Blog of the Week

Elections PEI

It's time to send a Canadian Boat to Gaza

Canadian civil society has a responsibility to fight the illegal Israeli blockade of Gaza and to expose the Canadian government's unjustified support for Israel.

The time has come to send a Canadian boat to challenge the blockade of Gaza, in coordination with similar international efforts.

We need to raise $300,000 (cost of boat and crew, not including aid to carry to Gaza) over the course of the coming months. We need to approach Canadian public figures to be on the boat.

The blockade of Gaza goes two ways, it restricts bringing materials into Gaza and it does not allow anything to leave Gaza either. This, in addition to starving the population, denies the Palestinians of Gaza the ability to trade with the world, further suffocating them.

The Canadian boat, working with the Palestinians in Gaza, will aim to carry exports out of Gaza. Thus asserting their right to export, trade and provide for themselves rather than be at the mercy of international aid.

This Magazine has set up a special blog to cover the G20.

The Media Coop set up a media centre in Toronto for the G8/G20. Follow their citizen media reporting here.

The Group of 8 Leaders and the Group of 20 Leaders are meeting in Ontario from June 25-27, 2010. Toronto-based organizations of women, people of colour, indigenous peoples, the poor, the working class, queer and trans people and disabled people are organizing a people's convergence

When the G8 and G20 meetings come to Huntsville and Toronto this June, there will be a lot of corporate media that will be undoubtedly praising the ministers initiatives, offering a narrow range of debate, and maligning the protesters while not really listening to why they are there.  However, there will also be independent media providing an alternative voice.

Rather than try to replicate all of the great work being done elsewhere on a multitude of topics,  this blog makes its contribution by focusing on three things:

1. In the 3 months leading up to the meetings, reporting on and critiquing the day-to-day developments around the G8 and G20, the pre-meeting ministerials, the comments of governments about what they hope to accomplish, etc…

2. Analysis of two particular topics which will central at the G8 and G20 meetings – financial issues and environmental issues.  This includes regulation, dealing with financial crisis, efforts (or non-efforts) to deal with global warming.  Given that the meetings are in Canada, a special emphasis will be placed on the Alberta Tar/Oil Sands and other Canadian environmental topics.

3. During the G8/G20, I will bring on-the-ground print, audio, and video reports on the protests and the meetings.

About me:

My name is Darren and I have have a background in politics, labour studies, corporate research, community organizing, and economics.  When not writing this blog, I’m an academic researcher, social activist, I’m involved in documentary audio and video production, and I watch a bit of baseball.

McClung’s is a feminist magazine based out of Ryerson University in Toronto, Canada. We are published twice a year (in January and in April) and are largely student-produced. We started as a photocopied magazine 18 years ago. Along the way, we’ve won a Canadian Association of Journalists award. We reflect our readers – young, vibrant, smart women who are interested in eclectic, wild, weird and wonderful pop culture, politics, news and social issues from Toronto and around the world. We give our readers stories about women they can’t find anywhere else.

Broadsides is a blog by Antonia Zerbisias, columnist for the Star's Living section. She has been telling people what she thinks ever since she could open her mouth. Her career ambition as an opinionator dates back to Grade 9 when a cartoon commentary on a teacher resulted in her suspension from high school. The principal sent her home with a note calling her "rude, obstreperous and bold." Her parents were neither amused, nor surprised. Once she was punished for being that way. Now she makes it pay. And, because she can take it as well as dish it out, she wants to hear what you have to say. Fire away!

This link brings together the Tyee's 2010 Winter Olympics coverage.

The Media Co-op is reader-funded and member-run. It relies on the participation of hundreds of people through discussions of coverage, photography, written accounts, videos and other forms of participatory journalism. But it also seeks to fund experienced journalists to produce high-quality, in-depth reporting, drawing whenever possible on input and material generated by the membership.

The Media Co-op is formally organized as a solidarity cooperative (also known as a multi-stakeholder co-op) with three kinds of members: readers, contributors and editors. The board of directors has representatives from each membership (one each from readers and contributors, three from the editors).

The Co-op seeks to represent the common interests of the various groups. For example: the readers want high-quality grassroots coverage, and are willing to pay for it; the contributors want to cover stories free from the constraints of the corporate press and be paid for their work. The editor members are charged with organizing the cooperative and keeping things running day to day.

Philosophy

"Grassroots" means that for each topic we cover, we talk to the people directly affected by policies or activities first. Once a journalist thoroughly understands the story of those directly affected and has time and resources left over, she brings their questions to those making the decisions: politicians, corporate executives, and so on.

This approach stems from a certain kind of common sense: if we start by talking to the people who have a vested interest in (and experience with) spinning, framing or outright lying to their own advantage, then we're not likely to get the real story. The approach also takes the position that what is actually happening on the ground is more important than what influential people are saying about what's going on.

The Locals

Each Local of the Media Co-op consists of a) a web site, connected to the Media Co-op Network, b) a local group of active contributors and organizers and c) the membership of the Media Co-op residing in the vicinity.

Each Local has a degree of autonomy, but also contributes to (and benefits from) the operation of the Co-op. In consultation with the membership, Local committees decide how to use resources in their area.