Yeah, but I didn't see it as him really talking to the people. To me it seemed more designed as a sly way of talking publicly to the Iranian leaders, which he's not officially allowed to do. Anyway, apparently Iran has quite a lot of internet - 1 in 3 people have access - 23 million or so. And although I think YouTube is blocked, apparently there's a lot of online political action and blogging in Iran - I met an Iranian filmmaker and blogger last year who told me this - so even if they can't stream the video, its transcript (also freely available in Persian) will no doubt have been widely read and discussed.
On 22-Mar-09, at 8:54 PM, David King wrote: > Yeah... I'm much more on the "we'll see" side. It's certainly cool to > reach out to a nation with YouTube ... But I'm not sure many of them > actually have access to YouTube. So then, it turns into a dorky "I > really don't get the web" moment. Something Obama can check off his > list without actually doing anything. > > David > > Sent from my iPhone > > On Mar 22, 2009, at 9:34 PM, Rupert Howe <rup...@fatgirlinohio.org> > wrote: > > > The even more astonishing thing is that it elicited a similarly > semi- > > direct response from Ayatollah Khamenei in his own speech to the > > nation. The Obama administration couldn't go back on the stated US > > policy of not talking to states who sponsor terrorism, so to get > > around it Obama used YouTube and pretended to be 'reaching out to' > the > > entire populace of Iran. Who, if American dogma is to be believed > (it > > isn't) are suffering under a totalitarian theocracy and have no > > democratic say over their government's policies. > > Magic. Back in 2005, when people on this list were talking about how > > web video was going to change the world, I was sceptical. But here > > it is, changing the world. Fingers crossed. > > > > On 22-Mar-09, at 2:49 PM, Gena wrote: > > > >> The President of the United States on YouTube to communicate with > >> the country of Iran? From a social networking, web video and "We > >> really are going to do things different in a transparent kind of > >> way" I am stunned. In a good way. > >> > >> He rocked me when the students of an Orange County (CA)school > made a > >> YouTube video about their lives and not only did he see it he came > >> to meet with the teenagers last week. > >> > >> I'm not quite an old timer but damn, never saw this coming in my > >> life, a POTUS using YouTube for diplomacy. > >> > >> He is breaking so many firsts I can't keep up with him. He's got to > >> pace himself. He's wearing my tear ducts out and it ain't even > three > >> good months. > >> > >> Gena > >> http;//outonthestoop.blogspot.com > >> --- In videoblogging@yahoogroups.com, Rupert <rup...@...> wrote: > >>> > >>> That is the most insanely awesome thing. It's an election year in > >>> Iran. This is the tone and content the people need to hear if > >>> they're not going to re-elect Ahmadinejad. > >>> I watched with Persian captions, you can turn them on with a click > >> in > >>> the YouTube player. > >>> And the video quality was great. > >>> > >>> > >>> On 20-Mar-09, at 4:50 AM, Jay dedman wrote: > >>> > >>> We know that Obama used web video effectively in his campaign, but > >>> now he's > >>> using web video to reach out to an entire nation and their > leaders. > >>> http://www.whitehouse.gov/Nowruz/ > >>> They even include an MP3 and MP4 download. Subtitles in Farsi. > >>> > >>> Here's an article with more details: > >>> http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/21/world/middleeast/21iran.html?hp > >>> > >>> The president's message released with Farsi subtitles to some > >>> broadcasters > >>>> in the Middle East and marking the Nowruz Spring holiday in I > >>>> ran > >>>> echoed > >>>> sentiments in Mr. Obama's first televised interview from the > White > >>>> House in > >>>> January in which he hinted at a new openness toward Iran. > >>> > >>> > >>> Jay > >>> > >>> -- > >>> http://ryanishungry.com > >>> http://jaydedman.com > >>> http://twitter.com/jaydedman > >>> 917 371 6790 > >>> > >>> > >>> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] > >>> > >>> > >>> > >>> ------------------------------------ > >>> > >>> Yahoo! Groups Links > >>> > >>> > >>> > >>> > >>> > >>> Rupert > >>> http://twittervlog.tv/ > >>> Creative Mobile Filmmaking > >>> Shot, edited and sent with my Nokia N93 > >>> > >>> > >>> > >>> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] > >>> > >> > >> > >> > > > > > > > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] > > > > > > > > ------------------------------------ > > > > Yahoo! Groups Links > > > > > > > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ------------------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/videoblogging/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/videoblogging/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: mailto:videoblogging-dig...@yahoogroups.com mailto:videoblogging-fullfeatu...@yahoogroups.com <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: videoblogging-unsubscr...@yahoogroups.com <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
