JEREMIAH FAJARDO WRITES – When hasty, controversial remarks find their way onto social media the result is rarely good for politicians. That’s a lesson Osaka Mayor Tōru Hashimoto has come to learn. According to publications like The Japan Times and Mainichi Daily, two of Japan’s prominent dailies, Hashimoto recently made flippant…
Month: May 2013
VIETNAM: A Win for LGBT, but a Loss for Activism
YVONNE EPPS WRITES – Vietnam’s LGBT community got a morale boost on International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia May 17, but the big picture of social freedoms in the country is uneven. Viet Nam News reported that the United Nations praised the country for cutting anti-gay discrimination through local media’s spread…
SINGAPORE: Supervisor’s Temper Tantrum Goes Viral
STEPHANIE GARCIA WRITES – Temper tantrums are only socially acceptable during childhood. After that, they tend to draw police involvement and viral disapproval. A YouTube video posted May 17 of a supervisor physically abusing an intern sparked a media frenzy over the weekend, ultimately compelling the 29-year-old victim to come…
TAIWAN: Death of Fisherman Sparks Tension with Philippines
BRIAN CANAVE WRITES – A tide of anger is rising between the Philippines and Taiwan after the Filipino Coast Guard shot and killed a Taiwanese fisherman in the strait of the South China Sea separating the two nations. Since the shooting in the middle of May, media in the Philippines,…
NORTH KOREA: One Click from the Internet
RYAN LIPPERT WRITES -Simple lack of Internet access is one of the biggest obstacles to solving some of North Korea’s myriad woes. The hermit state has a computer network of its own, but citizens can only access those sites the government has OK’d. Further, the nation’s computers are designed to…
PHILIPPINES: Getting Away with Media Manslaughter
LAUREN CHEN WRITES- Hopefully this murder won’t become another unsolved media mystery. Recently, radio broadcaster Mario Vendiola, 33, was gunned down and killed in Kabasalan, Zamboanga Sibugay. On his motorcycle ride home, Vendiola was shot 3 times in the chest and was declared dead before reaching the hospital. He was…
PAKISTAN: List of Truth or Defamation?
JESSICA GADOMSKI WRITES – While some Pakistani journalists may be comfortable accepting money from the government, they are not accustomed to having their names made public- on the Supreme Court’s website no less! The Supreme Court’s recent decision to publish the names of journalists who allegedly received money from the…
NORTH KOREA: American Tried for Treason
RYAN LIPPERT WRITES- Kenneth Bae, a Korean-American tourist, is currently awaiting trial in Pyongyang for allegedly planning to remove the North Korean government from power. If Bae is found guilty, he may be executed. The government-owned media in North Korea has been fairly tight-lipped about the specifics of Bae’s…
PAKISTAN: 2013 Elections Tainted by Violence
LIZA HERNANDEZ WRITES- With the recent outbreak of violence over the 2013 elections in Pakistan, a rather grim mood has settled over the event. The targets of the recent attacks have all been candidates running for office in this year’s election. In Peshawar, 2 bombs exploded in attacks that…
MALAYSIA: Elections Up In Flames!
MARLENA NIP WRITES- The National party of Malaysia is up in flames! Tuesday night, it quite literally was up in flames. Two bottles containing gasoline were found in the headquarters of the Barisan Nasional (BN) party. It is predicted that persons from the opposition party were aiming to burn…
JAPAN: From Shrines to Tanks, Abe’s Cabinet Faces Criticism
JEREMIAH FARJADO WRITES- Will the Japanese government ever learn? Once again, Japanese tension with the Chinese and South Koreans have flared up due to a recent visit to the Yasukuni Shrine by over 150 Japanese politicians, including members of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s cabinet. As Bloomberg and Kotaku, a…
TAIWAN: Two Way Street for Television in China and Taiwan
BRIAN CANAVE WRITES- Taiwanese government fears losing influence over their citizens to China. With all of the talk about increasing cross straits dialogue, former Straits Exchange Foundation Chairman Chiang Pin-kung suggested introducing international news programs such as Hong-Kong based Phoenix TV and Beijing’s state-run China Central Television (CCTV) satellite channels…
LAOS: Worries for Laos
E.J. DE LARA WRITES- Recently, the Laos National Assembly approved the construction of a $7 billion railroad that would extend to the China border in Luang Namntha province. The railroad was supposed to be a joint project between Laos and China until China dropped out last year fearing a lack…
CHINA: The Creation of an Internet Security Powerhouse
LEXIE TUCKER WRITES- Cyber security has always been a hot concern with Americans, but what we fail to realize is that it is also a global problem. According to the director of the security research team at a web security company Beijing Rising Information Technology Co Ltd , Liu Siyu,…
SINGAPORE: Can’t Take a Joke?
STEPHANIE GARCIA WRITES- Cartoons are typically humorous, but Leslie Chew is hardly laughing since being charged with sedition for his “racially insensitive” comic strip. The 37 year old may face up to $5,000 in fines and three years jail time if he is found guilty of violating Section 298 of…
MYANMAR: Entering a Dangerous Period?
ALEXANDRE GUIRAUD WRITES- In this time of drastic change in Myanmar’s media structure, many companies are trying to help the development of the country by gaining a new market. One of the most recent people to do so was Google’s Executive Chairman, Eric Schmidt, who traveled to Myanmar to promote…