NADIA ALJOJO WRITES – After being accused of breaching Myanmar’s Official Secrets Act, two Reuters reporters, Wa Lone, 31, and Kyaw Soe Oo, 27, were detained by police in December and have been held in custody since. The two reporters had been working on covering the military crackdown on insurgents…
Full Article MYANMAR: IS AMAL THE RIGHT VISITOR FOR THE ROHINGYA REUTERS’ CASE?
SHANGHAI: China Central Television (CCTV), Beijing’s largest TV network, said it would launch a new global media platform on New Year’s Day to help re-brand China overseas. The new multilingual operation will have six TV channels and a new media agency, the network said on its website on Friday night.…
Full Article SHANGHAI: CHINA TO COME OUT SWINGING WITH ‘SOFT POWER’ RE-BRAND
MIRANDA PAK WRITES – The U.S. this week (Feb. 2) joined calls for Chinese authorities to release five Hong Kong booksellers whose main crime appears to have been embarrassing Communist Party officials. What’s proving the bigger embarrassment is that no one doubts it is Beijing behind the kidnapping/detentions. Since October,…
Full Article HONG KONG: Missing Book Sellers — When will China Fess Up? (UPDATED)
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…
Full Article TAIWAN: Media Gets Burned With Cooking OilLEXIE TUCKER WRITES – “Forgive and forget” is often easier said than done. When two countries have as rough a history as South Korea and Japan, it’s not surprising that tensions would be high between their leaders. For years, South Korea has requested that Japan offer compensation to the many…
Full Article JAPAN: Leaving the Past in the Past?BEN SULLIVAN WRITES – U.S. journalists in China have long griped that the government picks on them. Specifically, they say, China retaliates against unfavorable coverage by withholding visas and access to top officials, barring reporters from important events, and even blocking the China editions of their employers’ web sites. The…
Full Article ‘Smokin’ Joe’ Jabs at China Treatment of U.S. NewsiesYVONNE EPPS WRITES- Just when you thought things couldn’t get worse, they just did. Vietnam’s war on peaceful protest has reached guerrilla warfare of the monetary kind. Hey, Uy’s atrocities were unforgivable, so why not take the rest of the Internet down, right? Two decrees have been posed against social…
Full Article VIETNAM: Guerrilla Warefare on the InternetAUSTIN SZABO WRITES – If you live in India, expect a “friend request” from your local representative. The upcoming 2014 election will see an explosion of social media campaigning, according to The Times of India. India’s Bharatiya Janata and Congress parties are scrambling to woo internet users. From local politicians getting in touch directly…
Full Article INDIA: Elections Go Online, But Will It Matter?ELODIE INTROIA WRITES – In view of recent events, journalists and activists have come together to call on Aung San Suu Kyi to raise awareness and be the voice of what the United Nations has called the world’s most persecuted people – The Rohingya.
Full Article QUESTIONS ABOUT THE LADY: WHY IS SHE NOT SPEAKING OUT ABOUT THE ROHINGYA?After a six-month battle with cancer the renowned Filipino journalist Zenaida Silva has died. Silva was instrumental in covering the famous “people power” revolt, as well as many other important political events in the Philippines. Journalism is in the family for Silva – she and her late husband, newspaper writer…
Full Article PHILIPPINES: A Revered Lady Journalist Dies
Three foreign correspondents recently filed a report against the Indonesian National Police, accusing them of acid attacks. BBC’s Alice Budisatrijo, Al Jazeera’s Bobby Gunawan, and Reuters News Agency’s Louis Benjamin suffered chemical burns while reporting on the fuel policy protests at the gates of the House of Representatives. Anato Handoyo,…
Full Article INDONESIA: Police Take Aim at BBC, Al Jazeera and Reuters!