NGOs say cost-cutting by Western fashion retailers led to the factory disaster in Bangladesh, Russia uses child adoption as a …
media
Must-Reads from Around the World
Media freedom is declining in Bulgaria, China leads the world in cyber espionage and public confidence in the European Union has fallen to a record low in its six biggest countries
Portrait of an Activist: Razan Ghazzawi, the Syrian Blogger Turned Exile
On July 18 Razan Ghazzawi, a Syrian blogger and media activist, was in the city of Douma, 45 minutes outside the capital, when she received a call: Free Syrian Army (FSA) fighters, dug in in the central Damascus neighborhood of …
Must-Reads from Around the World
Argentina and Iran agree to form a commission to investigate a 1994 bombing in Buenos Aires, Italy makes a new push to clamp down on suspected tax evaders and Brazil mourns the loss of over 200 lives in a nightclub tragedy
Why Do Israeli Media Keep Predicting War with Iran?
A frenetic pounding of the war drums appears designed to create the impression that Israel will attack Iran before the U.S. presidential election. Whether that’s Netanyahu’s real intent remains a mystery
Why Is Ecuador Julian Assange’s Choice for Asylum?
Wikileaks founder Julian Assange has appealed for asylum at the Ecuadorian embassy in London. It’s a curious choice: under President Rafael Correa, Ecuador’s free speech record has been dismal.
Must-Reads from Around the World, June 12, 2012
The world news you need to know on June 12: Putin cracks down on opposition as protesters mass; the U.S. hands India, but not China, a waiver allowing it to temporarily circumvent sanctions and import Iranian oil; and the debate …
Coulson, Connery and Cable: A Day Of Media Scandal Hits Britain
From News of the World to the news of the day, media scandals in the U.K. have become practically de rigueur over the past few months. In fact, the phone-hacking scandal and the subsequent parliamentary, public and police …
Haiti Can’t “Build Back Better” Without Better Journalists
If there was one feel-good moment following Haiti’s ghastly 2010 earthquake, it was the heroic efforts of Radio Signal – the only station in Port-au-Prince broadcasting after the quake ravaged the capital and killed more than …
For Burma’s Exiled Journalists, the Promise of Reform Brings Peril and Possibility
When Burmese exile Aung Zaw, founder of the newsmagazine the Irrawaddy, went home for the first time in 24 years, he expected attention. Since he fled to Thailand in 1988, the erstwhile student protester has become one of the …
French Media Errors Cause Second Death Of A “Hero”
Ours is an era where going viral is considered a sign of achievement, where being late with a trending item is the paragon of lame, yet where the mind-boggling proliferation of news sources has somehow resulted in the considerable reduction of topics and events covered by an often echoing press. One consequence of that is it’s no …
Thailand’s ‘Topless Teen’ Scandal and the Sexual Politics of Southeast Asia
During last week’s Songkran festival, three Thai teenagers danced topless in front of a crowd in central Bangkok. The footage was uploaded to the Internet and went viral, sparking a nation- and region-wide scandal. The police promised a crackdown and politicians denounced the incident as an affront to Thai culture and a national …
Cue Violins
Is it just me or does anyone else agree that Ricky Wong’s resignation letter was one of the most maudlin business documents ever uttered by a CEO? The head of ATV, the lesser of Hong Kong’s two terrestrial TV stations, ended his 12-day tenure yesterday for reasons that need not detain international readers. The ghastly sentiment of …
