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Holtz Communications + Technology

Shel Holtz
Communicating at the Intersection of Business and Technology
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Bloggers called to action

There’s a lot of hyperbole flying around about the power of the blogosphere with dismissals of prominent figures by their employers touted as examples. When bloggers unite to bring to light unsavory comments or secrets or foibles by individuals they don’t like, bloggers of one political persuasion or another have been able to unite to bring those individuals down. The blogosphere came together despite political leanings to aid victims of the tsunami. Tomorrow, though, we’ll see if the global community of bloggers can unite around a less time-sensitive issue.

February 21 has been declared “Free Mojtaba and Arash Day” by the month-old Committee to Protect Bloggers. Arash Sigarchi and Mojtaba Saminejad are in prison in Iran for their blogging activities. The committee hopes its call to action will focus the blogosphere’s energies to raise the profile of the Iranian bloggers’ plight. At the very least, according to a BBC report, the committee wants bloggers to restrict tomorrow’s posts to items dealing with Sigarchi and Saminejad. ““That would mean you could see that phrase 7.1 million times. That alone will shine some light on the situation,” according to committee director Curt Hopkins.

Certainly, Sigarchi and Saminejad shouldn’t be in jail and action focused on raising awareness and pressuring Iran to free them is worthy of a call to action. But it’s not something that appeals to the partisan nature of the policital left and right in the US, nor is it as time-sensitive and urgent as an appeal for aid to tsunami victims.

It’ll be interesting to review blogs tomorrow to see who and how many have gotten on board. The call to action was issued January 20, but (at least in my reading over the last month) it hasn’t gotten the kind of attention that, say, the Kryptonite bike lock incident got. Can the blogosphere come together over a social cause? Tomorrow will tell.

02/20/05 | 0 Comments | Bloggers called to action

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