Jillian York

I am a freelance writer, blogger, and new member of the OpenNet Initiative team at Berkman. I maintain a personal blog, Jillian C. York, and cover Morocco, Palestine and the Western Sahara for Global Voices. You can also find me on the Huffington Post, KABOBfest, and Arabisto.

Email Jillian York

Latest posts by Jillian York

Fey as Palin: The World Reacts

  September 16, 2008

Less than an hour after Sarah Palin's nomination was announced, the comparisons to Tina Fey started. The glasses, the hair, the highlights - Sarah Palin is indeed a dead ringer for Tina Fey, who rose to fame as a writer and comic on Saturday Night Live and left the show in 2006 to star in her own television sitcom, 30 Rock. Following Fey's epic performance last Saturday, some bloggers are dying to know when and if she'll return, while others just don't get the hype.

Global Journalists Blog Reactions to Sarah Palin

  September 12, 2008

The Washington Post‘s PostGlobal is an effort to bring global issues to the mainstream. Calling itself an “experiment in global, collaborative journalism” the site, moderated by David Ignatius and Fareed Zakaria, offers global perspectives on current issues. Twice a week, foreign independent journalists answer a question put forth by PostGlobal‘s...

MENA: Is Bristol Palin's pregnancy really an issue?

  September 3, 2008

Each presidential race has its controversies. While the past two were marred by questions of voting accessibility and vote counting, however, this race is plagued with gossip about everything from Democratic nominee Barack Obama's religion to John McCain's alleged marital infidelities. In a presidential race, hardly anything is sacred...but should the subject of Bristol Palin's pregnancy be? Jillian York has the scoop.

The World Reacts to Sarah Palin's VP Nomination

  August 29, 2008

Less than twelve hours after Democratic presidential nomination Barack Obama made waves with his acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention, John McCain made tsunami with his selection of Alaskan Governor Sarah Palin as running mate. Palin was the youngest person ever, and the first woman to be elected to...

Live-Tweeting the DNC: Reactions to Barack Obama's Speech

  August 29, 2008

Continuing our coverage of the Twittersphere's response to the Democratic National Convention, we move forward to reactions to Barack Obama's speech. Obama, who took the stage at 10:15 EST, started by thanking the audience profusely, for which he received some teasing from amiraalhussaini and nplaughlin. As the speech begins, African...

Live-Tweeting the DNC: Reactions Leading Up to Obama's Entrance

  August 29, 2008

Perhaps even more so than blogging, Twitter has become a popular tool for getting messages to the public quickly. Users from around the globe have been tweeting about the elections for months now, and tonight, the global Twittersphere waits with bated breath for presidential hopeful Barack Obama to accept the...

The Twittersphere Reacts to Biden's Nomination

  August 23, 2008

This morning, around 3:28 a.m. EST, subscribers to Presidential candidate Barack Obama's text messages received the ultimate announcement - that Obama had finally selected a running mate. His choice? Joe Biden, a senator from Delaware. Although the news was leaked as early as 2:00 a.m. EST, few members of the Twittersphere had anything to say about it. Instead, their reactions were based on Obama's selection of Biden.

The Atheist Vote

  August 18, 2008

As the presidential candidates come together to discuss faith and issues of morality, there's a large contingent feeling excluded. Although they have votes, American atheists and agnostics often feel left out as politicians pander to each religion, but skip past those who eschew faith.

Barack Obama's Muslim Outreach Coordinator Resigns

Mazen Asbahi, the attorney who had volunteered as Barack Obama's outreach coordinator to Muslim and Arab-Americans, has resigned after accusations of ties to Jamal Said, an imam at a fundamentalist mosque in Illinois. Asbahi briefly sat on the board of Allied Assets Advisors Fund with Said in 2000. Bloggers from the Middle East react in this post from Jillian York.