NORTH KOREA: U.N. Releases Report on Human Rights in North Korea
RYAN LIPPERT WRITES – It’s now even safer to assume that North Korea is not the utopia its leaders would like the rest of the world to believe. Recently, the United Nations published the findings of an inquiry on the state of human rights in the country. The report contains…
Full Article NORTH KOREA: U.N. Releases Report on Human Rights in North KoreaTHE PLATE COLUMN: Skating on Thin Ice
TOM PLATE WRITES IN HIS SYNDICATED COLUMN APPEARING IN THE JAPAN TIMES (Tokyo) – Like so many people around the world, I was totally blown away not only by Olympic skater Kim Yuna’s performance on the ice in Sochi, but even more so by her cool and classy performance off…
Full Article THE PLATE COLUMN: Skating on Thin IceINDIA: Elections Could be the Costliest Ever
AUSTIN SZABO WRITES – The world’s largest democracy may finally be set to host the world’s most expensive elections. In the months leading to India’s April-May congressional election, the competing Congress and BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party, or the People’s Party) will spend upwards of $5 billion on TV, print, radio, and…
Full Article INDIA: Elections Could be the Costliest EverUNITED ARAB EMIRATES: Nation Says ‘No’ to ‘Noah’
AMBER VERNETTI WRITES – Just before its global premier, the Hollywood-produced film Noah was banned from the silver screen in three Arab countries, including Qatar, Bahrain, and the United Arab Emirates, due to its religious themes. The $125 million film, starring Russell Crowe and Anthony Hopkins, features the biblical story of Noah,…
Full Article UNITED ARAB EMIRATES: Nation Says ‘No’ to ‘Noah’AFGHANISTAN: Taliban Causes Trouble for Presidential Elections
VITTO BANEZ WRITES – With Afghan elections around the corner, it’s no surprise that the Taliban have something to say. On March 10, Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said Afghans should sit out the elections, because they’re “an American conspiracy” cooked up by the U.S. for its own evil purposes. Evil…
Full Article AFGHANISTAN: Taliban Causes Trouble for Presidential ElectionsINDONESIA: THE MESSY LOVE TRIANGLE OF MEDIA, POLITICS AND DEMOCRACY
LOANA BENJAMIN WRITES – On February 27, The Jakarta Post named Indonesia’s PKS (Prosperous Justice Party) “media darlings” for being mentioned in the press more than any other party in the previous month. But given that PKS rivals own many of the media outlets in question, the accomplishment may just…
Full Article INDONESIA: THE MESSY LOVE TRIANGLE OF MEDIA, POLITICS AND DEMOCRACYTHE PLATE COLUMN: Should Crimea Be Such a Priority?
SYNDICATED COLUMNIST TOM PLATE WRITES — Viewed from Los Angeles, tiny Ukraine seems much, much farther away and remote from our core national interests than, for example, gigantic Indonesia. So perhaps something is wrong with us on the West Coast of the United States, and we simply fail to understand…
Full Article THE PLATE COLUMN: Should Crimea Be Such a Priority?HONG KONG: Taking a Meat Cleaver to Press Freedom
LAUREN CHEN WRITES — This is difficult to believe, but here it is: Recently, in broad daylight, two men attacked former Ming Pao chief editor Kevin Lau Chun-to with a meat-cleaver and fled the scene. The attackers remain unidentified and, at this writing, Lau was recovering and in critical condition. Leading…
Full Article HONG KONG: Taking a Meat Cleaver to Press FreedomWE BEG TO DIFFER: … With Professor Jay Rosen of NYU
ASIA MEDIA WRITES: NYU’S Jay Rosen has been analyzing the American media for decades. He may be the best mind the U.S. has on this important beat. A recent post by Professor Rosen, however, raised our eyebrows. It praised the New York Times for ‘flooding’ the Ukraine story, calling the…
Full Article WE BEG TO DIFFER: … With Professor Jay Rosen of NYUBANGKOK: THE GRAVE DARKNESS DESCENDING OVER THAILAND
TOM PLATE WRITES: The stakes in the outcome of the ongoing Thai Crisis are huge and go beyond the strict parameters of the country itself. Geopolitically, Thailand has been a solid U.S. ally, particularly during the Cold War and the Vietnam War. Economically, it has been a vital force amid…
Full Article BANGKOK: THE GRAVE DARKNESS DESCENDING OVER THAILANDTHAILAND: Is the South a Tourist Destination? Sadly, Not Right Now
ELIZABETH NAAI WRITES – Religious violence taints Thailand’s picturesque south shores. Most Thais are Buddhist, but the south hosts a large Muslim Malay population near neighboring Malaysia. Both religions renounce violence, but attacks have claimed 5,700 lives since ethnic religious conflict began there in 2004. Recently, eight minutes of raining…
Full Article THAILAND: Is the South a Tourist Destination? Sadly, Not Right NowHONG KONG: Reporters Without Borders — Media Watchdog of the World
LAUREN CHEN WRITES–Hong Kong’s media independence is in jeopardy, according to the annual 2014 World Press Freedom Index. Reporters Without Borders released its latest study, considered an objective reference tool measuring press freedom, and ranked 180 countries based on aspects such as levels of censorship, number of attacks on journalists,…
Full Article HONG KONG: Reporters Without Borders — Media Watchdog of the WorldPOVERTY PROJECT: Measuring Inequality, How Asia Stacks Up
AUSTIN SZABO WRITES: When you want to know the economics of a country, you usually look at its gross domestic product — the amount of wealth it produced over the course of a year. But GDP tells only part of the story; it leaves out how the wealth is distributed.…
Full Article POVERTY PROJECT: Measuring Inequality, How Asia Stacks UpAFGHANISTAN: U.S. Paints a Positive Picture of its Presence
VITTO BANEZ WRITES – Because of its unique, soap-box position, the media has an outsized ability to influence. But when it stops objectively calling things as it sees them, it becomes a propaganda tool for the powers that be. Recently, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) proposed paying journalists…
Full Article AFGHANISTAN: U.S. Paints a Positive Picture of its PresenceVIETNAM: Flap Your Way Into a Lawsuit Pipe
YVONNE EPPS WRITES — Ah, Flappy Bird. You’ve soared into the mainstream’s heart as millions potentially tapped holes into their iOS and Android devices, driven by addiction. You may not flap anymore, but your existence and death is a good sign within Vietnam’s constrictive media. The Vietnamese-developed mobile game Flappy…
Full Article VIETNAM: Flap Your Way Into a Lawsuit PipeCAMBODIA: Something’s Fishy About Cambodian Authorities
ARACELI PALAFOX WRITES – There’s something fishy about the recent murder of journalist Suon Chon, and it’s not his series of reports on illegal fishing. Earlier this month, The Phnom Penh Post reported the death of the forty-four year old Cambodian, who wrote for The Meakea Kampuchea Newspaper. It said Chon…
Full Article CAMBODIA: Something’s Fishy About Cambodian Authorities