Technology in constitutional reform: Central or peripheral to substance and process?

Paper prepared at the invitation of Dr. Asanga Welikala for a preparatory advisory roundtable on a new constitution for Sri Lanka, hosted by the Centre for Policy Alternatives (CPA), the Constitution Building Programme of the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (International IDEA), and the Edinburgh Centre for Constitutional Law (ECCL) inn collaboration with …

From hate and harm to aid and advocacy: Angelo Fernando’s ‘Chat Republic’

Cross-posted from Groundviews. ### Angelo Fernando, in addition to being a long-standing columnist in the Lanka Monthly Digest (LMD) is also the author of a new book, Chat Republic: How Social Media Drives Us To Be Human 1.0 in a Web 2.0 World. We begin our conversation on matters digital and online by looking at how Angelo’s father …

3 day training course on new media

I recently conducted a 3 day course on new media for students, coming from academia as well as mainstream journalism, at the Sri Lanka College of Journalism. In 2010, I did a similar course for the SLCJ Faculty and senior administration staff to build internal capacity to engage with new media. Though this outline gives …

Groundviews for iPad: Lessons for online media

One of the advantages of using a robust and recognised content management system for an online media initiative, such as WordPress, Joomla or Drupal, is that unlike a custom tailored solution, it is able to leverage the innovation of third party developers. Onswipe is a key example of this. Developed for and now available on …

Behind the scenes: How to upgrade a citizen journalism website

Updated 22nd December 2010 with list of plugins used on the site. Groundviews launched its new version today. It was a radical departure from the look and feel of the old and first version to the new avatar. Old / original version Current version Counting articles and comments, Groundviews has, at last count, well over …

Launch of Groundviews 2.0: Compelling citizen journalism from Sri Lanka

Regular readers of Groundviews would have noticed the site upgrade that went live last week. The new website sports a complete overhaul of underlying site technologies and presentation. Content is now presented in an easier to read font and format. More white space enhances readability and the rolling features tabs on the homepage allow readers …

Satire, Rap and Wikileaks?

YouTube enables new forms of expression, and the Rap News is a cogent example. I've watched a few episodes in the past and you don't have to like the genre of music to appreciate the talent, and indeed, acute political awareness that informs these productions. This recent one on Wikileaks is a case in point …

Newsroom management and new media

This lecture to mid-career journalists at the Sri Lanka College of Journalism (SLCJ) looks at how new media can help strengthen newsroom management - by improving and streamlining workflows, providing new avenues of news generation and dissemination and strengthening investigative journalism, even under repressive, censorious regimes. Importantly, the technologies and platforms I cover can be …

Politicians and Twitter in Sri Lanka and the elsewhere

Image courtesy the Economist, Sweet to Tweet The Presidential and parliamentary elections held this year in Sri Lanka saw a number of candidates, in the run up to election, open accounts on Twitter. Leading politicians like Mahinda Rajapaksa, Sarath Fonseka, Champika Ranawaka, Sajith Premadasa and Milinda Moragoda, amongst others were extremely active on Twitter. Save for …

ICT and Protection: Can Information and Communication Technology Enhance Humanitarian Action?

Representing the ICT4Peace Foundation, I will be part of a panel organised by the Humanitarian Law and Policy Forum at Harvard University looking at how, if at all, ICTs have strengthened humanitarian aid. The guiding questions of this web based seminar echo concerns, challenges and opportunities I have repeatedly raised on this blog for years. Some …