YVONNE EPPS WRITES — From the moment you open Tumblr, 4chan, or Reddit, you’re laughing up a storm. We’re lucky that this is all in English for the American audience, but Vietnam isn’t far behind with their own growing chuckle site. The popular start-up site HaiVL was allegedly acquired by…
BRIAN CANAVE WRITES – Media lesson learned in Taiwan this week: don’t let tainted cooking oil taint your responsibility in reporting. In light of recent reports on the sale of bad cooking oil in Taiwan, the media had a frenzy covering this controversy, including speculation causing an increase in worry for the…
AMBER VERNETTI WRITES: China’s influence over outside media outlets is increasing in countries like Australia, analysts report. This ‘soft power’ approach is China’s way of keeping in touch with one million Chinese Australians while censoring what is included in the Chinese language news sources and favoring state-generated content. John Fitzgerald,…
ASIA MEDIA STAFF WRITES – In a recent article, Human Rights Watch labeled moves by Singapore’s censorship body as “a serious setback for freedom of expression on the Internet.” These criticisms arose after the Media Development Authority (MDA) asked a few notable alternative news websites to apply for licensing to keep…
COURTESY OF CHINA DAILY USA: The Chinese movie “Coffin in the Mountain” has been honored with the Grand Prix at the 30th edition of the prestigious Warsaw Film Festival. This is the most important section of the famed international competition. The award was accepted by director Xin Yukun. The film…
DYLAN FIELDS WRITES – L.A. EigaFest 2014 hit the town last month, bringing fans of Japanese cinema from East to West to Hollywood’s main drag. A mash-up of the Japanese word for film, eiga, and ‘festival,’ the annual gathering, now in its fourth year, showcases Japanese and Japanese-influenced films for American…
Mataichiro “Mata” Yamamoto & Ryuhei Kitamura After his directorial debut with his cult hit action/horror flick Versus, Ryuhei Kitamura received both domestic and international fame among filmmakers. He went on to make a number of exciting films including his first Hollywood movie, Clive Barker’s The Midnight Meat Train, starring Bradley…
AMBER VERNETTI WRITES- Watch out, boys! Emirati first female pilot, Major Miriam al-Mansouri, led an air raid against Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) last week, a slap in the face for jihadists who believe women should be submissive to men. The 35-year-old fighter pilot proved her skills were on…
ASIA MEDIA STAFF WRITES – While Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong is still contemplating the decision to join the U.S.-led coalition against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS), the country has ramped up its own online efforts in the fight against religious extremism. Deputy Prime Minister (DPM) Teo…
LEXIE TUCKER WRITES – Japan was shaken on September 27 when Mt. Ontake erupted, resulting in the death of 47 hikers. Located 125 miles west of Tokyo, the ominous volcano’s explosion also injured 70 other hikers who sustained bruises, cuts, and broken bones after being pelted by flying rocks and other debris.…
ANNIE LUNDGREN WRITES – A Chinese production company recently launched the 3D cartoon series “Princess Fragrant,” which follows a Uyghur girl’s adventures along the Silk Road. The character, who sports a traditional Uyghur hat and long braids, was inspired by the ancient Chinese legend of “Fragrant Concubine,” the Uyghur consort…
RYAN LIPPERT WRITES – Miracles happen every day, and the Korean Peninsula’s latest political development proves this. How else can you explain the fact that North and South Korea appear to be discussing a return to peaceful negotiations? At the Asian Games’ closing ceremony earlier this month, North Korean officials…
KELCEY LORENZO WRITES – K-Pop boy band Infinite became the first Korean music group to chart No. 1 on Billboard’s Twitter Emerging Artists chart for the week of Sept. 20, 2014 with their song “Last Romeo,” the promotional track off of their second full album entitled Season 2. According to the…
MICHELLE VARINATA WRITES – In the eyes of international media, Indonesia is well-known for receiving a barrage of bad rap for its flawed handling of environmental issues. Recently, however, the Indonesian authorities have taken this criticism to heart and have decided to tackle the problem of illegal manta ray trading. The…
BRIAN CANAVE WRITES — The media in Taiwan has been buzzing these past weeks, so here’s a quick rundown starting with Hong Kong. Although the media focuses on the events unfolding in Hong Kong, many sources such as The Wall Street Journal (WSJ), New Tang Dynasty television (NTD), and BBC, reported on…
YVONNE EPPS WRITES — Vietnam treating their journalists poorly isn’t even a punchline anymore. In the past year, we’ve seen them wage war against journalists and bloggers, detaining, silencing, and playing jail tetris with them. It’s about time someone went undercover. Shawn W. Crispin from the Committee to Protect Journalists…
