Stories about Media & Journalism from April, 2008
Japan: Nagano red for Olympic torch relay
The Japanese leg of the Olympic torch relay came to an end on Saturday without serious incident, but many Japanese bloggers who attended the event were left with lasting -- and often bitter -- impressions. With all the red flags, many bloggers pointed out how Nagano, for one day, seemed to transform into China.
Syria: Explosive Nuclear News
Yesterday, the CIA released footage of an alleged Syrian North-Korean-built nuclear reactor. The footage "exploded" all over the news. Yazan Badran brings us the reactions of Syria's bloggers.
Japan: Japan Today supports Scientology
Ken at What Japan Thinks writes about opposition from readers of Japan Today to video ads for the Church of Scientology.
Japan: Yomiuri article on Japanese chemical weapons buried in Chinese land
Sayonara, Mata Ashita comments on an article in Yomiuri shimbun, Japan's largest newspaper, about chemical weapons buried in Chinese land at the end of the Second World War.
Slovakia, Romania: Media Freedom
Edward Lucas of the Economist re-posts his piece on the “shrinking” of “media freedom” in Slovakia and Romania.
Estonia: “The Rubik's Cube of the Soviet Legacy”
Itching for Eestimaa writes about Estonia: “This country is complicated, but attempts to explain it to the outside world often fail. […] Estonia is closer than you think to solving the Rubik's Cube of the Soviet legacy. Let them work it out by themselves.”
Barbados: Economic Storm?
“The issue of the rising cost of living will no doubt remain firmly at the top of the national agenda in the coming weeks and months ahead,” writes Barbados Underground, as he blogs about the island's economic challenges.
China: Why Is CNN Patriotic?
ESWN translated Yang Hengjun's blog post that explains the bias in CNN.
Japan: Public Intellectuals
Shisaku proposed to list out 100 Japanese public intellectuals and he produced an initial list of 50 names.
Japan: Suicide Phenomenon
Asiajin blogs a new suicide phenomenon by creating lethal hydrogen sulfide gas in Japan. The method is widely spread in the Internet.
Afghanistan: TV stations under government pressure
Afghan PenLog returns to the issue of a ban on allegedly “un-Islamic” soap operas on the Aghanistani private TV stations, and says this decision of the government was made under pressure from the parliament and clerics.
Ukraine: Labor Migration
Ukrainiana explains why a social ad against labor migration currently being aired in Ukraine is actually no good: “Forget it, say millions of skilled blue-collar and thousands of white-collar Ukrainians who work abroad. Known as zarobitchany, they sent an estimated $8.4 billion worth of remittances to Ukraine in 2006, a...
Hungary: “Pseudo Scandal”
Hungarian Spectrum writes about Hungary's most recent political “pseudo scandal.”
Russia: TV, Chechnya and the West
Valery Dzutsev writes about a documentary recently aired on a Russian state-owned channel, “in which western security services were accused of an attempt to promote Chechnya’s secession from Russia.”
Haiti: Food Protests
HaitiAnalysis.com posts photos of the recent protests against rising food prices.
Trinidad & Tobago: You're Fired!
Babash, Trinidad & Tobago News Blog, Jumbie's Watch and The Extra Secret Blog of Basdeo Panday all blog about the firing of Trinidad and Tobago's Trade Minister.
Trinidad & Tobago: Sticker Shock
KnowPRosE.com “was pleasantly surprised to find that the Trinidad Guardian subscription is available on Amazon.com” – and then he saw the price: “I suppose Trinidad and Tobago media just doesn't want to compete at a global level…They need to figure out the Internet, which probably means that they should use...
Brazil: Making a child murder into a media show
A child dies under mysterious circumstances. Her father and stepmother are the prime suspects chosen by the media and general public since the beginning, but the official investigations are still under way. Is it fair to lead 160 million people to believe someone is guilty of killing his own daughter before the final official pronunciation on the matter? What is around, and behind, the full time reality-show coverage made by the Brazilian media in cases like this? The Brazilian blogosphere talks.
Kazakhstan: New Capital's PR in Action?
Adam reports on the highly praiseful and therefore suspicious report by Voice of America about the Kazakhstan’s new capital, whose 10th anniversary is to be widely celebrated in the country this summer.
China: GFW-ed Media Research
ESWN translated a local media research on three big news agencies’ Olympic torch relay report. Beifeng pointed out that the research result had been affected by the Great Fire wall (also via ESWN translation.)
China: CNN, Media and Market
Yang Hengjun wrote a very elaborated article on the CNN bias in reporting about Middle East and China. A crucial factor is the patriotic sentiment after 911 which reshaped the media market and the major victims of the bias are overseas Chinese [zh].