Global Voices is the award winning website founded in 2004 by a group of pioneering international bloggers that aggregates, curates, and amplifies the global conversation online – shining light on places and people other media often ignore. At the IV edition of the Journalism Festival, two panels have been organised in association with Global Voices.

Bridging different languages and cultures online. Wednesday April 21 at 15:00, Hotel Brufani.
With David Sasaki (Rising Voices), Marc Herman (Translation Exchange Project), Portnoy Zheng (Global Voices Lingua), Nicola Bruno (Totem) and moderator Bernardo Parrella (editor Global Voices in Italian).
In the Tower of Babel of today’s internet people frequently take part only in those areas and contacts restricted to their own language and culture. However, Wikipedia articles are now available in over 200 languages and about 36 percent of seven million blogs running on WordPress, a free software platform, are in languages other than English. How can we avoid cultural and linguistic fragmentation on the web? With the obvious immaturity of web computer translations, could it be enough to use English as a bridge-language? What are the problems of the (few) social and collective translation projects? And how can a polyglot internet effectively involve users and media, corporations and volunteers?

Citizen media to foster human rights and free speech. Thursday, April 22 at 14:00, Hotel Brufani.
With Jillian York (OpenNet), Sami Ben Gharbia (Global Voices Advocacy), Gianni Lannes (Terra Nostra), Gabriele Battaglia (PeaceReporter) and moderator Bernardo Parrella (editor Global Voices in Italian).
Despite the earlier hopes of a borderless and transnational net, today national laws, restrictions and business logic are reclaiming their power. From China to the Middle East and even in Europe the common practice of freedom of expression and free access to information online is becoming more problematic. This is also true for human rights affirmation and for actions against organized crimes, and not just in developing countries anymore. What is the role of current citizen media within this context? What tools and tactics are available to activists and bloggers facing censorship in different parts of the globe? And how can we as netizens make a difference in the everyday struggle for social justice and positive change?