An authoritarian government blocks blogging as a means of free speech by controlling and filtering content into its country through the internet service providers, and listening in. Iraq was a dictatorship, and the majority of the news coming out of the Iraq war was sanitised and biased. Salam Pax’s weblog represented one of the few voices on the ground telling it like it was for the “average� person during the war in Iraq. Salam Pax, a 29 year old recently graduated architect lived at home with his family in Baghdad, Iraq. In the beginning his blogs consisted of personal, meaningless information. However as time progressed he began to reflect on the “unspoken hardships of life in Iraq under the paranoid regime of Saddam Hussein.� (McCarthy, 2003)
In his weblogs, Salam Pax openly revealed to readers that he is gay. “It was a frank admission in a repressive dictatorship and one that, even in the new, postwar Iraq, which at heart is still a conservative Islamic society, represents a significant risk.� (McCarthy, 2003) Since then groups catering to a host of minorities have arisen. The Gay and Lesbian Arab Society is giving people the opportunity to access information on a topic which is usually taboo in these societies.
Capitalising on the fact that weblogs often merge with “old� media, reports and stories of Salam’s unbelievable blog began to filter into newspapers throughout Britain and the US. Furthermore, his blog has been published in book form, although Pax believes that his weblog provided more immediate and realistic coverage. He comments,
“the disadvantage of the book is that you don’t really see how things are put in context. In a weblog, the whole point is, click on the link, read the article, make up your mind, then tell me whether you agree with me or not. The weblog is just immediate�(Wynhausen, 2004). This article clarifies the vast impact blogging can have as a communication medium in society, and that this ‘new’ internet technology still blurs with old media forms.
Seymore (Aug. 2004) argues that 100 newspapers have recently been closed down by Iran’s judiciary as “Tehran’s religious elite attempts to crack down on the reformist movement within the country.� In an attempt to resume publication many of the newspapers have turned to weblogs as a method of publishing opinions and developing ideas among a community of people also challenging the established authority. Many of the sites have now been closed down and some journalists are facing strong penalties as a result. For example, Sina Motallebi is a journalist who regularly wrote for reformist newspapers. He was arrested and placed in solitary confinement for nearly a month, because of the opinions expressed via his blog that the Iranian judiciary was a threat to national security.
Salam Pax was perhaps the inspiration for many in Iraq and Iran to begin blogging. In his article, Seymore (Aug. 2004) argues that authorities are beginning to realise that the internet and the freedom of expression it allows should be embraced as a new reality. He justifies this comment by surmising that senior Iranian officials are writing blogs, and highlighting that even President Khatami (President of Iran) has publicly accepted the explosion of blogs.
Back to Corporate_Blogging
Pages of Interest
Visit the homepage of the Gay and Lesbian Arab Society
Visit President Khatami's Homepage
Applications_of_Personal_Blogging
Applications_of_Personal_Blogging_-_Gender
Corporate_Blogging_-Possible_Future_of_Blogging_as_Journalism
Reference List
McCarthy, R. (2003, Jun. 14) “The diary of Salam Pax� Sydney Morning Herald, retrieved August 3, 2004, from Go to article
Seymore, R. (Aug. 2004) "Access all areas," Middle East, retrieved from Proquest Database on September 9, 2004.
Wynhausen, E. (2004, May 20) “Salam Pax succumbs to unbearable weight of blogging,� The Australian, retrieved August 3, 2004, from Go to article
Go to User:Catherine_Miller for more sources
Catherine Miller 14:04, 26 Oct 2004 (EST)
