Blogging and social activism were on the agenda last night when Deutsche Welle (DW) presented prizes to the winners of its international blog awards, The Bobs. “Best Blog” went to Iranian journalist and blogger Arash Sigarchi, and his blog Window of Anguish.  “When it comes to freedom, I believe the situation has worsened since I left Iran in 2008,” said Sigarchi, who reports in Persian and English about social and political topics in his homeland, especially about the state of human rights.

You can find a wrap-up of the entire event in the press release.

DW is blogging for and about women in South Asia. With  Women Talk Online, we are covering issues like organized marriage, women’s rights and equal employment, while presenting the brave and dedicated women from the region. We are presenting the issues that are important to women throughout South Asia and are always looking for more people to join in on the discussion.

It’s that time of year again. DW is looking for your suggestions for the eighth annual Deutsche Welle International Blog Awards – better known as the BOBs. Like last year, we’re accepting your favorite sites in 11 languages: Arabic, Bengali, Chinese, English, French, German, Indonesia, Persian, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish. This year our jury of media experts, activists and bloggers will meet up in Berlin in May to debate and decide who takes home top honors in the BOBs.

This year our “Special Topic Award” puts the spotlight on culture and education. This is also the focus of the 2012 Deutsche Welle Global Media Forum in Bonn. While we will certainly continue to commend the bloggers taking a stand for freedom of expression, we’ll also be playing special attention to projects and initiatives that look at the right to education and promote intercultural dialogue.

We have already received more than 1,000 suggestions. If you know of a blog that is worthy of a BOB, you better hurry up – we are only accepting suggestions until March 13!

 

Timeline

Until March 13: Suggest the blogs, websites and projects that impress you.

April 2 to May 2: Look over the nominees and in each category and vote for the ones you think represent the best of the best.

May 2: Sit back and find out who won as we announce the winners.

June 26: Come to Bonn, Germany, and meet the Jury Award winners at the Deutsche Welle Global Media Forum.

DW is once again contributing to the Young Media Summit, this year taking place from Tuesday, May 24 to Thursday May 26 in Cairo. The Young Media Summit is organized by Deutsche Welle’s DW Akademie in cooperation with the German Information Center Cairo. The conferences are being funded by the German Federal Foreign Office.

The Young Media Summit will feature 18 German and Arabic bloggers who will meet to discuss “new media and reform in the Arab World”, leading up to a podium discussion at Cairo University on Thursday.

In addition, DW will also be producing a talkshow during the conference, which will be broadcast throughout the Arab World on May 27.

If you want to find out more, just check out the Young Media Summit website.

 

An article from Global Arab Network hihglights the role of women and new media in the changing Arab World. The article puts a focus Egyptian blogger Eman Hashim, who was the winner of Best Arabic Blog from the Deutsche Welle Blog Awards – The BOBs. The blog, called Violet Revolution, deals with Egyptian life, with a special focus and a first-hand account of political developments in Egypt, including the Egyptian revolution and its aftermath.