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New Media

Social media activists share their secret recipes

By: Sidrah Roghay Karachi: It was only when pictures of flood victims beating up Faisal Kapadia and Awab Ali circulated on the social media that a tremendous inflow of funds entered their bank accounts. The money flew in from all over the world. “In our first year [2011], we managed to raise $317,000, the tipping […]


Indian writers discuss the craft of storytelling

Karachi: Two Indian writers talked about their struggle with the pen, which they called “a craft and a tool”. In a session titled; the art of storytelling, Jugal Mody author of a book, Joke, and Annie Zaidi, a journalist, poet, playwright and author of two books discussed their experiences, as Mohsin Siddiqui, moderated the event. […]


Media’s role in promoting basic rights discussed

KARACHI: The role of the media in the promotion of fundamental rights in Pakistan was examined by a group of concerned citizens and media persons at a discussion arranged by the Centre for Civic Education Pakistan here on Saturday. Setting the pace for the discussion, the centre’s executive director, Zafarullah Khan, said that even though […]


Social media: human rights and trolls discussed

KARACHI: The country’s religious majority has to own problems being faced by the minorities or else things will not change, said Anthony Permal on Saturday, the last day of Pakistan-India Social Media Mela 2012. Being one of the panellists, Mr Permal was speaking during a session titled ‘Connecting with the world in their own voice: […]


Shia killing watchdog site apparently banned

The website was blocked on Saturday evening. A website which acts as watchdog for murder of Shias, motivated by sectarian differences, Shiakilling.com, was apparently blocked on Saturday night. Visitors were greeted with a “this webpage is not available” sign as they tried to access the site. Many people from Pakistan on the social media site […]


Rehman Malik swoops in to save the day

By: Usman Liaquat KARACHI: Users of social media in Pakistan are well aware of the fact that Rehman Malik, adviser to the prime minister on interior affairs, is often ridiculed online. But if he hadn’t swooped in to save the day, the Indians from across the border wouldn’t have been able to make it to […]


Social Media Mela: Justice Javed Iqbal told me to ‘tweet on’

By: Tehmina Qureshi KARACHI: Sohaib Athar – who turned into a celebrity overnight after he inadvertently live tweeted the entire May 2 raid that killed Osama bin Laden in Abbottabad – had an air of nonchalance about the impact of his tweets. But perhaps the audience at the Social Media Mela had been expecting some […]


A call for media ethics

By: Zahra Peer Mohammed KARACHI: It wasn’t Maya Khan that was being attacked – it was the mindset behind what she did. Activist and journalist Beena Sarwar opened the talk on the ‘Maya Khan Takedown’ at the Social Media Mela and set the tone for the session. The speakers, including activist Marvi Sirmed and blogger […]


‘Social Media is going to have a huge impact in rural areas’

By: Usman Liaquat KARACHI: The two-day Social Media Mela kicked off Friday at Avari Towers, the second such international social media conference to be held in the country. Jointly organised by PeaceNiche and the United States consulates in Lahore and Islamabad, the event aims to foster dialogue between journalists, entrepreneurs, activists and writers of India […]


Social media emerging as ‘critical factor’ in politics

By: Imtiaz Ali Karachi: Social media is emerging as a critical factor in politics while online activism helps to address certain specific issues of people like civic facilities and getting the salary, but it has limits to tackle the chronic problems of corruption and poverty. With more and more people using Twitter and Facebook, there […]


The night that changed a tweeter’s life

Karachi: On Twitter, he is known as ‘Really Virtual’, but people worldwide know him as the guy who live-tweeted the Osama bin Laden raid in Abbottabad. Before tweeting about the raid, the biggest achievement of Sohaib Akhtar’s life was to open up a coffee shop in Abbottabad, as he quipped he did not like the […]


Complain — it’s important

By: Saher Baloch Karachi: Blogger Faisal Kapadia started off a discussion on ‘Slacktivism’ on the opening day of the Pakistan-India Social Media Mela here on Friday by saying that they were going to deliberate on “how social media got someone fired”. The “someone” in his comment was obviously Maya Khan and how outrage on social […]


Call for peace via social media

By: Beena Sarwar Karachi: The restrictive visa regime between India and Pakistan nearly stymied the ‘India’ part of the First India-Pakistan Social Media Mela in Karachi on Friday and Saturday. Indian participants to this ground-breaking event got their visas literally a couple of hours before their flight to Karachi – minus keynote speaker Barkha Dutt […]


Social media enthusiasts descend on the city

By: Sidrah Roghay Karachi: US Consul General William Martin said that the people of Pakistan and India could help pave the way for peace between the two countries by exchanging views through social media. He was speaking at the 2012 Pakistan-India Social Media Mela, which kicked off on Friday amid whispers of “the best hash […]