The Chinese are certainly following the U.S. presidential campaign. A video of a televised Republican primary debate was circulating on the Internet, attracting the attention of up to 500 million Chinese Netizens. In this video, former U.S. Ambassador to China, Jon Huntsman stated that his hope for China is to influence the country’s internet users, [...]
Archive | December, 2011
SOUTH KOREA: Getting Back a Few Pages of Its History
According to Yonhap News Agency, a leading English-language news source, South Korea is celebrating the Japanese return of 1,200 ancient Korean texts that were taken during Japan’s colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula and kept by the Japanese Imperial Household Agency. Among the books is the “Uigwe,” a collection of documents that is a record [...]
CHINA: Piling-on, Mainland Style
Ai Weiwei, probably China’s most famous anti-regime artist, has been facing to blast after blast from the establishment. The list of the most recent round of his critics almost reads like a Who’s-Who in the Mainland Media. They include Hu Xijin, editor of the state-run Global Times; Wang Wen, a reporter for that paper; Wu [...]
INDONESIA: For Love or For Politics?
Politics can make strange bedfellows, as the famous saying goes. Witness the brewing brouhaha in Indonesia, where a high-profile marital union is drawing almost as much attention as a presidential campaign. The upscale marriage is between the son of the country’s president (Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono) and the daughter of a top government minister (Hatta Rajasa). [...]
JAPAN: Trying to Get Those Outsiders to Understand
Language can represent a daunting obstacle to traveling abroad. Kyodo News, Japan’s leading nonprofit news agency, aims to diminish this barrier through the introduction of Japan Portal. According to The Japan Times, the nation’s leading English-language publication, the trilingual website was created to both convey pertinent Japanese issues to foreigners as well as “attract more [...]
SRI LANKA: So Now …. Dear BBDO …. Get To Work!
Not that there was any doubt, but it looks as if the truly awful Sir Lankan civil war really is totally, completely, irretrievably over. How do we know? It seems as if the legendary advertising agency BBDO Worldwide, which is known for taking chances but rarely making mistakes, has opened a stand-alone office in Colombo. [...]
PACIFIC PERSPECTIVES: The Death of a Great American Professor: A Story of Scholars and Journalists
Scholars and journalists don’t always get along (right, call this Dept. of Understatement). But their need for each other is endless and often deep, even when each side bull-headedly refuses to admit it. Let’s put the matter this way: Journalists are generally scavenger birds of the moment, tweeting their view of contemporary history breathlessly and [...]
THAILAND: The Lesser Majesty of the Law
61-year-old Ampon Tangnoppakul, described by The Bangkok Post as having a “slow walk, bent back, white hair, and blurry eyes, ” has found fame in Thailand for all the wrong reasons.
PHILIPPINES: Yet Another Journalist Gunned Down in Mindanao
Two gunmen shot Michael James Licuanan, a Fillipino reporter for Bombo Radyo Cagayan de Oro City, after he finished his evening radio program in Mindanao.
HONG KONG: ‘Professor of Porn’ Investigates Online World of Casual Sex
Katrien Jacobs, a media professor at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, has revealed that she has been working “undercover” as “Lizzy Kinsey- scholarly sex machine,” to investigate the inside world of the Adult Friend Finder community.
SINGAPORE: ‘PEOPLE’S CHOICE’ AWARD GOES TO BOOK ON LEE KUAN YEW
“Soft authoritarian” or not, Lee Kuan Yew, now 88, remains a figure of great interest in Asia. “Conversations with Lee Kuan Yew,” a 2010 book by Tom Plate, founder of Asia Media, was recently honored at a major Asian book festival as the English-language book of the year.
FROM DUBAI’S GULF NEWS: Getting a Line on the Man In Line for Saudi Arabia
The Persian Gulf is abuzz over what giant Saudi Arabia will be like under the rule of the new heir Crown Prince Nayef Bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud, according to the Gulf News, a daily English language newspaper published from Dubai. The future of Saudi Arabia seems as enigmatic as the man who will lead it.
JAPAN: Okinawan Newspaper Puts It All on the Record
The relocation of the U.S. Futenma airbase in Okinawa continues to be a pressing issue in Japan’s political discourse. The government has been criticized for its sluggish pace and lack of definitive decisions…
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