Irrelevances

In the months leading up to the Beijing 2008 summer Olympics media will be brimming with information fed the press by BOCOG’s (the Beijing games’ organisational committee) communications department and the Chinese propaganda machinery. Our attention towards the Tibetan uprising, now seemingly quelled, will vanish, more or less overnight, and Chinese officials, who devour bloggers for breakfast, will, once again, be granted undisturbed continuance of their inhuman practices – painted in a picturesque tableau, courtesy of the world’s “free press”.

Paralysed by-standing is, of course, a non-option for concerned bloggers and citizen journalists. As luck has it, however, Norwegian bloggers are raising their voices against China’s inhuman ways. Initiatives are afoot among bloggers, included in English:

Scandinavian citizen journalist group blog iNorden recently launched its Beijing 2008 campaign, inviting Danish, Norwegian, Swedish and international bloggers and civic journalists to submit stories on China’s infringement of human rights – by way of reports, YouTube flix or commentaries. Read the invitation here.

I urge all bloggers (or whomever would happen to stumble upon this) to partake in a balancing of the slightly distorted version of China that mainstream media is about to convey up until the Beijing summer games’ official opening ceremony on 8 August. Help making sure that the impression left remains more than happy Chinese children, traditional Chinese opera, the radiant Shanghai skyline and a nation in general progress.

China’s 1.5 billion population – and the free wor(l)d – deserves it.

Submit your story – or your view on China’s appalling conduct – today!

Should you however feel somewhat inhibited, short on sources – or if you do not have a blog of your own: please feel free to put this badge in its sidebar (link to this page):

(I would appreciate if you download rather than “hotlink” the image)