Interviews with Zied Mhirsi

Well, a flash mob is that people agree to meet at a certain point. In a café, or in a street. And then they stop moving all of sudden, and then they film themselves. And then share that on the Internet. And I think that´s something that is quite interesting from a media perspective. Because the videos go viral. There is no way the police can stop them from doing it. They won´t know where it´s happening, when it´s happening, who is there. And everybody then after just, like, 45 seconds disappears all of a sudden.

So that was one way that maybe a lot of people saw on YouTube videos all over the world. And we managed to do that in Tunisia as well. And people got really interested. And some high schools also organized some activities related to Internet censorship. In the last months of the revolution, bloggers played a major role in terms of relaying information to the outside world and giving, translating, and offering the latest on what was happening in Tunisia´s regions to the world on Twitter and on Facebook and on YouTube.

In 2004, Dr. Zied Mhirsi became a pioneer in Tunisia’s pre-revolutionary blogosphere, and used his blog, Zizou From Djerba, as a platform to express ideas, opinions, and experiences. He soon engaged others in the blogosphere on policy debates about topics like education, agriculture, and the environment. Initially, the Internet was one of the few venues for Tunisians to express themselves without being harassed by government authorities. As the regime of Zine el Abidine Ben Ali became more aware of the blogosphere’s ability to influence society, bloggers like Mhrisi became targets of censorship and persecution.

As a student studying in the United States, Mhirsi became involved in Tunisian radio and through his broadcasts, informed Tunisians about world events. When he returned to his homeland, Mhirsi remained active in radio and used it to promote the use of social media. This concept transformed into a weekly political show that featured voices from the Tunisian blogosphere prior to the 2010 uprising. Since the revolution, Mhirsi has worked extensively with international media analyzing the post-revolution political situation, working with outlets such as CNN, Al Jazeera English, 60 Minutes, CBS News, the New York Times, and the Financial Times, to produce news stories, documentaries, and other shows. In March 2011, Mhirsi co-founded Tunisia Live, the first Tunisian English-language news website. Tunisia Live is viewed by more than 100,000 visitors every month and serves as the main Tunisian news platform for English speakers.

In addition to his media activities, Mhirsi is a global health professional whose public health career focuses primarily on strengthening health systems to combat HIV/AIDS and other serious diseases.

Twitter: @zizoo

Blog: http://www.zizoufromdjerba.com/

Website: http://www.tunisia-live.net/