Chisinau: the real media revolution is underway
MONOCLE: The so-called “Twitter Revolution” of April 2009 proved to be misleading – but now Moldova’s media landscape has been truly shaken up.
Chaotic justice – a therapeutic election post-mortem
After a long day of attempting to simultaneously translate a chronology of the Soviet art world while taking in the BBC’s excellent election coverage at the corner of my screen, I felt the need to release a few thoughts into some kind of vaguely coherent shape. First of all, this election – mangled and muddy...
Terror Reflections
Monday, March 29 was just the start of another working week in Moscow. Huge crowds of people descended into the metro system – a rumbling, winding maze of tunnels, walkways and escalators. Within a single hour, two suicide bombers struck at the heart of the Russian capital. Blasts shook key stations on the busy red...
Olympic challenge for Sochi games
Officially the Winter Olympics are non-politicised – but the reality is that wherever Russia goes, politics will follow. Russia will be holding a national referendum to select its mascot for the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi. Contenders include a dolphin on skis, a potential revival of the 1980 games’ popular beaming bear, and a giant-eared...
The Price of Indifference
Russia’s Young Are Too Focused on Attaining Material Well-Being to Partake in Human Rights Activism On a grey, dreary Monday evening in Moscow, pre-autumnal rain dully patters down as a group of human rights supporters convene to solemnly remember a champion of their cause. Activist and lawyer Natalia Estemirova’s body was found in the Republic...
The Blogs: Barriers to national progress
Corruption, bureaucracy and economic development are under discussion in the English-language blogosphere. Businessman Kendrick White’s blog opens by concentrating on Russian bureaucracy and the barriers it can present. In a country of “extraordinary opportunities”, ideas are too often curtailed by problems in the system. White believes that “realisation of any innovative idea requires fundamental trust...
Kirill’s balancing act
The new Russian patriarch will need all his diplomatic skills to manage what has become a fractious church. The Russian Orthodox church’s new Patriarch faces several challenges as he comes to power; not least, a fresh wave of questions over the institution’s role in everyday life. A recent poll conducted by the Russian public survey...
The Kremlin’s hot and cold war
They are Russia’s two most powerful men: but while Putin negotiated gas supplies, his boss gave virtual skiing advice. If today’s “outline” gas agreement between Ukraine and Russia holds, there will be no doubt who brokered it: Vladimir Putin, Russia’s busy ex-president. A week ago, as the crisis peaked, Russia’s constitutional head of state, President...
World Youth Congress: Global Perspectives
About 600 young people from around the globe gathered in Scotland earlier this month to attend the World Youth Congress. Frederick Bernas finds out why the event was held and what it achieved. “Each and every one of you has the capacity to make a difference for the better and all I can do is...
World Youth Congress Big Brother
A short video I produced with a friend at the World Youth Congress, August 2005.
Delegates arrive as World Youth Congress gets into full swing
Stirling University – a quiet, scenic and picturesque setting, albeit a little dark and gloomy weather-wise. But not for long; today, Friday July 29, it bustled with activity, becoming overwhelmed by a mass influx of young people from across the globe assembling for the third World Youth Congress. Designed to give young people their chance...
Nip voter apathy in the bud by involving teenagers
The national dilemma of political apathy amongst this country’s youth is an issue widely covered in many branches of the media, especially at election time. Politicians are the first to complain about it, but seem the last to take action to improve the situation. I believe that simply including young people more in the political...
