If you blinked in the past month, you probably missed the battle for freedom of the press that is raging in South Africa. Earlier this month, the editors of South Africa’s major publications issued a statement of protest dubbed the Auckland Park Declaration. The Declaration was issued in response to clauses in the Protection of […]
This week, Iran will officially have a fully functional nuclear power plant (with the help of Russia) in Bushehr (a city on the southwestern coast of Iran) that will connect to the country’s grid by November at the latest. There have been mixed international reactions since nuclear engineers began to fuel the power station. Last […]
A major Venezuelan newspaper is butting heads with the government over the right to publish graphic photos on their front page. El Nacional, one of the country’s oldest newspapers, has been ordered to stop publishing certain types of photos. According to the Associated Press: A court ordered one of Venezuela’s leading newspapers on Tuesday to […]
As of the filming of this special, as many as 40 million Chinese males were expected to be unable to find mates when they reach marrying age. That is one of the results of China’s so-called one baby rule. With one out of every five people on earth living in China, the government has instituted […]
In a strange twist on the tense situation in Pakistan following flooding that caused 1,600 deaths, the media is being silenced. Pakistan’s two major media outlets–ARY TV and Geo TV–have been silenced for the past 3 days in Karachi and Sindh province. The row started after the stations reported on a story about President Asif […]
It’s 1965 in Indonesia. Sukarno heads an ever-increasingly unstable government. That is the backdrop for this story, the story of Australian journalist Guy Hamilton and his trial by fire in his first overseas assignment. He meets the diminutive Billy Kwan, a photographer who helps him secure sources for his stories. Through Kwan, Hamilton is introduced […]
The sale of Newsweek has people in the media industry scratching their heads. Partly because it went to California tycoon Sidney Harman (who has now media experience), and partly because of the numbers behind the deal. According to the Columbia Journalism Review’s (CJR) analysis of Newsweek’s numbers (courtesy of The Daily Beast), the company was […]
With the leaking Gulf oil well apparently under control, and the spilled oil mysteriously vanishing, the Obama administration has come under pressure from journalists to declare “mission accomplished.” It is understandably unwilling to do this, partly because things could still go wrong and partly because of the phrase’s unfortunate political baggage. According to the virtually […]
The media is often used by those with competing messages to disseminate information or dis-information. Sometimes, though, the message is a lie. Vietnam is an unfortunate example of manipulating the media and choking free speech for their own destructive ends. Just yesterday, several Vietnamese writers were given honors for their work under severe pressure from […]
BP’s blundering CEO Tony Hayward didn’t escape the wrath of the U.S. media even after agreeing to step down on October 1. Amid the general cries of good riddance to the man accused of trying to minimize the extent of BP’s Gulf oil spill, MSNBC’s Ed Schultz erred inexcusably in the other direction by overestimating […]
By now you’ve heard perhaps the biggest buzz filling the August news hole nationwide – that rapper Wyclef Jean is considering a bid for the presidency of Haiti. I’d say he’s got a heck of a chance of winning aside from any legal issues that may prevent him from partaking in the poles. And why […]
A Lebanese reporter was killed during fighting on the Israel-Lebanon border on Tuesday. The reporter, Assaf Abu Rahal, worked for the Lebanese daily Al-Akhbar. According to media reports and press freedom organizations, he was killed near the southern town of Al-Adaysseh. He was killed when a shell landed next to him. Abu Rahal was 55 […]
This film is phenomenal. Written, directed, and starring Charlie Chaplin, the movie satirizes Nazi Germany and Adolf Hitler. He plays two roles: that of Adenoid Hynkel, the dictator of Tomainia (clearly Hitler), and a Jewish amnesiac barber who are dead ringers for each other. [kml_flashembed movie=”http://www.youtube.com/v/zroWIN-lS8E” width=”425″ height=”350″ wmode=”transparent” /] Chaplin uses humor to criticize […]
Much has been made over WikiLeaks’s recent document leak on Afghanistan. Some of the most interesting commentary can be found from journalists. The Columbia Journalism Review says in an article called “The Story Behind the Publication of WikiLeaks’s Afghanistan Log” that the most interesting part of the story is what happened behind the scenes before […]
Media Agree, The Road from Ankara to Brussels Remains Unpaved, Let Alone Gilded Britain’s new prime minister, David Cameron, has created his first policy rift with France and Germany, the backbone of the European Union, by promising aggressive help for Turkey’s bid for EU membership, which both Paris and Berlin oppose. In a visit to […]