It has been a full year since a quartet of Arab countries – the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Egypt – tried to silence Al Jazeera as part of their subsequent 13 arbitrary demands: demands that specifically included shutting down our news network, Al Jazeera. This particular demand is absurd, given that Al Jazeera has […]
Wishing to appear strong and confident, China’s rulers only reveal their own weakness and fear through such absurd ideological campaigns.
China has responded to its apparent loss of influence in Myanmar by unleashing an aggressive propaganda and organizing campaign aimed at countering Western influence and cultivating a pro-Beijing grassroots political base particularly among ethnic Chinese in Myanmar.
The verdict in a five year-old murder in Turkey is causing a serious public outcry. 18 people were accused in a lengthy trial over the killing of newspaper editor Hrant Dink, and only 2 were sentenced to punishment of any kind. According to Turkish media, the decision is considered bogus by the public because […]
2011 was a year of heartbreaking tragedies for journalists caught up in the tide of massive world events. Certain cases of journalists killed and attacked in the crossfire of the stories they were reporting stand out. In 2011, there were many instances in which the media became part of the story they were covering. Sometimes […]
It is almost impossible to watch this documentary and not be moved to tears. It is a story about a Jewish woman, Arna Mer-Khamis, who created a children’s home and art center in the Palestinian refugee camp of Jenin. Even in her advanced age, Arna was a firebrand who railed against the occupation by Israelis. […]
An interesting find and a valuable place to look at images–BagNews features some provocative and informative photographers and their work. For example, an image they posted of the Japanese “sumimasen” (apology without end) in action: (photo: AFP/Getty. caption: Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) president Masataka Shimizu (C) and company executives bow to evacuees to apologise […]
Recently released U.S. State Department cables from Wikileaks show that the Chinese government exerts strict control over journalists. Domestic Chinese journalists are particularly under tight restrictions. In terms of foreign news organizations, Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Liu Jianchao said during a late-night press conference in November 2008 that Chinese nationals can only work […]
Maziar Bahari, an Iranian Canadian journalist and writer who was held in Iranian prison while he was reporting for Newsweek noted via Facebook on Sunday night the release of a league of prisoners in Iran. Bahari said that there are going to be about 120 people released from Iranian prison. Bahari’s comments were backed up […]
About 30 journalists are being held captive in the Rixos Hotel in Libya’s capital of Tripoli. According to Twitter feeds of journalists inside the hotel, notably CNN’s Matthew Chance and AP’s Dario Lopez-Mills. Sky News’ Mark Stone describes where the Rixos is situated and why so many foreign correspondents are trapped there: Sky News
For those who have been following the News Corp. scandal over the last few weeks, they have seen it get increasingly complicated. For those who haven’t been following it, they should. News Corp. controls a wide range of media-related ventures, from television to publishing to newspapers. These are entities that generally have a major influence […]
By Sean Patrick Murphy This movie is terrible. It tries desperately to convey the horror of the Armenian genocide by the Ottoman Turks in 1915 yet it misses the mark by a country mile. The audience is supposed to be engaged by the characters and the intersecting story lines and yet the acting is mediocre […]
“It’s like Platoon in the mountains.” That was a response by one viewer of this documentary. It’s a valid observation. Restrepo tells the story of the 2nd Platoon of Battle Company in the 173rd Airborne Combat Team on its deployment in Afghanistan in 2007 and 2008. The title refers to the platoon outpost, named after […]
Now that Osama bin Laden is dead, a new chapter is beginning for al Qaeda. Two former members of the group, Abu Jandal and Salim Hamdam, are the focus of this documentary. Jandal, a self-professed jihadist, is a taxi driver in Sana’a, Yemen. He was one of bin Laden’s bodyguards in the late 1990s. [kml_flashembed […]
The 30th anniversary of the death of one of the world’s most politically influential musicians was marked around the world yesterday, highlighted by the opening of an exhibition on the reggae singer’s life at the Grammy Museum in Los Angeles. Music fans and political observers around the world marked the occasion by reflecting on the […]