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1 The practice
2 Hints for an evaluation
2.1 Strenghts and Critical Points
I don’t want to assess the design of the website, but rather the content. In doing so I would agree with Eva Pechova who says critically: “We can merely contribute a very small part in order to open up Czech society and to start communication between cultures.” It is true that the website of Klub Hanoi cannot be a substitute of a printed newspaper or other mass-media publications which reach the masses. But on the other hand the website delivers a perfect possibility to overcome structural problems encountered by the classic forms of media. Mainly the problem of participation. Even though the main articles are still controlled by Klub Hanoi, the postings are open to everybody. And participation on the rise according to Eva Pechova, especially the participation of Vietnamese users.
One could wonder if discussions about food or Vietnamese pop music contributes to good intercultural practise. Because of the monitoring work of the Klub Hanoi members there is a good mixture between themes and styles of writing. But in every case communication finds a place and that’s what we need. The web makes it easier to meet people and talk to someone, with whom you would otherwise have never got in contact.
Even if members of Klub Hanoi complain about an indifference among Vietnamese people regarding the organisation’s efforts, the growing Vietnamese membership and the new direction towards articles aimed at Vietnamese people from the Klub Hanoi’s side shows the project’s capacities regarding real intercultural practise; this is especially true when considering the fact that the interculture map (which you are now reading) data base defines best practice as involvement of migrants.
In short, Klub Hanoi provides Czech society with the urgently needed information about modern life and the origins of a considerable part of their society. But moreover it already delivers, or at least shows a future way of realising, intercultural exchange and communication on the low-hierarchic level of electronic media, unlike the classic and majority population dominated media.
Whether this development means a new possibility to influence the whole of society remains to be seen and is an exciting question. In any case the web with its short and easy channels of access might reflect (not only) ethnic diversity much better than the media landscape of television stations and newspapers. Sure, it would be welcome to see more Vietnamese contributions, not only as postings after the main articles, but also as authors of longer articles as well. Then Klub Hanoi would be facilitating intercultural communication to an even greater extent than it currently does.
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