No joke: Malaysian cartoonist stands up to government
Tuesday marks the next step in a legal faceoff between Malaysian authorities and the well-known political cartoonist Zulkiflee Anwar Haque, also known as Zunar. Hearings will resume in civil lawsuit filed by Zunar that challenges the legality of his arrest and detention in September 2010. Malaysian police arrested him hours ahead of the scheduled launch…
Recalling Marie Colvin, the ‘greatest of our generation’
In her final hours, Marie Colvin gave this damning report to CNN’s Anderson Cooper. Bravery, generosity, and commitment: These are the three characteristics of Marie Colvin that have surfaced, again and again, in the many tributes spoken and published since the veteran Sunday Times reporter was killed Wednesday in the besieged city of Homs by…
Threats and menace: Pakistan’s war on words
In Pakistan, the term “a war of words” can take on a menacing dimension beyond the metaphorical. Words–written, spoken, or reported–regularly land journalists in trouble, a very literal, physical sort of trouble. Reporters have become accustomed to being threatened, and over the years they’ve seen threats sometimes build to abductions, beatings, and even death. Such…
Archaic media policies make China a poor partner
President Obama has promised to raise issues of human rights when he and his administration meet with Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping in the next day. After that, Xi, billed as China’s next leader, is expected to make some speeches, visit a few factories, stop at the Pentagon, sign some contracts that will strengthen economic…
Old issues, new debates on Internet freedom in India
Just how free should the Internet be in India? And whose job is it to police the Web? Two recent court cases turn on these questions and, more specifically, whether Internet companies have a responsibility to filter content. In a country where Internet usage is growing exponentially, but where the scars of communal violence, terrorism,…
India: Let us in!
In 2005, we deliberately violated the immigration laws of India. We broke the law by producing a documentary film even though we had entered the country on a tourist visa. We broke the law because we wanted to show that Scandinavian companies were in violation of many other laws in India.
In high-tech China, low-tech media control works too
China’s investment in high-tech Internet surveillance technology is well known, and the byzantine rules of its Central Propaganda Department have inspired books and academic treatises. But among the many tools in the box for media control, there’s one that’s very simple and low-tech: Keep journalists away.
Chinese media little help with Chongqing mystery
The website of Xinhua News, China’s state media flagship, leads today with EU’s threats of sanctions against Syria. Elsewhere on their Chinese-language site, one can read about Wen Jiabao’s remarks to the visiting Canadian prime minister, or look at photos of pretty white ladies lounging around, if that’s your style.