Not everyone on the Asia Media magazine staff is leaving us at graduation soon. Most are remaining; and in fact five new staffers are coming aboard as we write. But the graduating seniors who are leaving us are a special cut of student: hardworking, committed and very fun to be around. The leadership of co-managing [...]
PHILIPPINES: Getting Away with Media Manslaughter
LAUREN CHEN WRITES- Hopefully this murder won’t become another unsolved media mystery. Recently, radio broadcaster Mario Vendiola, 33, was gunned down and killed in Kabasalan, Zamboanga Sibugay. On his motorcycle ride home, Vendiola was shot 3 times in the chest and was declared dead before reaching the hospital. He was an announcer for Manila Broadcasting [...]
PAKISTAN: List of Truth or Defamation?
JESSICA GADOMSKI WRITES – While some Pakistani journalists may be comfortable accepting money from the government, they are not accustomed to having their names made public- on the Supreme Court’s website no less! The Supreme Court’s recent decision to publish the names of journalists who allegedly received money from the Information Ministry’s secret fund has [...]
NORTH KOREA: American Tried for Treason
RYAN LIPPERT WRITES- Kenneth Bae, a Korean-American tourist, is currently awaiting trial in Pyongyang for allegedly planning to remove the North Korean government from power. If Bae is found guilty, he may be executed. The government-owned media in North Korea has been fairly tight-lipped about the specifics of Bae’s transgression. All they have revealed [...]
PAKISTAN: 2013 Elections Tainted by Violence
LIZA HERNANDEZ WRITES- With the recent outbreak of violence over the 2013 elections in Pakistan, a rather grim mood has settled over the event. The targets of the recent attacks have all been candidates running for office in this year’s election. In Peshawar, 2 bombs exploded in attacks that targeted the election offices of [...]
TAIWAN: Two Way Street for Television in China and Taiwan
BRIAN CANAVE WRITES- Taiwanese government fears losing influence over their citizens to China. With all of the talk about increasing cross straits dialogue, former Straits Exchange Foundation Chairman Chiang Pin-kung suggested introducing international news programs such as Hong-Kong based Phoenix TV and Beijing’s state-run China Central Television (CCTV) satellite channels to offer local viewers more [...]
LAOS: Worries for Laos
E.J. DE LARA WRITES- Recently, the Laos National Assembly approved the construction of a $7 billion railroad that would extend to the China border in Luang Namntha province. The railroad was supposed to be a joint project between Laos and China until China dropped out last year fearing a lack of profit. Despite this, China [...]
CHINA: The Creation of an Internet Security Powerhouse
LEXIE TUCKER WRITES- Cyber security has always been a hot concern with Americans, but what we fail to realize is that it is also a global problem. According to the director of the security research team at a web security company Beijing Rising Information Technology Co Ltd , Liu Siyu, at least 60 percent of [...]
SINGAPORE: Can’t Take a Joke?
STEPHANIE GARCIA WRITES- Cartoons are typically humorous, but Leslie Chew is hardly laughing since being charged with sedition for his “racially insensitive” comic strip. The 37 year old may face up to $5,000 in fines and three years jail time if he is found guilty of violating Section 298 of the Penal Code, stating “any [...]
MYANMAR: Entering a Dangerous Period?
ALEXANDRE GUIRAUD WRITES- In this time of drastic change in Myanmar’s media structure, many companies are trying to help the development of the country by gaining a new market. One of the most recent people to do so was Google’s Executive Chairman, Eric Schmidt, who traveled to Myanmar to promote Google’s new website. In [...]
BANGLADESH: Collapsing Disaster in Booming Garment Industry
KIARA BRAMASCO WRITES – The worst disaster to hit Bangladesh’s garment industry happened on Wednesday, April 24th with a death toll of 344 and counting. The media regarding Bangladesh is dominated by this story and rightly so. With unapproved construction of parts of the garment factory and ignored warnings of a fragile building, several people [...]
ASIA INSIGHT VIDEO NO. FOUR: STEPHANIE GARCIA AND HER VIEW ON AMERICAN JOURNALISM AND SINGAPORE
Professor Tom Plate meets with South-South News
Professor Tom Plate Goes Live With South-South News to discuss his book on UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon. Professor Plate reveals why he decided to write a book on Ban Ki-Moon -- and how the Western media stereotypes the Korean diplomat.
Staff Writer Lauren Chen Reflects on the Death of a Journalist