The Bloggers' Bible

Ever since the blog came into being, it has given a voice to millions who had otherwise preferred to remain silent. And when silence breaks, it's not in harmony. But it is not the lilting melody that our ears want to hear, it is the cacophony of sense, of outrage, of anger. But in this flood of free speech we tend to get carried way. And often we don't know what to say and how to tell it.

Keeping this in mind the guys at Reporters Without Borders have come up with a Handbook for bloggers and cyber-dissidents, which provides "practical advice and technical tips to help bloggers stay anonymous and get round censorship."

This is what they say:

Blogs get people excited. Or else they disturb and worry them. Some people distrust them. Others see them as the vanguard of a new information revolution. Because they allow and encourage ordinary people to speak up, they’re tremendous tools of freedom of expression.

Bloggers are often the only real journalists in countries where the mainstream media is censored or under pressure. Only they provide independent news, at the risk of displeasing the government and sometimes courting arrest.

Reporters Without Borders has produced this handbook to help them, with handy tips and technical advice on how to remain anonymous and to get round censorship, by choosing the most suitable method for each situation. It also explains how to set up and make the most of a blog, to publicise it (getting it picked up efficiently by search-engines) and to establish its credibility through observing basic ethical and journalistic principles.

Click on the links to download:

Handbook for bloggers and cyber-dissidents
Pdf, 1,6 Mo
Handbook for bloggers and cyber-dissidents
Printer friendly Pdf, 3,4 Mo