March, 2015

Stories from March, 2015

Open Letter to 60 Minutes Regarding Its Reporting on Africa

  29 March 2015

Scholars, writers, journalists and researchers write an open letter to 60 Minutes producer about the misrepresentation of Africa by the Tv program: Dear Jeff Fager, Executive Producer of CBS 60 Minutes, We, the undersigned, are writing to express our grave concern about the frequent and recurring misrepresentation of the African...

Mapping Vietnam's Socio-Economic Indicators

  28 March 2015

The World Bank has launched mapVIETNAM, an interactive map that shows various socio-economic indicators in Vietnam such as poverty rates, employment, and electricity connectivity. The photo above shows the number of households living on $2 dollars a day. Using the map, we can see that poverty rates are high in...

Ecuadorians Take to the Streets to Protest Government

  27 March 2015

Despite the rain, on March 19 citizens participated in a protest in Loja, Ecuador, which spread over seven blocks, to express their discontent of the current government. Labor code reforms, extended reelections, free access to education, and the recent exchange rate safeguards on imports were some of the issues that...

The Media's Role in Mexico's ‘Warped’ Democracy

  27 March 2015

Blogger Fernando Vázquez Rigada reflects on the role of the media in Mexico, a country where he says democracy is “warped” because it only works on a formal level, and society isn't adequately represented by the political institutions. He adds that Mexican media bear a huge responsibility in this issue....

German Company's Videos Imagine Modern Women as Passive and Dependent

  27 March 2015

Women in Germany are outraged over one insurance company's videos explaining different types of policies, in which women are described as passive and naive — a role more in line with the expectations of the 1950s than 2015. Birte Vogel writes on her blog Thea – Frauen in Sprache, Medien und Gesellschaft (Thea –...