3 Gorges.

[Matthew X]

Virtually in exile
With such personal threats at home, it's not difficult to see why some 
online journalists and activists chose to work in exile. There are problems 
with this approach, obviously -- their online information might be blocked 
at home, many potential readers will not be able to afford access to their 
site and their critics will always accuse them of being stooges of foreign 
governments - but for some the benefit of being able to tell the truth 
outweighs these concerns.
The main problem of running a Web site in exile is maintaining local 
relevance and authenticity when writing from abroad; specifically, the site 
needs regular, up-to-date information from within the country. The only way 
to do this is to develop a network of reliable correspondents on the ground 
and to develop efficient channels for getting their information out of the 
country.
In the worst cases this means either heavily working the phones to your 
contacts on the ground, or, where phone-tapping is a concern, the smuggling 
of documentation out of the country. On the face of it, that would seem to 
be little advancement on the tedious and dangerous methods of the 
Communist-era dissidents. Still, when it works, it can bring the only 
non-regime-sponsored information to the outside world and offers a unique 
eye on closed societies. The work of the Revolutionary Association of the 
Women of Afghanistan in Taliban-controlled Afghanistan was certainly one of 
the best examples of such activity the Internet has ever seen.
In less restrictive situations, the Internet itself is the networking tool, 
and e-mail allows émigré publishing to be current from the ground in a way 
that Iron Curtain dissidents never could be. Even then, however, expanding 
a network of correspondents on the ground is not always straightforward, 
and the specifics of the local culture and local regime need to be considered.
My own Institute for War and Peace Reporting is familiar with this problem. 
The editors of our online publications covering post-Soviet Central Asia, 
Afghanistan and the Balkans are all émigré journalists in London who 
develop their networks on the ground according to the possibilities in 
individual countries. In Uzbekistan, for example, the situation is relaxed 
enough for us to have a physical office in Tashkent and a rather normal 
network of correspondents radiating out from it. In Turkmenistan, however, 
the situation is significantly more complicated for us. Forget a physical 
office: all our reporters on the ground communicate directly via e-mail 
with our central office in London. Trying to build a normal network there 
would only attract informants who would turn in all our associates, so we 
keep our correspondents on the ground isolated from one another. They 
wouldn't recognize each other if they sat next to one another on a bus in 
downtown Ashghabat.
But even if you have a developed network of correspondents on the ground, 
that doesn't mean that people will feel comfortable talking to them. When 
fear so thoroughly permeates society, mouths stay closed.
In some cases, however, the subject matter is so potentially damaging to 
people's lives that they are able to overcome their fear of the 
authorities. The work of the Three Gorges Probe, a Web-site in Canada 
dedicated to discussing the controversial Three Gorges dam project in 
China, provides an interesting example of this. Publisher Patricia Adams 
was reluctant to discuss the details of her network on the ground, but she 
told me that ordinary people in the region are very eager to talk to TGP 
correspondents about the dam, as they genuinely hope their concerns will be 
addressed. Their willingness to talk is understandable; after all, many of 
them are the ones being resettled by the dam project.
The Three Gorges Probe Web site highlights another particular problem of 
this genre: oftentimes, the line between journalism and activism becomes 
fuzzy -- to the detriment of the reader seeking objective information. 
Adams insists Three Gorges Probe is pure journalism, but it is pretty clear 
that the site offers a mostly critical view of the project. While that may 
be a justifiable editorial policy intended to counter all the official 
information on the dam project, many émigré sites have very serious 
problems with balance.
Amnesty International's Umit Ozturk sees this as unfortunate in the Turkish 
case but admits, "It couldn't be any other way." Most Turkish and Kurdish 
émigré sites are run by "activist reporters," people who care so 
passionately about their cause that objectivity takes a back seat in their 
online efforts.
Veronica Forwood of Reporters without Borders, however, says it depends on 
the background of the editors. Those who come from a strong journalism 
background usually try to maintain a sense of balance and concentrate on 
on-the-ground reporting rather than commentary.
Interestingly, there is now serious talk in U.K. NGO circles of creating a 
non-profit project specifically designed to help émigré journalists 
establish Web sites with local correspondent networks for the people in 
their repressive regimes back home. The idea is to provide start-up funds 
as well as the technical expertise and journalism training needed to run an 
émigré Web site with real impact on the ground.
Real change is not virtual
That impact is the heart of the problem for all Web sites working within 
and around repressive regimes. For all the excited talk about the Internet 
bringing freedom, actual examples of online publishing bringing about 
change in these countries are few.
In many ways, the Internet seems to fulfill the same role as samizdat did 
in Communist Czechoslovakia. Like that old dissident literature, the 
Internet in authoritarian regimes offers the only place for critical 
voices, but, sadly, it has little effect on the ground. Remember, despite 
the international fame of writers like Vaclav Havel, outside of a small 
circle of intellectuals in Prague, hardly anyone ever read samizdat within 
Communist Czechoslovakia. The Velvet Revolution emerged from direct action 
within a changed geo-political atmosphere; decades of dissident carping had 
nothing to do with real change when the regime finally fell.
As it was with samizdat, most people in authoritarian regimes never get a 
chance to see Internet publications, and the whole enterprise, both the 
publishing of banned information and official attempts to stop it, is more 
a game for elites: elite dissident intellectuals criticize elite rulers, 
and they argue back and forth in a virtual space. The opponents can score a 
few victories in that virtual space, but meanwhile, back in reality, little 
changes for the people on the ground.
Some may find such a conclusion a bit pessimistic, especially coming from 
someone who works in the field of online journalism in these countries. But 
it is important to keep one's feet on the ground and neither underestimate 
the scope of the problem nor overestimate the ability of the medium.
And there is some reason for cautious optimism. CPJ's A. Lin Neumann, for 
example, reminded me that, "elites, generally, tend to lead the movement 
toward change so the fact that the Internet is somewhat confined to elite 
communication in some places does not disqualify it as a change agent." 
Neumann points to China, saying that the Internet has had an effect on the 
ground there, leading, for instance, to greater impact of stories on 
corruption.
Neumann also told me that the nature of the Internet means, "It is simply 
harder, even for the Burmese bad guys, to keep secrets from the world, 
because once information gets out it circulates widely."
"Twenty years ago," he noted, "that information -- such as a secret arrest 
that is revealed through an underground contact -- would have to circulate 
by newsletters sent in the post; now it is on the desks of journalists and 
others within minutes."
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