· June, 2007

Stories about Media & Journalism from June, 2007

Palestine: What's Going On in Gaza?

"In this day and age communications can turn the devil into angel and beat the angel to a pulp," says blogger Ramzi Khoury. This week, Jillian York attempts to dig beyond the news to find out what's really happening in the Palestinian blogosphere.

Japan: Distance between NHK and Government

  29 June 2007

The recent appointment of Komori Shigetaka, who is a close acquaintance of PM Abe Shinzo, as an NHK's management committee member has raised a controversy over the possibility of the government's intervention in public broadcast. Blogger Miepong draws on and analyzes discussions in the Japanese blogosphere as well as mainstream...

Benin: Is the press living up to its promise?

  28 June 2007

Babilown posts an article that asks whether the Beninese press is living up to its responsibility (Fr) to act as the “fourth branch” of government. “Whether the executive, the legislative, or the judicial branch…in all spheres of public life, too often we are content to wallow in mediocrity, in the...

Anguilla: Slave Labour?

  28 June 2007

As imported Indian labourers marched against unfair wages on a high-profile resort project, Corruption-free Anguilla writes: “Our government has lost its way. It was the compassion of the ordinary Anguillian that redeemed our government today.”

Poland, Germany: “Stepmother of Europe”

Publius Pundit quotes from a BBC piece on the Polish-German relations and reproduces the controversial cover of the Polish weekly Wprost, featuring a computer-generated image of German Chancellor Angela Merkel breastfeeding Polish Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski and President Lech Kaczynski.

Hong Kong: Media's sense of responsibility is growing?

  28 June 2007

Joel Martinsen from DANWEI translated the Beijing News’ interview with Zhang Guoliang, head of Hong Kong's Wen Wei Po (文汇报), about the changes to Hong Kong's press environment. In the interview, Zhang claimed that “Hong Kong media's sense of responsibility is growing”. However, earlier this year, a survey by Hong...

Guatemala: An Open Internet – Anyone Can Blog

  26 June 2007

In the early 90s, the press was controlled, and only the privileged had access to the new internet phenomenon. Once the telecommunications industry was privatized, many more had access to the world wide web, and as a result many more people had the opportunity to blog. Political parties, watchdog groups, and even a member of an elite army unit now had the power to say what they wanted.