Stories about Media & Journalism from October, 2020
Environmental risk posed by Venezuelan oil tanker highlights importance of transparency and public participation
"The power that activist groups and citizens have in the palm of their hands, through social media and other digital platforms, is immense and far-reaching."
Silencing the media won't stop the student-led protests in Thailand
"...while protesters rely mainly on media and other forms of communication to mobilize, these organizations have nothing to do with the students’ communication, coordination, and management of the protests."
This beatboxing Buddhist monk from Japan is making music to ‘reduce suffering’
Yogetsu Asakusa combines beatboxing beats with traditional Buddhist sutras.
Venezuelan tanker deemed ‘stable’, but Trinidad & Tobago recommends hastening the transfer of oil
A potential oil spill in the area, environmentalists say, would be disastrous for both marine ecosystems and livelihoods.
Trinidad & Tobago team reports ‘minimal to no risk’ of an oil spill from stranded Venezuelan tanker
A group of experts from Trinidad and Tobago comprised “the first agency besides engineers of Venezuela” to set foot on the vessel, which carries approximately 1.3 million barrels of crude oil.
Japan's ‘least attractive’ prefecture gets a little more love in 2020
After ranking last for seven consecutive years, Ibaraki jumped up five spots on an annual survey ranking Japan's prefectures by "attractiveness."
For journalists in Kenya, ‘2020 is the worst year on record’
Since the novel coronavirus outbreak in Kenya in March, more than 47 cases of arbitrary arrest, assault and harassment have been perpetrated against bloggers, online activists and human rights defenders.
Marine ecosystems and livelihoods at risk if Venezuelan oil tanker sinks
The FSO Nabarima, a tanker filled with approximately 1.3 million barrels of crude oil, is in imminent danger of sinking and causing an ecological disaster in the Gulf of Paria.
Vietnamese activist and journalist Pham Doan Trang arrested for ‘anti-state propaganda’
"I don’t need freedom just for myself, that would be too easy. I want something much greater: freedom and democracy for all of Vietnam."
New literary magazine makes contemporary Japanese fiction accessible to English readers
The literary journal's debut issue translates a plethora of Japanese literature both old and new, and facilitates discussion about the translation itself.
Historic homicide reduction in El Salvador continues to spur debate in the country
Journalists are under attack for questioning whether the government held secret negotiations with gangs.
On China's National Day, scripted interview with ‘patriotic’ Hong Kong citizen draws online mockery
Beijing attempted to present a pro-China protester as a grassroots Hong Kong citizen.
‘The house search was the last straw': colleagues react to Russian journalist’s death
On October 2, Russian journalist Irina Slavina died in Nizhny Novgorod, the city to which she dedicated her life. Here, Slavina’s colleagues pay homage to a courageous journalist.
Facebook denies accusations of fuelling hate speech and pro-BJP bias in India
On September 16, Facebook India’s chief issued a statement denying accusations that the social media giant is making profits by giving a platform to hate speech in India.
News website faces police probe in Singapore for boosting Facebook posts during elections
"We condemn the abuse of the law to harass independent media and critics. We denounce the lack of independence of the Singapore Elections Department."
Hunger-striking surgeon struggles to reform Nepal's inadequate health care system
Activist and former senior surgeon Dr. Govinda KC has begun his 19th hunger strike in protest over Nepal's poor public health care and medical education systems.
In Sudan, women and minorities targeted by online harassment lack legal protections
Sudan currently does very little to protect women and other minority groups and communities from harassment, putting their ability to exercise their fundamental rights online at risk.
