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The BBC is failing to ask the big questions about the EU referendum

Britain's public service broadcaster must do more to communicate this historic vote beyond the narrow agendas of the official campaigns. 

openDemocracy.net - free thinking for the world

The BBC is failing to ask the big questions about the EU referendum

Britain's public service broadcaster must do more to communicate this historic vote beyond the narrow agendas of the official campaigns. 

openDemocracy.net - free thinking for the world

This week's editor

TR, editor

This week Tom Rowley and the oDR team edit the front page.

From Pondi to Paris: Pondicherry's marriage market

Marriages between Pondicherrians who took French nationality in 1962, and those who chose to remain Indian, reveals a complicated range of ‘marriages of interest’ taking place today.

When is an anniversary not an anniversary?

Russia is gearing up for the centennial of its October Revolution, and Ireland has just commemorated the centenary of its Easter Rising. Would their leaders recognise their countries today? Русский

"The corollary of the derivative is the border": visions for the democratic control of movement

Democracy is created in the seizing of it: those who are democratizing movement are those who, in their actions, are implicitly or explicitly demanding the abolition of borders.

Everyone does better when everyone does better

For long-term social and economic stability, investments into increased economic equality are essential for everyone’s prosperity. A contribution to the openGlobalRights debate on economic inequality and human rights.

The BBC is failing to ask the big questions about the EU referendum

Britain's public service broadcaster must do more to communicate this historic vote beyond the narrow agendas of the official campaigns. 

On Connor Sparrowhawk’s avoidable death

A leaked document reveals that an NHS England Trust knew of failings 10 months before a young man died in its care.

Whitto, time to show you're not beholden to the press

There's one way for the UK culture secretary to answer accusations that his private life has influenced his policy decisions: move on with properly implementing the Leveson recommendations.

#Whittingdale: are the press still protecting themselves?

The story of the UK culture secretary's former relationship with a sex worker had been known by newspapers for years. Despite reaching up to Downing Street, there's still silence on how the story broke.

Book review: Neil Kent’s “Crimea: a history”

A new history of Crimea argues for the peninsula’s central importance to Europe — via Russia. The result is misleading.

 

Response to Thomas Fazi's critique of DiEM25

A large digital assembly, properly set up, would reasonably conclude that the mechanisms of global capitalism need to be regulated, redistributing wealth from those few to the rest of us. Deutsch.

Checking your sources in Nagorno-Karabakh

When war in Nagorno-Karabakh flares up again, researchers, reporters, and journalists need to be careful not to feed either side’s propaganda machine. But this is easier said than done.

Time to ditch the Burnham-era policies, NHS campaigners tell Labour's leadership

NHS campaigners meet John McDonnell and Heidi Alexander today, and hope to put five questions to them.

We CAN save our NHS from TTIP without Brexit – but let's not declare premature victory

Gail Cartmail of Unite the Union says their legal advice shows the EU still threatens our National Health Service – but that Cameron could fix that without the need for Brexit.

Postconflict in Colombia (12). Public endorsement and legal certainty

A positive result in a referendum on the peace agreement between the Colombian government and the FARC can massively strengthen the agreement’s legitimacy and confer upon it an aura of untouchability. Español

Women and the War on Drugs

Survivors and victims of the War on Drugs are travelling from Honduras in a caravan for peace, life and justice to present their case  to UNGASS 11 next week.

Peru will have to choose between democracy and dictatorship

The second electoral round presents a dilemma that would be easily resolved with the active and dedicated participation of the left, which currently represents 22.88% of the national vote. Español 

Mexicans expect far more from the Pope than we will ever get

The Pope’s first official visit to Mexico was all talk and no action, but it was exactly what many Mexicans expected.  A contribution to the openGlobalRights debate on religion and human rightsEspañol 

On Whittingdale and the power of press silence

The ability of the British press to effectively suppress a scandal speaks volumes about the dangers of concentrated media.

The erotic economy: it’s not what you think

If we stopped imprisoning our emotions in industrially manufactured profit centers, desire could become an engine of social transformation.

The UK government’s inversion of accountability

What to make of a government that increasingly excuses its actions from legal accountability while demanding more and more accountability from citizens? 

Russian culture through Lviv’s looking glass

They may not love Putin in Lviv, but the people of this western Ukrainian city have nothing against Russian culture. Русский, Українською

The EU must not leave Greece to solve the migration crisis

Still, the boats come. Detention, as a solution to this, would have to be on a scale hitherto unimaginable in the EU. We need alternatives, and migrants need to be part of them.

“EU or bust?” is the wrong question for Ukraine

What was missing in the Dutch referendum on the EU Association Agreement with Ukraine?

 

The Whittingdale file: a plea for better journalism

It's a mystery as to why the national newspapers chose not to expose a juicy story about the UK culture secretary. But claiming that his policies were 'influenced' by the 'suppression' of the story is pure conjecture.

Who gets to decide how the media talks about climate change?

If you want to get inside how the media frames and shapes our collective understanding of climate change, there’s one person who understands it best: British environmental campaigner George Marshall.

Is a reformed Refugee Convention a solution?

The Refugee Convention was designed for an earlier era, but there seems little will to update its provisions to meet today’s reality. A contribution to the openGlobalRights debate on refugee protection. Türkçe

Where from here? The Latin American middle classes facing stagnation

What will be the effect of the economic slowdown in trust in institutions and political behaviour of Latin American emerging middle classes, after 10 years of “leftist” governments? Español

Has the movement to prevent gun violence hit a tipping point?

30,000 people are killed by gun violence in the USA every year, but support for gun control is at an all time high. Is public opinion turning?