Stories from 3 April 2006
Ecuablogs and El Telégrafo
Interactions between the blogosphere and mainstream media typically involve skepticism, lack of credibility finger-pointing, and holier-than-thou condescension. The print media hold no viable future, bloggers contend, while full-time journalists argue that bloggers aren't equipped or sufficiently trained to report the day's news. One new initiative in Ecuador, however, reveals a...
China: Media laws
Chen Yongmiao on his Constitution Blog gives mention to an open letter signed by more than two dozen Chinese websites calling for (podcast) China's National People's Congress to examine and abolish the country's provision on internet news and information management, which requires all media to have at least ten million...
China: Celebrity blogs
Massage Milk‘s Wang Xiaofeng declares major Chinese portal website Sina.com‘s celebrity blogs a fad of the past and tells us why it was only just a matter of time. [zh]
Hong Kong: Film festival
sevenyearsinchina's Han Girl bids good farewell to the recent Rugby Sevens tournament held on Hong Kong island and welcomes the Hong Kong International Film Festival, which begins tomorrow. “Today I picked up a leaflet of a play called ‘ 1587 A year of no significance – a complete record of...
Japan: Better economy
Lee at the Tokyo Times blog looks first to the Nikkei Index's highest close in five years, then to Japanese golf club membership fees as a sign of the country's recovering economy. “Mirroring the rise of land prices,” Lee writes, “the average membership cost of around 300 courses in the...
Hong Kong: HSBC birthday
Dave and Stefan from Walk the Talk commemorate the Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation's 141st birthday with an original biography of its founder, Sir Thomas Sutherland. “On a trip back to Hong Kong on a steamer, the Scotsman was reading the colonial Blackwood's magazine. He read some articles about...
China: Public art
Imagethief wraps up a busy weekend of blogging with photos of public art from two of China's largest cities, including some interesting interpretations.
United Arab Emirates: DUBAI'D
“DUBAI'D” To be used in the context of: “Sami Merhi was “Dubai'd”–that's when you are demonized by unfounded allegations spread by opponents seeking political advantage and then dumped by so-called friends who fear defending you. It is a kind of political terrorism that mixes fear, character assassination, and crass politics,”...
Qatar: Al-Jazeera Sports Plus poised to enter Guinness Book of Records
According to Friends of AlJazeera Blog, Qatari TV channel Al Jazeera’s sports channel Al Jazeera Sports Plus is poised to get an entry into the Guinness Book of Records as the “fastest growing pay TV channel” in the world, it is reliably learnt. According to sources in the media industry,...
Algeria: Qaradawi in Tizi-Ouzou
The Egyptian immam Sheikh Yousef al-Qaradawi made an appearence in Tizi-Ouzou, Kabylia, Algeria. Qaradawi, who has a television show on Al-Jazeera and founded IslamOnline. According to Nouri Lumendifi, he was glad to be there. But he was not able to spout his usual rhetoric, because Algeria has laws against publicly...
Iraq: Al-Qaida Replace Al-Zarqawi
Al-Qaida Headquarters had ordered the replacement of its Iraq regional leader, Abu Musaab Al-Zarqawi. Fayyad from Kabobfest commenting on the news said: “If the news are proven true, it is may be the first piece of evidence confirming that Zarqawi is not a fictional character created by the US occupation...
India: The Flyover Issue
What kind of issues take up space in the Mainstream Media. Even within the broader scope of infrastructure, does the media favour issues that impact a small privileged minority more? Death Ends Fun on the flyover in Mumbai that has ruffled quite a few feathers.
India, Pakistan: Killing the Wiki
The impact of Indo-Pak rivalry spills onto the wikipedia says Pickled Politics. “Brainwashed to their respective (distorted) versions of history, Indian and Pakistani nationalists are busy slugging it out over the Wiki world. In the on-going battle for ideological supremacy, the quality of many articles (Panipat, Kashmir, Terrorism in Kashmir,...
India: Bribe list for a corrupt city
When corruption reaches new heights, bloggers create a blog that “Will be trying to create a database for bribe rates for the help of all the delhi-ites. SO next time you go for a job you know before hand how much to expect to bribe.” One of the features is...
Sri Lanka: Trolls everywhere
London, Lanka and Drums reflects “On trolling and what makes a good blog“.
Pakistan: World Social Forum
Raheel attends the World Social Forum in Karachi and has updates. “Nonetheless, WSF was a great learning and interactive experiences where I made some new friends and atleast interacted with people from such diversed cultures and classes. Indian, Srilankan, Chinese, Malaysian, Japanese, Phillipinese and Australian people were very nice and...
Iran: Asscoiated Press Article
Lara Sukhtian, Associated Press journalist, has written an article about Iranian blogs & bloggers: “Iran hard line regime cracks down on blogs.”
DRC: Vulnerable forests
Kim Gjerstad in Congo posts on the vulnerability of the DRC's forests…”One unnoticed natural resource is the forest. An area the size of France is harvestable, and within it, some of the most luxurious woods in the trade are found. It is both a great economical opportunity but also a...
Haiti: Daylight saving time
"We have now joined our friends and family in the Central Time Zone," write Troy & Tara & Tribe, US missionaries based in La Digue, Haiti, thinking that Haiti does not observe Daylight Saving Time. Then "a teacher in Port-au-Prince" e-mails, informing them that they'd better turn their clocks forward....
Jamaica, Trinidad: The creative class
Trinidad is more hospitable to its “creative class” than Jamaica, writes Francis Wade.
Haiti: La Suisse
Baturrico (es) posts some lovely photos the La Suisse region of Haiti, “one of the places with the most character in all of Haiti's northern department”.
