Social media and the Qinghai earthquake

One thing has become clear to me after monitoring microblogging services like Twitter in China this morning for news of the Qinghai earthquake: it’s a very long way to Yushu, even from Xining, the regional capital of Qinghai (800 kilometers or 500 miles, to be precise).

Another is that it’s hard to know who anyone is – or who is hiring them to ‘comment’ or ‘report’ – unless you have already made reciprocated contact with them or know them personally.

“Yu Miao”, a “volunteer” tweeting from Xi’an airport on various microblogging platforms,  tells us:

+8613901894753: #qhdz 半夜的西宁机場异常忙碌 看到不斷有山東.重慶等省消防和救援隊集結.一幅緊張的戰備狀態.此去玉树820公里，预计车程12小时。－ 于淼在西宁至玉树途中报道

Xining airport is thronging with people in the middle of the night. I saw a steady stream of rescue workers and firefighters from Shandong, Chongqing and other provinces grouping together, with the anxious air of going into battle. It is still 820 kilometres (500 miles) to Yushu from here. I am guessing it will take them 12 hours.

China: UPDATED-Hu Jia indicted for subversion

UPDATE: from RFA’s Mandarin service [独家报道：律师拿到对胡佳“涉嫌煽动颠覆国家政权罪”起诉书]

HONG KONG—Authorities in Beijing have formally charged AIDS activist Hu Jia with “incitement to subversion” after he wrote articles online critical of China’s hosting of the Olympics, his lawyers said.

Baby Under House Arrest: Hu Qianci at four months. Courtesy of Zeng Jinyan’s blog.

China: Blogger’s home searched

From an RFA  interview with Zhai Minglei (ZH), pictured here on the far left at CN BloggerCon (Photo: Josh Chin):

“Five people came to see me at about 10 this morning [Thursday]. Three of them showed ID which confirmed they were from the Shanghai Cultural bureau. They said that I was involved in the illegal publication and distribution of materials, and acting as a freelance editor. They took away 41 copies of Minjian magazine. They also took the hard drive of my computer. Then they left, saying I would have to come to their office [Nov. 30] to take part in further investigations