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Transitions Online Blogs - Beta
TOL is searching for participants for a two-day workshop on 9-10 June that will cover the latest trends in new media, including podcasting, mobile blogging, social networks, and related topics. The course is open to individuals from Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia. Application deadline: May 28, 2008
For more information or to apply, go to: http://training.tol.org
TOL gets a friendly nod in an article in today’s Economist, listing English language news about about post-communist Eastern Europe:
“…Rather less expensive is Transitions Online, which for a piddling $44 a year provides information from 28 countries in the region. It is a Prague-based non-profit spin-off from an earlier bit of downsizing by RFE/RL, less newsy and more colourful. Contributors include luminaries such as Andrew Wilson, a British-based scholar who coined the phrase “virtual politics” to describe the mixture of manipulation and populism used by elites in the phoney democracies of the ex-Soviet Union….”
Click here for the full article.
It’s a little known fact within the TOL universe that I love video games - so much so that I own my own XBOX, which is currently collecting dust in my parents’ basement while I am in Prague and which I occasionally feel sharp pangs of homesickness for.
So when I heard that the newest edition of Grand Theft Auto had a distinct Eastern European flavor, I had to be the first to bring it to your attention in our (admittedly neglected as of late) blog.
Paraphrased from Wikipedia (WARNING - spoilers!):
The game is set in a re-imagined Liberty City, a fictional city based heavily on modern day New York City. It follows Niko Bellic, a Serbian veteran of the Bosnian War who comes to the United States in search of the American Dream, only to find his cousin has lied about the wealth that was promised to be awaiting him.
After his arrival, Niko quickly learns that Roman’s tales of riches and luxury were lies, concealing Roman’s struggles with debt and gangsters. Niko aids Roman in his troubles while hoping to carve out a new life for himself in the city.
During the course of the game, it is revealed that Niko came to Liberty City primarily to search for the person he blames for the betrayal of his old army unit. In the course of his quest for this person, Niko makes new acquaintances and becomes embroiled with many underworld figures.
After being tasked with executing Mikhail Faustin, Niko is betrayed by Dmitri Rascalov who is in collusion with Rodislav Bulgarin, a former employer of Niko. After escaping the trap, Roman’s Taxi company and apartment are fire-bombed. In danger of further reprisal from Dmitri and Bulgarin, Niko and Roman flee to Bohan to attempt to start over.
Niko progressively obtains new allies in the city, gaining the money to provide for his and Roman’s life while furthering his connections towards locating the person he is searching for. Ultimately, the person he finds is not the one responsible for his unit’s betrayal leading Niko towards the only remaining suspect, Darko Brevic. As Niko completes missions for his employers, Darko is eventually found and brought into Liberty City for Niko to confront. Darko is revealed as a drug-ravaged, guilt-ridden wreck who readily admits his betrayal. At this point, the player is given the option of executing or sparing Darko. Having dealt with his past, Niko is asked to perform one last task for Jimmy Pegorino; selling a shipment of heroin to Dmitri Rascalov.
One of the radio stations that Niko can listen to while driving around mowing down pedestrians is called Vladivostok FM, featuring Eastern European music, including tunes from the Ukrainian pop princess Ruslana.
TOL is searching for participants for an online course on covering education issues, developed in cooperation with the Guardian Foundation and BBC World Trust. The course is open to journalists from Central and Eastern Europe, Central Asia, and the Caucasus. Applicants should be covering education or have a strong interest in the topic. Application deadline: May 10, 2008 For more information or to apply, go to: http://training.tol.org
Transitions Online and the Centre for Public Policy PROVIDUS are inviting applications for a year-long initiative that seeks to provide NGOs in the new member states of the European Union with web tools and strategies that will better enable them to promote transparency and good governance norms in their respective countries.
Participating organizations will learn the latest methods for encouraging their members and the larger public to engage in data collection and analysis—approaches that have already uncovered public wrongdoing in North America and Western Europe. They will also hear from experts on new ways to use and present this data, allowing their socially-useful research to reach a wider audience and have a greater impact on public policy.
The core project activities include:
The pilot projects will take the form of blogs and online monitoring sites tracking key issues of importance, as well as a website aggregating the affiliated blogs and collecting feedback from participating organizations and the wider public.
The pilot projects will be modeled after successful corruption-combating projects, such as:
Applications will be accepted from the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland, Hungary, Slovenia, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, and Bulgaria. Interested individuals must be engaged (as employees, consultants, or volunteers) in non-profit organizations working in the areas of anti-corruption and good governance, or for other monitoring organizations (human rights, environmental degradation, etc.) that would benefit from the techniques promoted by this project. The May workshop will take place from 8 May (arrivals) until 11 May (departures). All expenses, including travel, will be covered by the organizers. To apply, fill out the online application form at http://tol.botnet.cz/form/19/. The deadline for applications is 21 March.
Transitions Online (TOL http://www.tol.org) is an international publishing and media development organization based in Prague, the Czech Republic, with a mission of improving the professionalism, independence, and impact of the news media in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe, the Balkans, and the former Soviet Union. The Centre for Public Policy PROVIDUS is an independent, non-partisan policy institute based in Riga, Latvia, working in the following main policy areas: good governance, criminal justice, tolerance, and European policy. The project is sponsored by the European Commission, Directorate-General Justice, Freedom, and Security, and the Trust for Civil Society in Central and Eastern Europe.