ARGO won for Best Picture, of course, but in my view it merited an additional Oscar. And so did the far more controversial ZERO DARK THIRTY. Consider that Hollywood hands out awards for everything from “Sound Mixing” to “Best Picture.” But over the decades no Oscar category existed to honor…
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INDONESIA: Fair to Call Them the ‘Dirty Dozen’?
Indonesia’s media will be busy this year covering the approaching 2014 presidential elections, as well as several local elections that will take place before then. However, the media’s role in these elections is now under scrutiny, both from Indonesian citizens and free press supporters worldwide. With the removal of the…
PHILIPPINES: Media-Phobic Commission on Elections—Feigned Fairness?
The public should be cautious of the Commission on Election’s (Comelec) ability to meet its expectations to conduct clean polls in the May 2013 Elections. So far, the Comelec’s integrity has been in question. According to Comelec Resolution 9615, the poll body has imposed aggregate and not per station airtime…
BANGLADESH: Persistent Outrage Over Crusading Blogger’s Death
Bangladesh news coverage this month has been dominated by demonstrations in Dakha demanding stiffer sentences for war criminals from the country’s 1971 Liberation War. Now, hundreds of thousands of Bangladeshis have been gathering as they also seek justice for the killing of Ahmed Rajib Haider, a blogger who helped organize…
Pakistan: No room for argument in “The News”
Recently the Pakistan Army condemned what they called the “inhuman and brutal killing” of a soldier by Indian troops near the “Line of Control” in the Kashmir border. According to the Pakistani military, the soldier inadvertently crossed the LoC, and was killed after being questioned by Indian soldiers. As unfortunate…
PACIFIC PERSPECTIVES: What Do Journalists Really Do?
Los Angeles – (a syndicated column by Tom Plate) It’s uncertain whether Asia will come to entertain many Western journalists that tried harder to understand their region, their ways and their history than Barry Wain, who has died at 69. The former editor of the once Hong Kong-based Asian Wall…
PHILIPPINES: Violation of Press Freedom? You decide.
Bobby Nalzaro, columnist of the Sun.Star, the first Filipino community newspaper to go online, has recently returned from his “sabbatical”. Approximately a month ago, the Sun Star board of directors suspended Nalzaro and discontinued his 15-year-old column because he wrote critically about the suspended governor of the Philippine province of…
LEBANON: A Failure?
Freedom of the press seems to be growing across the Middle East, as the SHSU Global Center for Journalism and Democracy co-hosted the “Media Coverage of International Justice” conference in Lebanon this past week. The conference welcomed journalists and non-governmental organizations from across the world. While revolutions have been on…
MYANMAR: True or False? But Who’s Behind the Game?
False news made its way across Myanmar recently, as the state-owned newspaper, The New Light of Myanmar, was forced to issue an official and public apology for misleading its many readers by using a picture of a motorcycle crash and claiming it to be the result of mines. The picture…
BANGLADESH: Money On The Go
Mobile Money has been making its way through Bangladesh. bKash Limited company is a subsidiary of BRAC Bank (a private commercial bank in Bangladesh) that has helped launch a new service that allows Bangladeshis to transfer money through their mobile phones. According to a report in The Economist,…
VIETNAM: Bloggers Equal Terrorists … Again?
With the drop of a dime (or with a simple substitution) bloggers can become terrorists! Wait, really? They’ve done it again- the rights of anti-corruption Vietnamese netizens have been violated. Earlier this month, 14 democracy activists and bloggers were arrested and given long jail sentences because they were trying to…
LMU LOS ANGELES: Prof. David Kang Explains East Asia
East Asia, for so long a seeming model of geopolitical stability, has become dangerously tense. Territorial disputes involving Korea, China and Japan over the Dokdo/Takeshima and Senkaku/Diaoyu islands comprise just the top layer of the troubles. To explain what is driving the current tension, LMU’s Center for Asian Business has…
SINGAPORE: Social Media Mourns As Well
It is no exaggeration to say that all of Singapore is mourning the death of two brothers who collided into a cement-mixing truck. The city-state’s media is all over the story, and its social media is humming overtime. Recently, Nigel Yap, 13, offered to pick up his younger brother Donavan,…
MALAYSIA: ‘Dakar Rally’ of the Gaza Strip
The Palestinian people welcomed Malaysia’s Prime Minister Dato’ Sri Najib Razak last week on a “Dakar Rally” type visit to the Gaza Strip. Najin Razak got a real feel for life on the Gaza Strip with a tour that consisted of zipping through the narrow streets in a 30-car…
TOKYO AND NEW YORK: The ‘Gaijin’ Guide Par Excellence
The Oriental Economist is a periodic newsletter that adds a whole next dimension of quality to the very idea of the ordinarily mundane if not dreary “newsletter”. The brainchild (and dear baby) of New York intellectual Richard Katz, TOE, as it is warmly called, has for years been totally invaluable…
LOS ANGELES: Influential Mahbubani Converges on LMU!
Here is an event you do not want to miss: the influential Kishore Mahbubani will be offering his views on the future political order of global politics this Thursday 28 Feb. The event is absolutely and astonishingly cost-free, but you should email your notice to attend to <asiamedia.lmu@gmail.com>. The venue…