Links to media news last fortnight

IN Opinion | 21/08/2006

CNN, BBC offer sure-footed crisis reporting

Within a 10-minute period yesterday, CNN offered viewers reports that ranged from a live update in London on the alleged terrorist plot, to an analysis from New York by Valerie Morris on how the stock market was reacting to the news. In between, the coverage segued to Washington for a report on political fallout from correspondent Andrea Koppel, and to John F. Kennedy International Airport for a segment on how travellers were coping.

Each report was done with so much context, confidence and calm that America`s pioneering 24-hour cable news channel nearly could have been mistaken for its venerable counterpart, the standard-bearer of international crisis reporting, the BBC.

That was no accident, Jon Klein, president of CNN/U.S., said yesterday. His network has been getting more on-the-job training in terrorist-related and crisis coverage than anyone could want. "Unfortunately, in the past year or so, there has been ample opportunity for our reporters to hone their craft against major world incidents and tragedies: Katrina, the Pakistan earthquake, the war in the Middle East, the Iraq war ongoing," Klein said.

Source: The Baltimore Sun 12 August 2006

Major Arab news channels tested in Lebanon war

When Arab news channels raced to cover Israel`s retaliation against Hezbollah`s capture of two soldiers on July 12, they had little idea that they were in for a long, all-out war.

The widely watched Doha-based Al-Jazeera, which initially adopted the logo "Lebanon under siege" for its coverage, soon replaced it with the more dramatic Arab-Israeli "Sixth War" -- reflecting the magnitude of the unfolding conflict.

For Dubai-based Al-Arabiya, it was "The Hot Summer," with most of its air time dedicated to live programmes dubbed "Lebanon under fire" and "Diaries of the war."

Source: AFP via Yahoo! News 9 August 2006

Are the Words "Israel" and "Jews" Synonymous?

I remember reading a story once about some of the Jewish fighters during the years of the Nazi genocide who escaped from the Warsaw Ghetto through the sewer system into another part of the city. Bedraggled and dazed, they came up into a city that was going about its business as usual, largely unaware of what was happening in a part of town that had been sealed off. (The street cars that went through the ghetto had to darken all windows so travelers couldn’t see what was going on.)

The escapees sought out brave members of the Polish resistance who were also fighting German aggression against their country. They too were at war with the invaders and occupiers. But they soon found that their "comrades in arms" couldn’t accept what they were being told, couldn’t believe the extent of the forced starvation and mass murder taking place just a few blocks away.  They couldn’t imagine the extent of the barbarity, perhaps because it wasn’t happening to them. They were in denial.

The desperate Jews were shaken. They too couldn’t believe that they were unable to communicate the full horror of their plight and make it believable, even to people who shared some of their political goals.  That realization turned into demoralization that turned to despair. They then felt guilty about fleeing and surviving while their friends and families were being killed.

Source: Media Channel August 2006

Why templates for media development do not work in crisis states

This report is based on the outcome of discussions at a workshop organised by the LSE Crisis States Research Centre, the Stanhope Centre for Communications and the

Annenberg School for Communication. Our objective was to examine how media policy can be adapted to developing countries affected by crises and war.

Democratisation and privatisation were central elements of the liberalisation programmes adopted in the debt-ridden countries of the developing world during the last two decades of the 20th Century. From the media perspective, this entailed a call for the creation and strengthening of independent and privatised media organisations that were believed to form a crucial element for the advancement of democratic values and economic growth. There are, however, serious problems when relying on media freedom to build national consensus in fragile states, especially those recently emerging from periods of violent conflict and war. In situations where national cohesion and consensus is lacking, state or public involvement in the media can, as part of the equation, actually be a constructive force for the social, economic and political reconstruction and development of a country.

The first session of the workshop analysed the issue of strong-state versus weak-state, by looking at Ministries of Information. The discussion that followed was dominated by three key issues: the implications of the reinvention of Ministries of Information as licensing agencies for private media organisations; the enduring need for governments of any political stripe to be concerned with public opinion and public support; and the tension between control by government and control by religious authorities of media content in the Arabic speaking world and the implications for democracy. Participants drew on the experience of East Africa, especially Uganda and Kenya, as well as on Nigeria and Zimbabwe and on Western Asia, touching on Kuwait, Iraq and Iran, and finally on Russia and the Balkans.

Source: London School of Economics August 2006

Western Internet firms `act as censors` in China

A rights group accused Western Internet companies on Thursday of complicity with censorship in China and called on Microsoft Corp., Google Inc. and Yahoo Inc. to resist Beijing`s demands.

New York-based Human Rights Watch called the blocking of politically sensitive Web sites and search terms "arbitrary, opaque and unaccountable" and urged the publicly traded firms to be upfront with their users about censorship.

"It was ironic that companies whose existence depends on freedom of information and expression have taken on the role of censor, even in cases where the Chinese government makes no specific demands for them to do so," the group said in a report. The report was the latest in a wave of criticism against Western Internet companies operating in China, which are accused of compromising their principles by censoring searches and blog titles and blocking politically sensitive terms to do business in the world`s number-two Internet market.

Source: Reuters 10 August 2006

Chinese tech buffs slake thirst for US TV shows

For the past year and a half, said Ding Chengtai, a recent university graduate, friends have wondered why he seems to have disappeared.

Mr. Ding, 23, an Internet technology expert for a large Chinese bank, chuckled at the thought. He has kept himself in virtual seclusion during his off hours, consumed with American television programmes like "Lost," "C.S.I." and "Close to Home." He is no ordinary fan, though; none of the shows he watches can be seen on Chinese television. Instead, he spends night after night creating Chinese subtitles for American sitcoms and dramas for a mushrooming audience of Chinese viewers who download them from the Internet free through services like BitTorrent.

What is most remarkable about the effort, which involves dozens of people working in teams all over China, is that it is entirely voluntary. Mr. Ding’s group, which goes by the name Fengruan, is locked in fierce competition with a handful of similar outfits that share the same ambition: making American popular culture available in near-real time free to Chinese audiences, dodging Chinese censors and American copyright lawyers.

Source: The New York Times 9 August 2006

Saudi women journalists battle to overcome hurdles

They are few in number but determined to make their mark - women journalists in Saudi Arabia have fought hard to get where they are and say they have more than proved themselves the equal of men.  The kingdom is one of the most restrictive places in the world for women, where powerful clerics say a woman`s place is in the home, raising a family.

Women cannot drive cars, must be accompanied in public by male relatives, and must cover themselves up in anonymous black robes lest they incite men`s sexual desire. But despite limitations on women in the workplace, many who have ventured into the media industry as Saudi Arabia opens up under King Abdullah have attracted attention for their tenacity and professionalism.

A young print journalist in the capital Riyadh, who declined to be named, said female journalists had a lot of strengths people might not appreciate. "I want to speak out," she said.

Source: Reuters 7 August 2006

Keeping it real: accurate coverage of native culture

I was finishing lunch with my husband on the patio outside the newsroom recently, when I mentioned that I had to go back inside and finish a column on Oprah Winfrey`s recent visit to the Navajo Nation. "Oprah visited the Navajo Nation?" he asked.

Frankie is usually on top of the news. But long work hours - he`s a senior engineer on an Interstate construction project in Oregon - have kept him from his normal online news sources. "Yes," I said.

I told him I was writing about how Oprah had asked the Navajo to stage a powwow when she and a film crew arrived in Window Rock, Ariz.

Source: Poynter 10 August 2006

British editor suspended over mobile phone hacking

The News Of The World has suspended royal editor Clive Goodman, the journalist charged with nine counts of mobile phone hacking. Goodman is due to appear in court next week, charged with one count of conspiring to intercept voicemail messages and eight counts of intercepting voicemail messages.

Another man, former AFC Wimbledon player Glenn Mulcaire, has been charged with the same offences.

Goodman, 48, from Putney, south London, has been suspended pending the outcome of the police investigation into the alleged hacking of royal household voicemail messages.

Source: The Guardian 10 August 2006

Africa mulls 24-hour TV news channel by next year

Africa is mulling setting up a 24-hour television news channel that would portray the continent in positive perspective on the global platform and promote a development agenda, officials said.

They said the channel, which will resemble pan-Arabic television Al-Jazeera, could be in place by next year.

"We want to cover Africa as it is in a more balanced, honest way and focus on development of the continent. Africa is not about just aid, but it`s also about creating opportunities," Salim Amin, the head of the Camerapix, the Kenyan-based company overseeing the exercise, told a pan-African media conference in Nairobi.

Source: Yahoo News! 9 August 2006

(Compiled by Dr I Arul Aram)