CHINA and JAPAN: Will the truth set them free?
LEXIE TUCKER WRITES – The past continues to haunt Japan for its treatment of Chinese “comfort women” before and during World War II. On April 25, the archives in China’s Jilin province released 89 documents that include letters written by Japanese soldiers, newspaper articles, and military files that provide solid…
Full Article CHINA and JAPAN: Will the truth set them free?NORTH KOREA: One Does not Simply Ignore a Collapsed Building
RYAN LIPPERT WRITES – The recent collapse of an apartment building in North Korea may reveal how the Hermit Kingdom’s media works. A large apartment complex recently collapsed in Pyongyang, but the national media made no mention of the incident until five days after the fact. While nobody knows why the…
Full Article NORTH KOREA: One Does not Simply Ignore a Collapsed BuildingVIETNAM: The Biggest Bully of the South China Sea
YVONNE EPPS WRITES — Tensions over the South China Sea reached its peak last week, but this kerfuffle between China and Vietnam is quite different than the tug of war over the Parcel Islands earlier this year. Everyone wants a piece of this pie, but who loses in the end?…
Full Article VIETNAM: The Biggest Bully of the South China SeaHOW NOT TO MISUNDERSTAND ASIA: The Farewell Interviews by Editors Fajardo & Garcia
TOM PLATE WRITES – Before graduating with their degrees, Asia Media Magazine managing editors Jeremiah Fajardo and Stephanie Garcia spent time with Asia Media’s editor-in-chief for a final panoramic interview on Asia today. The interviews can be viewed below. Jeremiah’s Interview Stephanie’s Interview A collated version for classroom usage can…
Full Article HOW NOT TO MISUNDERSTAND ASIA: The Farewell Interviews by Editors Fajardo & Garcia
Q&A with Miss Asia USA Contender Eriko Lee Katayama
MIA MARTIN WRITES – When I first met Eriko Lee Katayama last spring she was a classmate of mine in Professor Plate’s Introduction to Media and Politics of Asia. At the time, I was unaware of the details that make her a one-of-a-kind competitor for this year’s Miss Asia USA…
Full Article Q&A with Miss Asia USA Contender Eriko Lee Katayama
GOODBYE TO OUR GRADUATING SENIORS!
TOM PLATE WRITES – Who and what is an Asia Media Staffer? Pictured in the photos within this post are most of the staff members of Asia Media after a couple Tuesday staff meetings. By this weekend (May 10-11), more than half of them will have received their undergraduate degree and…
Full Article GOODBYE TO OUR GRADUATING SENIORS!PACIFIC PERSPECTIVES: Getting Hot Over Global Warming
TOM PLATE WRITES – Like each of his seven predecessors, the current occupant of the Office of Secretary General of the United Nations, Ban Ki-moon, gets to pick his own impossible dream to imagine solved, and he certainly has his. However, the SG disagrees that he’s tilting at windmills, as…
Full Article PACIFIC PERSPECTIVES: Getting Hot Over Global WarmingTHE TOM PLATE COLUMN: Crying for Thailand
SYNDICATED COLUMNIST TOM PLATE WRITES (7 May) — More than almost any political crisis on the face of the earth today – more than in Russia, Ukraine and Crimea; even more, in a way, than in dreadfully miserable Syria – it is the crisis in Thailand that seems so sad.…
Full Article THE TOM PLATE COLUMN: Crying for Thailand
THAILAND: The Nation’s Twilight Zone
ELIZABETH NAAI WRITES – Thailand looks eerily like a Twilight Zone episode or George Orwell’s 1984. On April 17, parents of 34-year old Chatwadee ‘Rose’ Amornpat accused their daughter of violating lèse majesté. They turned in seven clips as evidence to the Crime Suppression Division (CSD). Derived from the Latin…
Full Article THAILAND: The Nation’s Twilight Zone
EAST-WEST CENTER: International Fellowship Opportunity
ASIA MEDIA WRITES – Looking for international journalist experience? The East-West Center is now accepting applications from US journalists for its 2014 China-United States Journalists Exchange!
Full Article EAST-WEST CENTER: International Fellowship OpportunityJAPAN: 21st Century Digital Girl Sings Herself to the Top
LEXIE TUCKER WRITES – Can you say a voice is auto-tuned if the singer isn’t even human? Hatsune Miku has “written” more than 180,000 songs and has a whopping 1.95 million Facebook followers, more than any other Japanese pop star. So what sets her apart from the Lady Gagas and…
Full Article JAPAN: 21st Century Digital Girl Sings Herself to the TopPAKISTAN: Are Government Spies Behind Media Assault?
AUSTIN SZABO WRITES – For years, news anchor and journalist Hamid Mir has been fighting for the cause of a free press in Pakistan. Now he’s fighting for his own life. Still recovering from an unsolved assassination attempt April 19, Mir, undaunted, issued a statement accusing the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI)…
Full Article PAKISTAN: Are Government Spies Behind Media Assault?CHINA: See Things Through the Chengguan’s Eyes
HUNTER POST WRITES – A member of the urban patrol of Changzhou has purchased a pair of Google glasses with the intent of increasing the transparency of his work. Jiang Yifan, a young officer, is a member of the Chengguan, a special branch of the police. It’s a combination of…
Full Article CHINA: See Things Through the Chengguan’s EyesSOUTH KOREA: Citizens Upset by Inconsistent Reports on Sewol Incident
RYAN LIPPERT WRITES – The Sewol, a South Korean ferry, started sinking off the coast of South Korea on Wednesday. The government and media tried to keep the nation informed, but their stories aren’t matching up. If this continues, the public’s trust in these groups may sink too. Early reports…
Full Article SOUTH KOREA: Citizens Upset by Inconsistent Reports on Sewol Incident
AUSTRALIA: Aussie Shows Scheduled to Invade China’s TVs
AMBER VERNETTI WRITES – ABC’s Australian Network has landed a deal with the Shanghai Media Group (SMG), allowing various Aussie shows and other media content to be broadcasted in China. As the third Western media group to have broadcasting rights in China, following Britain’s BBC World Service and America’s CNN…
Full Article AUSTRALIA: Aussie Shows Scheduled to Invade China’s TVsTAIWAN: Sunflower Student Movement Shines All Over the World
BRIAN CANAVE WRITES – It appears that Taiwanese students learned a thing or two from the movements of their American and French counterparts in the 1960s. Instead of simple protest demonstrations at Cal Berkley, students in Taiwan had a larger stage in mind: the Legislative Yuan and Executive Yuan of the Republic…
Full Article TAIWAN: Sunflower Student Movement Shines All Over the World