South Korean director Byeon Young-joo is well-known for socially-critical films. Her latest, Helpless, is based on Japanese writer Miyuki Miyabe’s 1996 novel of the same name. The story addresses the “ills of contemporary society,” such as private loans, bankruptcy, and credit ratings – all of which are still relevant issues…
Author: Asia Media Staff
CHINA BLOG BLOTTER: Netizens Noodle Around Obama
Chinese Netizens are blocked from using Facebook. What else is new? But now there is another (albeit less popular) American social networking website that the Great Firewall does not block: Google+. Ever since February 20, 2012, the Chinese government lifted its censorship of Google+. Ever since, Chinese Netizens have been…
PARAMODELING IN HANOI
PARAMODELING IN HANOI
PARAMODELING IN HANOI
PAKISTAN: One Meeting, Two Newspapers, Multiple Versions
Earlier this month the President of Pakistan, Asif Ali Zardari, chaired a meeting for the heads of all allies of his political party, the Pakistan People’s Party. People may be left with two different impressions of how the meeting actually went depending on which Pakistani newspaper they read the following…
CHINA: Newspaper’s Spin on Policy Unconvincing
Last month the United Nation Security Council took up a resolution that called for the Syrian President, Bashar al-Assad, to step down. As one of the five permanent members of the Security Council, China voted against it, along with Russia. China remains adamant in its decision despite the outcry from…
SOUTH KOREA: Journalists War on Management Suck-Ups
Journalists from the Korean Broadcasting System (KBS), South Korea’s largest television network, are now on strike, joining news reporters from Munhwa Broadcasting System (MBC) who began their strike about a month ago. About 650 KBS staff members, including 250 reporters, joined the strike as part of a widening protest for journalistic reform. KBS…
INDIA: Sinful Irreverence?
The Anand Police Department has recently received complaints from Gujarat Christians. And no wonder. The uproar is targeting a monthly Catholic community magazine for its inclusion of a small black and white image of Jesus Christ holding a beer can in one hand and a cigarette in the other. It…
PHILIPPINES: Another Legendary Journalist Dead, Though Not By Violence
Isagani Yambot, publisher of the Philippine Daily Inquirer newspaper, one of the Philippines’ leading newspapers, passed away on March 2 at the age of 77 after an unsuccessful cardiac bypass surgery. Yambot was an active journalist from the days of the Marcos regime and continued to mentor young journalists, emphasizing…
NORTH KOREA: A Rare View of NK Public Opinion Thanks to Associated Press
The Associated Press (AP) reported from Pyongyang on the recent announcement of the United States and North Korean agreement to freeze North Korea’s nuclear activities in exchange for much needed food aid. Washington sees this as a promising first step towards discussing disarmament; yet, according to the AP, “rare interviews”…
NEW ZEALAND: John Pule
NEW ZEALAND: John Pule
NEW ZEALAND: John Pule
SRI LANKA: ‘The West Is Out to Get Us!’
Sure, the Sri Lankan government is in favor of manipulating the media to show its positive side. We’ve noted that tendency here before. But in this regard it is little different from governments all over the globe. Yet in another sense it seems determined to enter into a unique category:…
WE ASK / THEY ANSWER: Getting to the Bottom of the Top Secrets
Recently I attended a presentation at the University of Southern California’s US-China Institute about the play Top Secret: The Battle for the Pentagon Papers, which last year debuted in China. Afterward, I had an opportunity to talk with Geoffrey Cowan, the distinguished co–author of the play (along with the late…