In contrast to the recent commotion, going to Hydra is a practice of routine. We have been coming to this beautiful island in the Saronic Gulf every summer the past five years. To make the point, we stay in the same hotel, and even in the same room.

For me, returning to Greece, is always a […]

This afternoon, I visited the offices of a leading Egyptian newspaper. As a journalist by profession, I cherish meeting media-people to get their take on things. For me, this is particularly valuable as I am new to the place and (still) rather ignorant.
At the end of the visit, the editor-in-chief, a bright and well educated […]

You sense that time is running out when you start counting the days instead of the weeks.
As you might know, we’ll be leaving the Philippines at the end of this month. Packing up after four long years is quite a logistical effort. But I wont bother you with these practical details.
I just got home […]

These days, the electronic media in Taiwan seem to know only one topic: the campaign of veteran democracy advocate Shih Ming-teh aimed at bringing down President Chen, Shui-bian. For Chen’s opponents, this Saturday was the big day. At last, a huge rally or sit-in demonstration (as it has been dubbed by the organizers) kicked […]

The Council of Asian Liberals and Democrats (CALD) communications workshop has been off to a good beginning. Yesterday, we set the tone with a closer look at Web 2.0 applications and their possible uses in political communications in the region. While some participants had heard of some of these tools before, others were rather overwhelmed […]

I just arrived in Taipei with a small group of Filipino friends for a four-day event entitled “Political Communication in the Digital Age. A hands-on workshop on modern political communications tools“. The educative activity is co-sponsored by the Council of Asian Liberals and Democrats, the federation of liberal and democratic parties from the whole region, […]

I had mentioned my invitation to Media in Focus, the weekly discussion on ANC, my favorite Philippine TV-station (because it is all in English). I wanted to - and should have - posted a comment on the discussions with fellow bloggers John Nery and Connie Veneracion, but then the thought of having to get up […]

I came across a very interesting article in today’s issue of the International Herald Tribune, my preferred daily morning literature (next to the Philippine Daily Inquirer which, for some reasons, I find rather dull recently). In this front-page feature entitled “France’s mysterious embrace of blogs”, author Thomas Crampton referred to the French “obsession” with blogging. […]

One of the major flaws of Philippine political culture is what I term the extreme personalization of the political contest. While the focus on personalities is not uncommon in most democracies, the dominance of the personal factor in the Philippine political system is extreme. This is detrimental to the quality of democratic governance as platforms […]

Most of the educative activities I am involved in target Filipino politicians belonging to what until recently was termed the liberal family. While I have no reason to complain about the feedback regarding more conventional seminars, conferences and workshops, the politicians’ interest in our blogging and podcasting trainings may be called modest at best.
All […]