WRITES PETER OLSZEWSKI (courtesy of Mediaweek magazine) – When veteran Aussie editor David Armstrong began working the Southeast Asian beat in the early 1990s, he confronted a regional phenomenon – the non-media-savvy media owner. “In Australia, I was working with people who had been in media all their lives,” he…
YVONNE EPPS WRITES— We all have our poisons: Japan sips sake, Korea loves its Soju, the Philippines drink Tanduay rum. As for Vietnam, it would seem that they have finally reached their legal drinking age and the parental units are starting to feel uneasy. Out-of-state media sources have recently shown…
ELIZABETH NAAI WRITES – Is speaking about a rumor the same as spreading it? One of Thailand’s top cops says it is, and four journalists now face serious jail time as a result. Police Maj Gen Pisit Pao-in, head of the Technology Crime Suppression Division, says posting a Facebook comment,…
ELIZABETH NAAI WRITES – It seems as if George Orwell’s 1984 has become a reality in this technological age — anyone could be listening or doctoring conversations. Two weeks after Yuthasak Sasiprapa was appointed Deputy Defense Minister, a YouTube clip was released on July 6 of two voices: one allegedly…
In the past two months, the disappearance of Sombath Somphone, a well-known activist and NGO leader, has garnered international media attention. The Laos government is being urged to do a more extensive search on the whereabouts of the missing activist. It’s a very good thing the world media is so…
If you want something done right, you have to do it yourself. This is abundantly evident in the case of Reporters Without Borders (RWB), the media rights group, who has called for reform in Myanmar’s media. The Bangkok Post recently reported that this group has urged Myanmar to fulfill their…
Thailand’s media has been obsessing over an alleged hotel meeting between Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra and four business leaders on February 8, 2012. Before leaving for a one-day visit to Malaysia, the Prime Minister responded to journalists about the controversy claiming the meeting was open and “in fact, the media…
The Ministry of Culture recently passed an amendment to the Printing Act of 2007 that makes the national police chief head of Thailand’s censorship board. The Bangkok Post, Thailand’s leading English-language daily newspaper, referred to this move as “a step backwards and aimed at empowering the government to take complete control of the media.”
