to harassment, imprisonment and targeted “phishing” attacks by the government in the past. But this week's turmoil has ushered in a period of relative openness. Lina Ben Mhenni runs the blog A Tunisian Girl, which, until now, was banned in her own country. During the protests, she risked her safety, criticized the government on her blog and published images of the dead.

To Listen to the Episode

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