The net of hatred: after Utøya

The public debate in Norway following the massacre of 22 July 2011 is taking shape. A key focus is the obsessional and hate-filled language that pervades and dominates online discussion, says Thomas Hylland Eriksen.

By Open democracy

/ 6 Sep 2011

A democracy of journalists

The stramash over abuse of power and standards at Rupert Murdoch's NewsCorp should reinvigorate the idea of journalists’ self-regulation, says Neal Ascherson.

By Neal Ascherson

/ 18 Jul 2011

The foreign correspondent: James Cameron, 1911-85

A voice of wry observation and quiet authority that made humane sense of distant events to a domestic public helped James Cameron become the most respected international journalist in post-1945 Britain. But is there room for his world-reporting craft in a very different media age, asks David Hayes

By David Hayes

/ 17 Jun 2011

Liberation technology: dreams, politics, history

The doctrinal commitment to new cyber and social technologies as a means of solving political problems needs to learn from the past and take a more realistic view, says Armine Ishkanian.

By Armine Ishkanian

/ 5 Apr 2011

The freedom cloud

The tools that help Arab democracy protesters also extend the reach of three United States corporations. The power of Facebook, Google, and Twitter represents an appropriation of the hacker-utopian ideals of the early internet, says Becky Hogge. The challenge to those who still uphold these ideals

By Open democracy

/ 29 Mar 2011

Is it time for Murdoch's empire to be reined in?: A fascinating debate on News Corp's bid to take over BSkyB

Is this the moment to halt the expansion of Richard Murdoch's media empire in the UK? An OurKingdom post, which presents the media mogul's bid for full ownership of the country's most powerful commercial broadcaster as a threat to our democracy, has sparked an urgent debate between the author, Oli

By Niki Seth-Smith

/ 2 Dec 2010

Red lenses on a rainbow of revolutions

Given continued strikes in Iran and the freeing of Aung San Suu Kyi in Burma, neither the Burmese nor Iranian struggle for democracy is a story that should be characterized as an example of a failed movement and successful repression. But it is up to us - the global audience - to understand our re

By Open democracy

/ 17 Nov 2010

20, 2000 and 2: the three shadows of Facebook

The eternal campus of the global middle class; the solution to the injunction to love ones fellow; a riskless replacement to reality. You could not have designed Facebook better to opiate 21st Century occidentals

By Open democracy

/ 11 Oct 2010

A free media: Tasneem Khalil’s project

The work of a Bangladeshi journalist offers a different perspective on some of the professional and ethical dilemmas raised by the WikiLeaks project, say Timothy Sowula & David Hayes.

By David Hayes

/ 14 Sep 2010

Austria after Hans Dichand

The death of a powerful media patriarch is also the end of an era in Austrian politics. After Hans Dichand, the spell of his flagship newspaper may no longer work, says Anton Pelinka.

By Open democracy

/ 20 Aug 2010

Shaking the Foundations of Tabloid Journalism

Now that England are no longer in the World Cup, it’s back to business as usual for the popular press. Never mind Wayne Rooney or Fabio Capello, South Africa

By Open democracy

/ 9 Jul 2010

Google vs China: capitalist model, virtual wall

The breach between a corporate behemoth of the new-media age and an emerging state superpower defines the struggle for the world’s information future, say Johnny Ryan & Stefan Halper.

By Open democracy

/ 22 Jan 2010

media & the net