Blog translations..

I have decided that today I am going to be look at not only the blog itself but its host, Global Voices.

Global Voices, translates these blogs into up to thirteen languages so that everyone has the ability to access and understand the content. This is a great feature which allows the messages people are trying to get out there to gain support for their cause, can reach a much larger audience.

However I am not really sure how this function operates as when I typed ‘John Kennedy’ into the French, Spanish and Portugese versions of the website, I could not see his name appear, and am unfortunately bi-lingual.

After further investigation, I have discovered that Kennedy’s work has indeed been translated into several different languages. I think this is a great feature, allowing a greater access to the blog. Unfortunately this function seems to be a bit slow, there appears to be no stories translated for, arguably hindering the benefits of the service quite a bit. It would be interesting to see if this affects the number of hits he gets to his website, however there does not seem to be an obvious ‘hit counter’ obvious on the global voices website.

Analysing John Kennedy

http://www.globalvoicesonline.org/index.php?author=227&m=200804

Kennedy has been blogging since March 2005 and has examined many political issues with a focus on East Asia, and more particularly China. Recent posts have focused on the conflict between China and Tibet and the focus this has gained throughout the world as a result of the forthcoming Beijing Olympics.

Kennedy’s blog comnatins links to facebook groups campaigning against some of the ongong issues in China, including environemental degradation, a petition against a young woman Zeng Jinyan, being held hostage with her daughter due to her husband’s actitivism and also a link to a petition to ‘free Hu Jia’, Zeng’s husband.

The post China: We need a consistent and pro-trade US president explains Chinese views on the lead up to the American election, Kennedy allows Michael Anti’s word to make up his argument. I like that Kennedy does not just focus on the human rights issues within China but also looks at their political alliances. Yet these views, even whilst saying that the Chinese people would applaud the first African-American president, there is a greater focus on future of the Chinese nation as a communist unit itself, and therefore government would look to support Hilary Clinton.

Each of Kennedy’s blog posts lead on to length discussions between its readers, a recent April 2nd post had 87 comments. These came from people on each side of the argument, both Chinese and Americans commenting on the plight of Hu Jia in the lead up to his sentence. The post gives details of Hu Jia’s story, the petition against his arrest and the crimes he committed, disobeying the strict Chinese regulations by speaking out against the regime.

This has led to many readers debate over the issue, some Chinese readers show anger at Westerners thinking they are ‘superior’ and know everything about China, more so than the Chinese man who lives there. John Kennedy steps in on the discussion, asking those who come out with arguments regarding Hu Jia to provide the evidence to support their claims. No one gets away with an unfounded generalisation. Whilst opinions are expressed, any statement about the trial or events in China is often challenged by other readers. Thus the discussion becomes regulated by the readers themselves and allows others to develop an understanding of all perspectives of the debate.