Japan: Speaking of China

As we noted during our discussions for the video presentation, China is often mentioned in all our media sources. For Japan, it is probably due in part to the geographic and politically significant proximity that China often appears in the news. However, as always, the Yomiuri Daily has reported on a foreign affairs event involving the Japanese, or in the case of the following article, the Chinese President's up-coming visit to Japan. The article even mentions the 2,000 year history between the two countries. Of course, it does also briefly list the controversial issues that the two are playing over.

The article starts out with Chinese President Hu's statement to use the visit to its full potential, followed by a brief mention of the previous president's controversial visit 10 years before. Then after an statement on the 2000 years of friendly relations between the two, the article lists issues that the two nation's have been working together on such as the investigations over frozen dumplings manufactured in China that gave a gave a number of people in Japan food poisoning. This is, on the other hand, followed by a second list detailing some topics of disagreement such as oil rights, Tibet, the Olympics...etc. It ends with the less controversial request by the Japanese for the lease of a Panda to the Ueno Zoo and Hu's assurance that they understand the Japanese people and their Prime Minister Fukuda have this strong wish.

U.K.: A Blog for every subject...

I have only just stumbled upon the vast selection of blogs The Times of London publishes on its website. Not being one to follow the opinion section very closely, I first discovered the tab listing its blogs today. The variety boggles the mind. With 32 blogs, The Times even outdoes The Guardian's 28, and the subjects range from motor racing to general news, motherhood to religion. There's an entire blog kept up by the Paris correspondent, which publishes as many cultural posts as ones commenting on politics (although the political analysis is nothing fresh - just a recap of recent events or sentiments that echoes and refers to other French media sources), as well as one kept by the Iraq correspondent in Baghdad.

An April 25 posting on the Inside Iraq blog delves into subject matter that might be buried if it were published in the print edition. It discusses recent gains by Iraqi soldiers in defeating Shia insurgents in Basra. Unlike U.S. coverage, which tends to report more about the American military, this blog includes interviews with Iraqi soldiers. It details the operation in Basra as one would expect to hear a battle covered during war time: by discussing the obstacles originally faced by the Iraqi army and how they overcame them. It does not sensationalize the situation. The article even goes so far as to contextualize the situation by explaining which subgroup the Shia militants are thought to have been linked to. Rather than utilizing the anti-war frame to discuss U.K. involvement, the reporter blogs from the perspective of the Iraqi army and their role in bringing stability back to their country.

U.K.: More from the horserace

The Guardian has a lengthy article today summing up the past week of campaigning for Barack Obama. In 25 paragraphs the U.S. bureau chief discusses Obama's fatigue, Reverend Wright's recent remarks, Obama's subsequent renunciation of his pastor, the Senator's appearances with his wife this week to emphasize his working-class background and family values, opinions from the locals in Indiana and North Carolina, and how Obama and Clinton stand in relation to one another in terms of delegates.

The British press accept the same frames that are put forth in the American media. They follow the horserace just as carefully, and having already explained the roles of superdelegates much earlier in the campaign season, British media can now ponder the importance of such details without providing context. Much of the article is biased towards the frames of the candidates' fatigue, the invocation of the "race card" by Reverend Wright, and the assumption in the press since the Pennsylvania primary last week that the tide has turned in Clinton's favor. However, the media are manufacturing this very tone themselves, and this article alludes to that by using a reporter on the Obama trail as a source:

"'He is in the middle of a shit storm,' one of the journalists travelling with him said."

Overall, the piece seems subjective. For the most part, it attributes analytical comments about the campaign to various sources and spokespeople, but comments such as the ending clearly show the influence of the press in the race: "In a bad week for him [Obama], it was a rare boost" to have superdelegate Joe Andrew announce his support for the Illinois senator this week.

Still, The Guardian does a good job getting so many quotes and writing such a lengthy article, considering the fact that the bureau chief who authored this article has had one to two bylines each day this week.

U.K.: Waning power of the UN

Chicken Yoghurt scoffs at the UN in a post in response to an article about the UN's scolding of the U.S. for not sharing intelligence about North Korea's aid to Syria in building a nuclear reactor. The blogger specifically attacks Mohamed ElBaradei, the International Atomic Energy Agency chief, by suggesting that he not do his job by getting involved. The blogger writes that ElBaradei should have realized that the precedent set by Hans Blix several years earlier was for the UN to remain somewhat hands-off when it comes to American Republican governments and their plans for squelching nuclear weapon development in the hands of other countries.

The blogger, Justin McKeating, takes an ironic tone, and even as he is criticizing ElBaradei, he is agreeing with him that this is something the UN should be monitoring. McKeating has the freedom to criticize institutions such as the UN without considering political alliances, and because he is not bound to commenting on completely relevant things, he can bring up old news such as Hans Blix without having to worry about being unbiased.

U.K.: Olympic torch in Japan

The Times of London reports on the Olympic torch relay in Japan, after the torch passed through Nagano with little incident other than a "clash" between pro-Tibetan protesters and Chinese students. The article mentions the legs that remain of the relay, as well as the way in which Nagano handled the security (using their own guards instead of the Chinese ones, which was a contentious choice when it came to light a couple weeks ago). Other than these two items, though, the article's focus is less on the torch relay than on the political situation regarding Tibet. The article shows the influence of the protesters and all the attention they've been getting on the Chinese government, who "may have" decided to meet with the Dalai Lama's representatives as a result. It goes on to discuss the ways in which the Chinese media are viewing the Tibet situation and to report the responses of Olympics officials and Chinese government officials.

The article uses the now-established frame of the Tibetan struggle for independence to report the latest in the torch relay, but it fleshes out that frame now with more context and balanced responses from different sides of the issue (Olympics officials, government officials, the Chinese media, Chinese political analysts).

U.K.: "Berlusconi's Back!"

Nosemonkey's EUtopia has a bit of fun discussing the re-election of Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi. The blogger lists all the reasons he is excited about Berlusconi being back in power - all of which are to be taken ironically, as the blogger views Berlusconi as having high entertainment value but low political effectiveness. The blogger compares Berlusconi to the previous PM, Romano Prodi, who was "not holding a near monopoly in the Italian media, not trying to blatantly advance his own commercial interests through his high office, [and] not re-writing the country’s electoral laws to give his own party an advantage," among other things.

This is a great example of a blogger who writes just for the sake of providing commentary. There is little research behind his post, and the blogger acknowledges that, as someone who is not Italian, it is difficult for him to understand the details of Italy's election process. Instead, he links to a Reuters article that reports the actual news of Berlusconi's victory and to the international section of Spiegel Online, a German site, which provides a more comprehensive, contextualized analysis of the election. This brings up one difficulty in covering international news: background information. For readers unfamiliar with other countries' governments, it is difficult for news stories to include enough context to the story without introducing bias. Also, readers' appetites for consuming such news may not be as high if they know nothing about the subject (one article we read mentioned that readers who have more background information learn more from a news story). As a result, people with little background knowledge--such as this blogger--rely on easy stereotypes and well-publicized news stories, as Nosemonkey's EUtopia has done.

U.K.: Olympic Torch in India

The Guardian follows the Olympic torch to India today in an article that follows the protest frame that has now become the established form of reporting on this story. The article opens by noting the security restrictions in place and how they "drained [the event] of pomp and circumstance." The Guardian, too, has eliminated anything celebratory from its coverage. It mentions that there were schoolchildren bussed in to cheer on the torchbearers and that several sponsors were disappointed at being barred from getting near the relay path by security, although they were supposed to have access. However, there are no mentions of the athletes who carried the torch (only those who declined to do so), no references to India's Olympic competitors this year, and no background on where the torch was previously or where it is headed to next. Also lacking were comments from any Olympic officials.

What did the article include, then? It was mostly focused on the attempts of protesters to break through the security cordon. One group did, but "...most were met with disproportionate force -- one Tibetan was wrestled to the ground on Indian television by 12 police officers." The article tells of a protest march that began earlier at the site of Mahatma Gandhi's funeral pyre, and it ends with two paragraphs on India's history of political discord with China.

Japan: Comment

Just something I realized when searching for recent goings-on with the Olympic relay:
It's interesting that there are not actuallyy that many blog posts or traditional media articles or reports on the Olympic relay and the protests in many countries around the world. Whenever there is a mention of the Olympics or the relay, it's always after mentioning somethings else such as the Dalai Lama, Tibet, CHina...etc.
Interesting, no?

Japan: Support for Tibet

The Global Voices Blog site had a long post about the Japanese support for Tibet and their opinions about the media and Olympics. The post begins with description by the blogger that soon after the rioting began in Tibet, the Japanese began to express their opinions and interests about the issue. "Tibet" became the most searched topic on Japanese search engines, the blogger reports, and Tibet supporters demonstrated in Tokyo early and mid March. He also notes that the Tibet Support Network Japan (TSNJ)set up a blog where the Japanese have been avid posters. The rest of the post has examples (and translations) of some of the posts. Many of the posts blame the Japanese politicians and media for not drawing enough attention or doing anything regarding Tibet and other "human rights" violations in China. There are also posts with opinions about boycotting the Olympics:

独裁共産国家でのオリンピックに参加することを反対します。
そして中国製品を買うことも控えましょう。
奴隷のように働かされている子供・女達が作ったことを思うと購入を躊躇します。
なぜそのような国に他の国は群がるのでしょう？

(I am against participating in Olympics that are in a country that is a communist dictatorship.
Also let's not buy any goods that are manufactured in China.
I hesitate to buy things when I think that children and women were worked like slaves to make them.
Why do other countries flock around this kind of country?)

Other Japanese bloggers question if the Chinese will actually be able to pull off hosting the Olymics, express their distrurbance by the news, and compare the Beijing Olympics to the Berlin Olympics under Hitler.

Again, it's not really surprising that the Japanese questions and criticize China. Although, unlike the newspaper, the blog follows what one would expect from the Japanese given their negative ties with China as well as their proximity to the area in question. One wonders if there is a correlation with the unbias or balancing attempt by the old media such as newspapers compared to the more free form opinion driven role of blogs.

Japan: Dalai Lama raps torch protests

According to a brief article in the Asahi Newspaper, the Dalai Lama "decried protests in Europe and the United States," that have attempted to interfere with the Olympic torch relay, which ends in Beijing. Then the article describes in more detail that the Dalai Lama does not support the violent protests that occurred in London and Paris; protests, which arose over the rioting in the Dalia Lama's native Tibet. Rather, the Dalai Lama has repeated his support for China to host the summer Olympic Games because it is a good opportunity for change as China wants to make a good impression on the visiting countries.

It is interesting that there is no mention of the Dalai Lama's opinion over the Tibetan Riots. The article that is for once not attributed to a wire service, but written by one of the newspapers own reporters, which may account for its brevity. Not to mention that it is the opposite of what one would expect from a Japanese newspaper. The Japanese have not had a good relations with the Chinese, mostly over the issues surrounding the occupation of China in the period leading up to and through the Second World War. As a result, the Japanese media usually frames China in a negative light. However, this article reports on the Dalai Lama's anti-protest stance and his support for China. Perhaps the reporter wanted to point out the contrast since the protests arose for the sake of the issues of the Dalai Lama's home country and China's reactions to them.

U.K.: Boycotting the Olympics

In "newsblog" on The Guardian's website, Allegra Stratton engages in some light analysis of news on the Olympics that articles in traditional media do not. She draws attention to Hillary Clinton's comment that George W. Bush should follow Gordon Brown and "boycott" the Olympic games opening ceremony. However, Stratton alleges that Brown's absence is likely just another example of the Prime Minister "snubbing" an event. She links to another blog from earlier in the week on The Guardian's website, which also expresses confusion about whether or not Brown is attending the ceremony and if not, the motivation for his absence. She frames her comments in light of other notable absences: Ban Ki Moon's, because of a conflict, and German Chancellor Angela Merkel's and Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper's. Stratton writes, "The pity for Brown is that he's probably not boycotting the games. And he's so in awe of China's economic might, he won't even be able to bask in Clinton's warm words."

The reason traditional media would never make this connection is because her post offers little new information, and her analysis of Brown's reason for not attending is speculation, as far a reader of the blog can tell. She is simply getting more mileage out of a previous post by one of her colleagues on another blog. This leaves one wondering if the requirement that print media journalists contribute online, as well, is something of a waste of time. Their tendency is to use their blogs as means of commenting on their printed stories.

U.K.: Following the Olympic torch

The Times of London reports the latest news on controversy surrounding the Olympic torch relay today. The article is headlined "Diego Maradona refuses to carry Olympic torch," and in the leading paragraphs it explains the athlete meant to begin the relay in Argentina backed out and was replaced with someone else. The rest of the article speculates about the future of the relay and the Olympics opening ceremony. It includes comments from UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon, who will not be attending the opening ceremony due to a "scheduling conflict" and goes on to include comments from a pro-Tibetan Argentinian protester, who nonetheless condemned the idea of a violent protest during the relay. A new development introduced halfway through the article is that the Japanese police will not allow the Chinese security personnel to accompany the torch when it reaches Nagano, as they have been revealed to be part of the Chinese paramilitary police.

Coverage of the relay continues to be presented through an anti-Chinese frame. The paramilitary police are described in a quote as "thugs," and the report that Ban Ki Moon will not be attending the opening ceremony--though not a boycott--seems to be a premature representation of a lack of international support for China as the games' host. However, two consecutive paragraphs try to balance the political messages of the event with its overall significance for the Olympics:

" There was also a sizeable turnout of people from the local Chinese community, who sang hymns in Mandarin and celebrated that the Olympics would be going to Beijing";

followed by "Most of the onlookers appeared to enjoy the spectacle, creating chaos as they ran alongside attempting to catch a glimpse of the flame. Javier Garcia, aged 24 and a student, says: 'I was proud to see the torch pass through my city but I think the Olympics is a symbol of human rights and the Chinese Government must enter into dialogue with the Dalai Lama.'"

In past years, this would probably be treated as sports news. The categorization of such a story as "world news" suggests that the media are interested in drawing out its politicization.

Japan: Traditional News - Global Ratings

I thout it would be interesting to compare the blog post on global ratings with that of a traditional media. The Yomiuri Daily published an article, "Global poll: Japan has most positive influence in world" on the topic two days before the post by the blog. The article starts off with some basic background information on who conducted the survey (BBC and Yomiuri Daily among others), the number of surveyed countries (34), time period of survey (Oct. - Jan.), and the facts behind the title (56% positive ratings vs. 21% negative ratings.)Then the article proceeded to list the ratings of some of the most positive and negative images of other countries. For instance, Germany came in second to Japan, then the EU with 52% positive ratings, followed by Britain and France at 50%. The country with the most negative ratings was Iran with 54%, followed by Israel at 52% and Pakistan at 50%. North Korea also had fairly negative ratings at 45% and the US had only 35% positive ratings compared to 47% negative. The article finishes off with the data on who though most positively and negatively about Japan, ending with the Japanese's own view of their country.

Note that the this newspaper is the conservative news paper of Japan, thus it makes sense that it would follow the surveys and rankings in favor of Japan as well as focus on Japan even in its so-called international news. However, it is actually fairly neutral in its reporting, a lot more so than the blog. The article lists both positive and negative ratings, while the blog focuses mainly on the negative. Another interesting fact is that the middle east is where most of the negative ratings are focused on and the most positive ratings go to Japan, Germany, and the West. Obviously, Japan and Germany have come a long way in the past half century. Framing wise, the blog had a lot more bias, while the newspaper follows more of a reporting approach.

Japan: Global Ratings

The Observing Japan blog made a interesting note about a recent BBC release of its annual survey to rate how countries are viewed by other countries. Japan was one of the most positively rated countries along with the EU, Russia had one of the largest improvements in ratings, and the US has seen its first turn around from the negative ratings of the previous years. The blog comments Japan has been favorably viewed in just about every country except for China and South Korea. Then it argues that the negativity, which go in all three directions, comes from the deep ties among the three countries. The blgo calls the relationship among the East Asian countries "dense" and "messy," while arguing that it is probably softpower (money and culture) that is the source of Japan's positive ratings among the other countries since the region where Japan is most active in (Northeast Asia) is where it has the most negative ratings. In addition, it also states that Japan's soft power isn't viewed as negatively as during the height of its bubble economy because it is in recession and foreign powers find China a bigger target now. The blog also takes into account the increase in Japan's popularity despite issues over comfort women, whaling, and history. It concludes with the thought that, "Japan is well-liked because it is mostly invisible and entirely harmless to most of the countries surveyed. A more active Japan, a Japan that took sides in important international disputes, would likely be less popular."

This is an interesting article on the results of proximity and ties as well as on influences on image and power. Admittedly, even with Japan's participating and interjections into international politics via the Iraq war and other "peace-keeping missions," it has a tendancy to use more soft power than hard power such as water purification, rebuilding and restoration, education, and foreign investments.

U.K.: NATO and Russia

Nosemonkey's EUtopia blog shows the advantages blogs can have over traditional media in a post this week about the NATO summit currently in progress in Bucharest. The blog begins by summarizing the varied and contradictory viewpoints being offered by other media outlets (a mix of newspapers, radio, and a blog) about the goings-on at the summit. The blogger has the luxury of having the time to step back away from the deadlines of those working for larger media outlets and examine the coverage to determine that it is inconsistent. He also acknowledges that his confusion about what's happening at the NATO summit is likely to persist, saying, "[T]he precise terms of any diplomatic agreement between Russia and the EU, US, NATO or individual European countries - the small print that the journalists rarely have time to scan in their rush to hit deadlines and get an angle that gives the subs a good shot at an interesting headline - that’s where we’ll first spot the changes when they come." As a blogger and an EU policy fanatic (the Wonkette of the EU, one might argue), Nosemonkey is someone who is likely to spot these details if he has access to the relevant documents. All of this analysis of the news that is, for the most part, the unique domain of the blogger allows Nosemonkey to provide a meta-narrative for the news that draws attention to its varied frames.

The irony of the situation is that the writer of Nosemonkey's EUtopia is also exhibiting a rather blatant frame, albeit one disclosed on the "About" section of the blog, which is that of being a pro-EU centrist. After the blogger acknowledges his confusion from trying to follow news of the summit, he turns to his own predictions of how the summit must actually be turning out by spending several paragraphs discussing Russia's increasing influence exerted over the EU. What begins as a discussion of current developments in foreign diplomacy ends in speculation over the future of European international relations, but it is a future colored through the lens of the Cold War relationships that Nosemonkey continues to bring up in this post and rework to suit his purposes (i.e., to provide an explanation of why NATO is having a hard time deciding whether to admit other member nations).

U.K.: China and the Olympic Torch

An article in The Guardian today frames its coverage of the Olympics through the lens of controversy by focusing on the protests surrounding the journey of the Olympic torch, rather than the logistics of the journey itself. Eight of the sixteen paragraphs mention protests -- recent, having occurred in recent weeks, or anticipated in the future -- and the other eight provide broadly attributed comments from officials about the plans for the torch relay. The attributed information is fairly neutral, apart from one line that reads, "Organisers hope the route will highlight China's growing ambitions, economic development and openness to the outside world." However, the unattributed paragraphs have a somewhat more critical stance, predicting (on what basis is not stated) that the route will "be dogged by protests." It also notes that this particular route, proclaimed "ambitious" in the first paragraph, will have "a bigger eco-footprint" than past ones. This adds an interesting environmentalist frame; in the past, I can't imagine such observations would have been made if they were not attributed to some particular group's concern.

Japan: Chine and Tibet

Interestingly enough 3 of the 5 top international stories listed by the Mainichi Daily News are focused on the current unrest in Tibet and China. Given the outcry for China to "clean up" before the 2008 Olympics, it's hardly a surprise that the events are taking prominent place in the Japanese media, especially given Japan's close proximity to the area in conflict. Interestingly enough, however, is that the stories featured speak of China's promise to compensate civilian victims of the violence and diplomatic visits; pressure being placed on sponsors of the Olympics; and China's call to crush the protests versus John McCain's calls for peace. Of the three stories only the last one has a less a less than neutral frame on the events, citing violent clashes, using the words "crush" and "crackdown", quoting China critics, as well as sporting a picture of a blood covered Tibetan protester amidst Chinese police. All the articles are written by the AP and the photo is from Reuters. The other two articles read more like a fact sheet and have an added interesting point of always mentioning the US. The first article explains that the US sent a delegate to the area along with several other countries such as the UK and Japan, devoting half the article to the diplomats credidentials and alocations of blame of all the powers involved. The second article focuses on the US companies sponsoring the Olympics that are having a hard time balancing human rights causes and their finances should they anger China over the issue of Tibet.

U.K.: The Iraq War on the blogs

Following my previous post, Chicken Yoghurt uses a much more creative approach to commemorate the start of the War in Iraq. The blogger allegorizes the whole situation by creating a character, "Warren Iraq," who, at five years old, is a problem child at school. The allegory is very well done, for the most part: Saddam Hussein is reimagined as a fellow schoolboy who, shortly after Warren's arrival, leaves suddenly; the state of Iraq is suggested through descriptions of the school building itself; and military catchphrases such as "fr**ndly f*re" and "*xtr**rd*n*ry r*nd*t**n" are reviled as swear words that Warren uses.

It is a very creative approach to the situation, and it gives the blogger the flexibility to come out and condemn the U.S. and U.K. for their roles in the war. An allusion to President Bush and former P.M. Blair arises near the end of the piece, as they are cast as Warren's parents:

"The neglect that Warren has suffered at the hands of his parents should also be mentioned. One left in July last year and has not visited or been in contact at all since. His other parent is leaving his job in January next year and has yet to say how he plans to continue to emotionally and financially support his son."

We've been talking about Jon Stewart's The Daily Show and how it functions in relation to traditional media. This blog, like The Daily Show, can only be understood by those who follow the news to begin with (one needs to be aware of American and British politics to understand the reference to Warren's parents, for example). Like Jon Stewart, too, the blogger has a liberal bias. But bias is not a point of contention for new media, and in this case, the freedom from neutrality in the blog world allows the blogger to suggest things that the reporter at The Guardian could not.

U.K.: Bush on the Iraq War

With Christin's discussion of framing and proximity below in mind, I was surprised to read an article in The Guardian today on President Bush's comments on the anniversary of the start of the Iraq War that made no reference whatsoever to the U.K. The article was reported from Washington and after the first two paragraphs relies heavily on quotes from the President. Interestingly, the lead paragraph reveals a frame that subtly takes the stance opposite that of the President:

"President George Bush showed no sign of regret today when he marked the fifth anniversary of the invasion of Iraq by declaring that the costs in terms of lives and upheaval had been worth it and that retreat would threaten both security and the world economy."

The denial of "regret" in the first sentence suggests that there is something to be regretted about the war. However, the reporter does not explicitly mention the conflicting views about the war that persist today until the very end of the article. This is the only real analysis in the article, though, as the rest of it is quote-heavy and America-centric. There are no references to British involvement in the war as American allies, nor any mentions of how the British feel about the war. This seems, in itself, to be a subtle way of distancing the U.K. from the war and former P.M. Tony Blair's allegiance with Bush. However, the detailed coverage of the event itself, which wraps up by pointing forward towards the Democratic presidential candidates' stance on the war, shows a very close alliance indeed between British and American media coverage.

Japan: Chinese police kill terrorists plotting attack on Olympics

One of the videos on the Mainichi Daily New's website this week is a report on how Chinese police uncovered a plot to attack the Beijing Olympics, how they killed the alleged terrorists in the trying to apprehend them, and how just a week before the flight crew of a Chinese jetliner prevented the 9/11-like crash in a separate case. While displaying video footage of a mosque setting in what one assumes is location in China, the report links the terrorists to an extremist movement in Northeastern China.

This is certainly an interesting video to have up, not to mention a rather hot topic given the current issues with terrorism, China, human rights, and independence movements/rebellions. The footage especially shows only images of the Olympic symbols and the mosque-like setting. I think that there is a mild bias/frame involved in order to link the Olympics and the alleged terrorist attempts. No mention was actually made in the video regarding the terrorists who were killed, nor did they mention actions that China was taking besides the a brief comment that authorities weren't revealing anything. The video was accredited to the AP.

Japan: Proximity and Ties

After the discussions that we've had in class so far, I noticed that the most prominent factor that appears in the selection of "world" or "international" news on the Japanese websites tend to follow the concept of proximity both geographical and literal (as in involving Japan or Japanese citizens.) For example, on the "World News" webpage of the Asahi Newspaper, of the thirteen articles featured that were published between February 28 and this morning, every single one of them have related the issue or event to Japan. Whether the article talks about the International Space station, Nail salon operators in China, peace missions to Sudan, Croatia's opinion on Kosovo's independance, or rabies in Nepal, they all mention someone, some place, or some thing that brings the reader's attention to Japanese involvement.

Admittedly, unlike the Mainichi Daily News or the Yomuiri Daily, all the articles in the world news section of the Asahi are written by Asahi Newspaper's own journalists. None of them are attributed to Reuters or the AP as is normally found in the other two papers. Perhaps, this trend is a result of the market influences on the Japanese papers. When the company spends its own resources on an article then they want to attract the biggest readership possible to make up and even out weigh the costs. By relating international events to Japan, the Asahi may be utilizing the ties to Japan to interest people into reading their paper. Regardless of the authors of the articles, however, they don't appear to be any more biased or framed than the AP and Reuter articles that appear in other two newspapers. In fact, except for the constant mention of Japanese connections in the articles, they are fairly neutral in their reporting. For example, the third article in the list, Philippines to seek 'comfort women' apology, reports on the decisions of the Philippine government regarding the politically sensitive topic of Japan's actions during World War II, which have shadowed relations between the two countries. Yet, the author does not offer an opinion on the matter. It begins by with the fact that the Philippine government will ask Japan for a apology for forcing Filipino women into sex slavery. The next four paragraphs reports some background information: why the government has acted and what they have done. Then are a few quotations from comfort women and their supporters. Ending in a warning that there is not much time left because the former "comfort" women are passing away as these political work occurs.

U.K.: Looking at the big picture in blog post on Sudan

One thing we've been discussing in class is how the 24-hour news cycle aims for instant gratification and takes reporters' time away from focusing on the big picture by teasing out overarching themes about subjects in the news. The Guardian's "newsblog" counters that notion this week with a post headlined, "Back to the future in Sudan." In thirteen brief paragraphs, the piece recalls Sudan's colonialist past, contrasting Winston Churchills 1898 reconquest of Sudan following a victory in Omdurman with Tony Blair's visit to Khartoum in 2004, "worrying about Darfur." The blogger notes, "Memories of his visit elicit wry smiles from local Sudanese," who "bear few overt grudges about the colonial period. They worry more about what they see as present-day imperialism directed from Washington."

The blog has a few lovely, detailed paragraphs describing the landscape surrounding Khartoum that are the express benefit of the blogger's writing from their in a dispatch style. However, the blogger does not define clearly what he means by "the threats the country faces from new forms of colonialism;" instead, these threats seem to take the form of modernization and globalization that leave all kinds of abandoned waste and vehicles despoiling the natural landscape.

The Guardian has about 28 blogs, an astounding number to be run by one mainstream media outlet. They cover a variety of topics, and the scopes range from the narrow "blogging the qur'an" to the grab-bag "newsblog." Since the newspaper's website has the capacity to publish breaking news, the blogs seem to serve as a way to comment upon news stories or introduce stories that don't have a place in the traditional, printed edition agenda.

U.K.: Spitzer scandal

Not one to miss out on a salacious story, The Times of London follows the coverage of Governor Eliot Spitzer's past patronage of a prostitution ring, revealed this week. Following the New York Times profile on Ashley Alexandra Dupre, the prostitute who met with Spitzer, today's article in The Times of London tells how Dupre informed the prostitution ring of her client's prominent standing before focusing on the legal ramifications of the situation.

The article avoids sensationalizing the story, for the most part. Dupre is referred to as a "call-girl" and her meeting with Spitzer as a "tryst," but the phrasing that reeks most strongly of scandal is a direct quote from Dupre herself when she learned of Spitzer's identitythat was originally reported in The New York Post. The first four paragraphs focus on the identification of Dupre as the previously unnamed prostitute. Then the article turns to Spitzer's legal concerns and the question of whether or not taxpayer money or campaign funding was misused. The article goes into the nuanced details of the law by which Spitzer might be charged because of how he paid the prostitution ring, rather than the fact that he patronized it at all. The final paragraph implicates Hillary Clinton, whom Spitzer has endorsed, as a potential recipient of backlash because of this, and it ends with a joke made at her expense on the Letterman show.

The article relies in part on reportage from The New York Times and The New York Post, but it does not report on the controversy surrounding the publication of the NYT article. Interestingly, although The Times does not overdramatize its coverage of this news item, it does use Spitzer as a news peg for a confessional anonymous article written by a man who is addicted to using prostitutes, headlined, "My desire for sex was so overwhelming that I had difficulty breathing."

UN/International News

When we think about International News, the best example, in my opinion, is the news delivered by the UN. What could be more international than that? Yet when a story about an UN official is reported, is the degree of internationality still the same? Does such a thing as a degree of internationality exist? For example, on the French site of MSNnews there is a story about the UN General Secretary Ban Ki-moon calling Israel to end the Israeli constructions in the West Bank. If we take into account the amount of the text that addresses each country, there is, in my opinion, a significant imbalance between the section of the text that addresses the Western point of view, and the correspondingly smaller section that deals with the actual subject of the article: Israel construction sites in the West Bank. Out of 14 paragraphs, 4 were devoted to the UN point of view, 1 to the Israeli point of view, 1 to the Palestinian’s side, 2 were to Mr Sarkozy’s point of view, one of the paragraph was linked to the visit of the Israeli President Shimon Peres this week, 1 to France (which makes 3 in total), 1 to the UK’s side, 3 to the US’s point of view. The last paragraph dealt with a summary of the situation about the negotiation between Israel and the Palestinian territories, which according to the “Road Map” could be, in a not-so-distant future, a sovereign country.
It is interesting to note that the two main countries that are directly concerned with the topic are so under-represented.

See the article for yourself at
MSN News

Czech Republic and the US

While reading an article in Le Monde (February 29th) about an agreement between the US and the Czech Republic, I wanted to see the American version of that story and I was extremely surprised. Both the French newspaper and the US newspaper had a story concerning the US and the Czech Republic but not quite on the same topic. Le Monde reported Europe condemnation about the separate agreement: Czech citizens no longer need VISA to enter US soil. As Czech Republic being a rather new member(2004), its citizens need a VISA in order to travel to the US.The question about the need of a VISA to enter the US is usually negotiated between European Union and the US and not directly between the country and the US. The other part of the deal was that the Czech Republic has to give information about the passengers to the US. However checking another article about an agreement between this country and the US, the other part of the deal may be much more interesting than just information. The February 28th edition of the NYT contains an article about negotiation between President Bush and Czech leader about an "early warning radar system". The future agreement ends months of negotiation starting in 2007. The NYT article did not mention the reaction of the EU about this agreement nor anything related to the authorization to enter the US soil without VISA. The NYT only mentions the strong opposition from Russia about the US missile shield.
Still I think it is interesting to notice that one can think that the agreement reported in Le Monde newspaper could be the consequence of the agreement reported in NYT.

See the article for yourself at
Le Monde

See the article for yourself at
New York Times

Japan: American enka singer makes waves

According to Global Voices Online for Friday March 7th, an American born and raised singer of enka, a form of traditional Japanese music (kind of like a ballad), is the talk of the Japanese blogosphere. His debut single, "Umiyuki" - Ocean Snow - ranked fourth on the Oricon Music charts, a new record for enka. Jerome White Jr., or Jero as he is now called, was born and raised in Pittsburgh where he devoloped a passion for enka from his Japanese grandmother. He moved to Japan after he graduated with a degree in informational sciences from the University of Pittsburgh, taught english, entered kareoke competitions, and was discovered and signed by a record label.

This blog also includes a youtube video of Jero's debut single enka. It looks a bit like rap mixed with traditional singing... Certainly, the blog post reflects both types of proximity. Regarding ties, Japan and the US have a good relationship politically and socially. Especially since the singer has Japanese relatives and is currently living in Japan, the article has a double tie.

Japan: Bias

According to the Special to the Daily Yomiuri, one of Japan's leading conservative papers, Obama and Clinton are losing and destroying their party, while McCain and the Republicans will probably win the November presidential elections. The article explains that Clinton lost because she's too negative and will alienate the Obama supporters, so she can't possibly win in the general election. In addition, the article claims that she just doesn't have enough delegates because Obama has such a large lead (144 pledged delagates). Then it explains how she managed to save her "near death campaign" during last weeks primaries. Obama, on the other hand, must be able to show voters that he can face the attacks or drop out of the race, the article advises. Furthermore, the writer tells the readers that Obama's fatal flaw is that he doesn't attack Hilary's history, record, or credibility, not to mention her private life and 35-years of experience. In fact, the article says that Obama should "puncture her carefully constructed public persona and remind voters of past scandals and problems." Lastly, the article reiterates how the democratic infighting over the nomination will split the party leading to a Republican victory. It even gives the "likely results" of the remaining primaries, saying everything won't be settled until the Democratic convention in August.

I must say that this article epitomises bias both ideological and structural. I should mention that the writer of the article is a man and as listed at the end of the piece "a distinguished fellow of the Centre for International Governance Innovation and professor of political science at the University of Waterloo." As a conservative paper, the Yomiuri would obviously choose to publish articles that are framed in a light that supports the conservatives regardless of the fact that its the conservatives of another nation. Moreover, the article is quite opinionated. More like something one would see on late night television in the US than journalistic reporting. For instance, the article includes phrases such as "It's the delegate math, stupid,""she can 'win' only using skulduggery at the Democratic convention that will alienate the mass of Obama supporters without whose votes she cannot possibly prevail in the presidential election itself," "The controversy over the North American Free Trade Agreement--"wink, wink" to Canadians,""her temperament and demeanor are presidential given her gushing, hectoring, mocking and complaining personas; and puncturing her claims to lifelong experience as a fairy tale,"and "Any party so politically inept and organizationally incompetent deserves to lose. The Republicans can neither believe their luck nor contain their glee." The frame on this article obviously favors McCain and the Republicans with its ridicule of Hilary, Obama, and the Democratic Party. Following the article's logic, Hilary is a overly agressive, emotional woman; Obama is a cowardly, unready man, who is riding on his non-white exoticness, and the Democratics will fail in the presidential elections because of all the infighting, depite the fact that 40% of voters would still vote for either candidate. On a last note, there are also no references or citations for the "likely results" that the article lists what so ever. Considering US newspapers have been citing the record number of new voting -participants in the primaries, especially as an advantage to the Democrats since their two candidates are a change from the white and male McCain.

U.K.: Fear of recession colors U.S. election

The Observer offers a succinct summary of the state of the U.S. economy as it tries to peg the fear that the U.S. is entering a recession to its coverage of the presidential race. The article points to falling home values and stock price and rising gas prices and unemployment as indicators that the economy may be entering a recession. It offers little new information to forward the theory of recession, aside from rising unemployment figures, instead attributing the assertion to the opinions of "many economists" and a recent New York Times headline. Likewise, in relating the issue to the election, the article states that "Some experts believe the bad news could boost the chances of Hillary Clinton."

The article follows the recent American media frames in suggesting the possibility that Clinton could be seen as a "comeback kid" right now, and the ties between the candidates and the state of the economy are also relevant frames this week, following the news of Tuesday's primaries in Ohio, Texas, Vermont, and Rhode Island and accompanying the small news item of Obama's predicted win in Wisconsin today. Continuously, the British media has used the same framing devices as American news sources in their portrayal of election developments, which is not surprising given the cultural proximity between the two nations and the general similarities between both nations types of government (more similar, that is, than a democratic republic and a dictatorship would be).

U.K.: Pickled Politics blog sheds light on Asian news

The blog Pickled Politics focuses on news in the U.K. of special interest to Asians or about Asian countries. Writers from diverse backgrounds--from a blogger for The Guardian to a medical student--comment on a variety of stories from the viewpoint of a shared heritage. As blogs go, it serves functions unique to new media by highlighting certain aspects of the news and commenting on them quickly by relying on other sources. It seems like the perfect opportunity for the average joe (and the moonlighting pro) to practice some framing of his own.

Today, the blog has several entries. One relies on a published study reported on by an Indian television network that claims international companies are not outsourcing jobs to India as frequently as before because the rupee has been gaining in value. The author intersperses minimal commentary with excerpts from the news article. Another post draws attention to an article published in the American magazine Commentary, in which the author opines about the lack of portrayals of moderate Muslims in MSM. The blogger shares the opinion of the magazine article's author that the media focus only on radical Muslims in news stories.

Both of these posts show blogging giving people the opportunity to bring international stories--from international news outlets--to light and make them relevant to their own domestic (British) experience. There is a certain amount of proximity of culture here, since the bloggers are all of Asian heritage. Having such a focus to the blog also allows posters to frame the news issues in the way that they wish, giving importance to topics that are denied prominent placement or multifaceted coverage in the MSM.

Tensions in Latin America

It seems that the death of the second-in-command Farc leader reveals more than a dead body. Raul Reyes’ personal computer shows evidence that Venezuelan president, Hugo Chavez, has financed the Marxist rebels. Confidential documents also show that Chavez gave up to 197 million of euros( $300 million). Similarly, Columbian police brought out other document stating that the Farc had given 100,000 euros to Chavez during his imprisonment for the 1992 coup d’etat. Bogota officials denounced an alliance between Venezuela, Ecuador and the Farc. The Columbian government believes, if necessary, Ecuador would mediate an exchange between Farc hostages and imprisoned rebels.

On Sunday President Chavez passionately condemned the the Columbian troops and tanks that invaded Ecuador. He responded by also sending troops and tanks to the Columbian border and threatening that if an incursion ever happened in Venezuela, the military action will be the first response.

When the death of Raul Reyes was announced on Saturday, fears that negotiations to release the French-Columbian hostage Ingrid Betancourt increased. She was kidnapped in 2002 while campaigning for the Columbian presidential election. Because of her dual nationality and the huge movement for her liberation, French news often reports on the situation. Moreover current President Sarkozy promised the release of Ingrid Betancourt during his campaign last year. Last week he even made the statement: “Myself, I will go into the jungle if it is a requirement of the Farc, if it can trigger her release…”

C.J. (lefigaro.fr) avec AFP et AP
03/03/2008 | Mise à jour : 21:49

(Pfff what a joke!!! WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR!!!!!)

See the article for yourself at
Le Figaro

Japan: Editor's selection

The editor's selection at Mainichi Daily News' video forum this week was entitled, "Teens beware: nude pics of self may be child porn." The video that is attributed to the Associated Press, relays that some officials in Virginia plan on prosecuting Teenagers for taking pictures of themselves in the nude with their cell phones and then sending the picture to their friends via e-mail. A government spokes person says the concern is that the pictures will basically be online forever, since there is no way to delete them or get rid of them once they are on the Internet. A Parent comments that it is frightening because there are so many predators that use the Internet and fears for the children's safety.




Obviously, this piece of news not only follows the news guidelines of being rather scandalous and novel, but it also comes from an outside news source. So far, there hasn't really been a single piece of news that the Japanese websites have posted that does not come from the AP, reuters, or other such news associations. Given that it is a rather small town down in Virginia that the news is taking place, it would probably take up a lot of time and money for a Japanese news team to make it down there. Perhaps, this epitomizes the considerations that even both the old and new media must take regarding news as a commodity market. While their job is to get the information out, they must also take into consideration the financial side of the business.

Japan: Proximity rears its head

The leading article in the Asahi Weekly for March 31, 2008 is titled "Asia: Taiwan 'spy' finally freed after 11-year term in Chinese prison." According to the article, a Taiwanese professor was recently released after being imprisoned for 11 years as an accused spy. The now 58 year-old Mr. Lin-Cheng Cheng was arrested under claims that he had passed on Chinese Missile data he had gleaned from a Chinese Engineer that he had met while studying in Japan to the Taiwanese Kuomingdang (KMT) - Taiwanese Nationalist Party. Lin told the Asahi reporter that he had been arrested. beatened, and interogatted by the Chinese police after being arrested while attending an academic conference in Beijing in 1997. The article continues with a brief description of Lin's history or lack thereof with the Chinese Engineer. When Lin told the Chinese that he was being unlawfully detained as a Taiwanese and for something he did ten years earlier in Japan, they continues to beat him and told him not to say that since he was "Chinese." Lin was placed in solitary confinement for two months and then held for two years before seeing trial where he was sentanced in a single day to a fifteen year term. Lin says there was no help from the Taiwanese government. The article concludes with a description of how Taiwan had stopped spying on China in the 1990s and a quotation from Lin saying, "The Kuomintang used me and then discarded me. China detained a political prisoner like me in an unjustifiable manner. Both of these acts are unforgivable. I was a victim of the conflict between China and Taiwan."

As we spoke about in class, proximity is one of the key factors in the reporting of international news. Obviously, not only is Taiwan and China geographically near Japan, but there is also a political, social, historical, and cultural connection between the countries. Politically, Japan is a main player in the balance of maintaining the current status quo of cross strait relations. China continues to claim Taiwan as a renegade province and Taiwan claims to be a sovereign country, a theme of the article. Japan has also backed the US in saying that they will interfere if China makes any moves militarily to force Taiwan under its control. Socially, the Japanese favor the Taiwanese, which is quite apparent in article as it sheds a rather negative light on the Chinese for beating Lin and making him wait two years before an implied dubious trial. Moreover, all three countries are tied culturally and historically. Again, however, the Japanese are probably more biased in favor of the Taiwanese because they exchanged many cultural aspects during the fifty year period where Japan occupied Taiwan before and during World War II. Many Japanese entertainers are very popular in Taiwan and vice versa.

U.K.: Russian election rigged?

On the day of the Russian presidential election, The Guardian is reporting that officials have a plan in place to rig the results by falsifying the turnout. The article purports that governors, teachers, and others have been instructed to vote for Medvedev, the candidate endorsed by current President Vladimir Putin, and it attributes this information to "independent sources." Particular numbers were confirmed by Russian officials from outside the Kremlin.

The controversial article has not been confirmed by The Times or the BBC. It is the lead story on the World News page of The Guardian's website, but on the main page, it is placed in secondary importance to an article on Prince Harry's return to the country. This placement recalls the 1980s study in the Mermin article showing how little attention anyone paid to news about the Soviet Union. However, given the controversial claim, it is surprising that the story is not the most prominently featured one. As in coverage of the U.S. election, the article is accompanied by links to other features providing background information about the election.

U.K.: Prince Harry in Afghanistan

The Times of London reports on Prince Harry's deployment to Afghanistan and subsequent return to England after the media broke the story of his whereabouts. In today's lead article, The Times opens with the response of the Taliban, quoting an insurgent general, before continuing to offer viewpoints from the British Army on the decision to withdraw Prince Harry from Afghanistan. The insurgent general draws attention to the significance of the Prince's presence as a sign of the royal family's support for the war. The article does not turn to the Prince's own opinion until the conclusion.

This offers an interesting perspective. The use of the Taliban quote first is an attempt to convey an alternate viewpoint, something that the Mermin reading proved is not usually done in covering international conflicts. Of course, it is also the most newsworthy part of the story. The focus of the story is on diplomacy or the international effect of the Prince's presence in the armed forces in Afghanistan. A second story goes into a more celebrity-motivated account of the Prince's actual duties and how his unit kept the secret of his identity for ten weeks. This separation of diplomacy and celebrity shows a respect for the incident as an international news story, rather than more gossip about the royals.

Bloodshed in the Gaza Strip

Since Wednesday the 27^th, Israeli air raids have killed at least 28 Palestinians in the Gaza strip. The first attack resulted in the death of 11 people among whom were a twelve-year-old child and a six-month-old baby. Then, in response to the death of an Israeli killed by a Hamas rocket, the attacks intensified and on Thursday morning 8 members of Hamas2 other combatants and 4 children aged7 to 12died. The UN spokesperson strongly condemned the deaths of the children, describing them as “tragic and condemnable”. He called Israel “not to put the civilian lives in danger”.
However, the Israeli Prime minister, actually in Tokyo, showed his determination to pursue these attacks against rocket launchers. He even said that “Israel has to be ready in case of an escalation” and that “a large scale ground battle is highly likely to be considered”. Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice, who is expected to be in Israel next week, stated that the “rocket attacks must stop” and she expressed her concern about the fate of “innocent people and the humanitarian situation in the Palestinians territories”.
On the Palestinian side, Ismaïl Haniyeh, a Hamas leader who is not recognized by the international community, condemned “the repeated crimes committed by the Zionist occupation”. He called for the Arab countries to “break their regrettable silence and to immediate action in order to end the aggression”.
In this article of the February 28^th edition of Le Monde, it is interesting to see that we get different point of views. We don’t have simply two sides of the story but I might say 4: First we have the “neutral” point of view from the UN spokesperson. Then we have the position of the Israeli Prime minister, which I would have expected to come first in the article. For the third position, there is the US point of view embodied by Condoleeza Rice, which doesn’t surprise me at all, as the US has always given its support to Israel. But at the same time she expressed her concern for the lives of the Palestinian so she might be viewed as kind of “neutral”. Finally, there is the Palestinian point of view, which is not official , as the leader is not even recognized by the international community. I would have expected someone from the government, but maybe as we said today in class, what if you don’t have someone from the other side to talk about the issue? Do we accept any source to represent this ‘other side,’ even when it is unofficial, simply for the sake of having two sides of the story? In order for democracy to be respected, I think it would be strongly recommended that both sources carry equal diplomatic weight.

U.S. News: Youtube (SNL Weekend Update)

In light of last week's reading, I thought I ought to turn to new media or what Baym refers to as the discursive integration of media. I found this on youtube, and saw that it was showcased under Yahoo News as well. SNL's weekend update, another rendition of "fake news," used comedy and entertainment in this segment to take a political stance in defense and support of Hillary Clinton. While in order to understand the skit, some basic political knowledge is necessary, not much background information about the issues are stances are needed, which perhaps is what separates it from the caliber of "The Daily Show." Note: SNL's Weekend Update often uses impersonators of politicians and/or celebrities, never the real people. They see themselves as a joke; the Daily Show seems themselves as a satiricial mouthpiece for people's discontent with the media under the protection of branding itself as "fake news."

In any case, as long as viewers are aware of the abstract, sweeping, and superficial defamation of Hillary's character as a woman and presidential candidate, they can understand the joke.

LINK: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eimr3IMXLIc

(Hopefully, NBC won't take this down as well!!)

Japan: Popular international news

Number one on Mainichi Daily New's Top stories for the day was "Prime minister's comments on massacre spark outrage among Thailand's academics, media". According to the article, the public was shocked by the 72-year-old Thai Prime Minister's denial of a massacre of student protesters 30 years ago. He claims that only "one unlucky guy" died on that day when records account for almost fifty people. The Prime Ministers denial led to outrage among the public, academics, and victims' families. Then the articles quotes other newspapers that criticise the Prime Minister

Interesting enough, the photos accompanying the article in the Mainichi Daily News are actually from the Associated Press. The article itself is also attributed to the A.P. As we discussed in class, it's certainly easier for even the international press to use pre-written news in their publications. I wonder if the international section of the Japanese newspapers would be as varied without the A.P. or similar institutions. In fact, I just noticed, but all the articles in the top five Most Popular News catagory of the Mainichi Daily News are written by the A.P., though some of the pictures are from Reuters. It's entirely likely that there would only be domestic news if the newspaper had to do all the investigating and reporting themselves.

The list of Most Popular News includes...

Number 2: "New South Korean president vows to boost economy, deal with N. Korea"
Number 3: "Putin warns Kosovo will 'come back to knock' the West, as NATO envoy lashes out"
Number 4: "2 earthquakes shake border area between US, Mexico; about 65 Mexican schools evacuated"
Number 5: "Australian minister says he wants option to buy US F-22 Raptor"

Japan: Obama sends well wishes to Obama

The town of Obama in Fukui Prefecture, Japan sends well wishes and their specialty luck charm to U.S. Presidential Candidate Barak Obama. Because the town name carries the same pronounciation as Sen. Obama's name, the town sent wanted to wish Sen. Obama well on the Super Tuesday Primaries earlier this month. Their gift to him included their specialty good luck charm for winning competitions. In the days before Super Tuesday, Japanese supporters of Sen. Obama flocked to the town that bears the same name. Posters that encouraged Sen. Obama to "Do your best!" were found in the town's hotels and shops started selling "Obama-manjuu," a variation of a traditional Japanese pastry that has a bean paste filling.

The town's mayor says that they hope to promote themselves through connection with Sen. Obama. "If he wins the democratic nomination after receiveing their good luck charm for winning competitions, it will be good PR for their charms."

Japanese Version from Yomiuri Daily:
http://osaka.yomiuri.co.jp/news/20080216p101.htm

English Version from Mainichi Daily News: http://mdn.mainichi.jp/international/archive/news/2008/02/20080214p2g00m0in036000c.html

This is perhaps a case where the instead of the market using the media to make a profit, it's the audience that wishes to make a profit from the media. By using the the relationship with the widely televised and current media magnet candidate nominee Barak Obama, the town is hoping to promote themselves. Certainly, the news paper is also biased in its relaying of the story to the audience since the town is in Japan, thus it is rather surprisingly that the story falls under that reported as internaitonal news. This connection with Senator Obama gives the news a personnalized aspect for both the audience as well as the town of Obama. Sen. Obama is becoming increasingly well known among the Japanese and the town of Obama may even receive a bit of name recognition in the States as well as in their own country.

U.S. News: Castro and the Oscars

U.S. politics took a step to the wayside in The New York Times this week. At the crux of the recent news was Fidel Castro's decision to step down as president. His successor, as predicted, is his brother, Raul. Despite Raul's proclamation to adapt Cuba to the times and transfer more power to provincial governments, little is expected to change, as reflected in a accompanying Nytimes concerning Cubans' indifference to Castro's retirement. Not surprisingly, Raul said he will continue to consult his older brother.

Another important news piece that has been prominent throughout this past week concerns Pakistani President Musharraf's usurpation from office through--what do you know--democratic election. The defeat of Musharraf's party spells victory for the opposition parties; Bhutto would be proud.

The "hard" news above that has been at the center of the NYtimes was replaced today largely by the Oscars, which is ranks high on the entertainment factor when considering the dismal state of this year's Golden Globes, a result from the writer's strike, which has finally ended a week ago.

---------------------------------------------------------
While I was perusing the NYtimes, a few things dawned on me.

I don't think the quality of the NYtimes has gone down, at least the online version hasn't, regardless of the recent staff cuts. I did notice, however, that the coverage on the presidential campaign went down. While other international events temporarily superseded the election campaign in newsworthy importance (see above), the NYtimes article reporting on the staff cuts (posted by Professor Just on the conference) specifically said that the financial strain was due to an unusually "long and competitive presidential campaign." Perhaps, there is a connection between the exorbitant expenses going into the campaign coverage, the staff cuts that followed suit, and a subsequent decline in coverage.

Then again, the NYtimes stated that the main reasons behind the cuts is a slowing economy and the rise of internet advertising. I suspect this is why the online version hasn't been as affected. In any case, because the NYtimes is still the most widely read newspaper around the world, it would be a pity if the NYtimes gave in to market forces over journalistic integrity.

U.K.: Sunday roundup

Topics that have merited attention in the World News section of The Guardian today:

Oil companies going to Basra to take advantage of its resources despite concerns from Iraqis
Response to arrest of Italian mob boss in Calabria
The Katine Project for clean water in Uganda
An alternate perspective on the U.S. campaign: American press turning critical of Obama?
Suicide rate in Japan
Ireland's entry for Eurovision song contest
Elections in Cyprus

And The Times:
Clinton article mentioned in previous post
Cuba's transition after the Castro regime
Sarkozy's son's campaign for political office

Notice The Times puts more of an emphasis on American news and follow-ups on previous issues in the few stories featured "above the fold" on their website, while The Guardian has a greater variety of countries and new stories.

Topics on the blogs this week:

Jon Worth, Euroblog:
The European emergency number, 112
The European Parliament, as reported in The Times, and MEP fraud allegations
Adoption of the Lisbon Treaty by the European Parliament
Gordon Brown's trip to Brussels to meet with EU leaders

Nosemonkey, EUtopia:
MEP scandal
Britain and the War Against Terror
Lichtenstein's success outside the EU

U.K.: Campaign updates

The lead article in The Sunday Times (The Times of London) analyzes recent American election developments with a focus on Clinton's changed approach from being "honored" to debate with Obama to saying that he should be ashamed for misrepresenting her stance on health care coverage in recent mailings. It looks forward to the March 4 primaries as the next crucial date for the Clinton campaign. The article ends by pointing to McCain's enormous lead over Huckabee, and at the end it mentions that Nader is now running but is unlikely to garner much support, precluding any future drama it may have forecast by bringing up the votes he is thought to have diverted from Al Gore in the 2004 election.

U.K.: Turmoil in Kenya

The Times of London today has an article on Kenyan athletes' involvement in the unrest following the recent election there. Filed from Nairobi, the article reveals that Kenyan athletes, most of whom are members of the Kalenjin tribe, have been involved in organizing raids against members of the neighboring Kikuyu tribe who support President Mwai Kibaki. The article quotes the director of the International Crisis Group in support of its argument early on in the piece, and later it includes a denial from the chairman of Athletics Kenya. The reporter offers a comprehensive view of the problem, detailing the economic gains and prestige successful Kenyan runners bring to their country and the reasons their climate is hospitable to training.

The fact that The Times gave this article a Nairobi dateline suggests that they are on top of their international coverage, reporting on the conflict from the capital of Kenya. The article does not go into too much political detail or assume much background knowledge of the reader, aside from a basic understanding that skirmishes have resulted following the recent election. It is long enough to offer a unique angle on the issue, but short enough to retain the interest of the reader. By focusing on the athletes' supposed involvement in the skirmishes, the article gives it a Western slant, as Kenyan runners are arguably the best-known citizens of that country to the average European and American.

Followup on previous post

I couldn't help that despite the "hard" news content dominating Huffingtonpost, the most popular news stories among the site's readers have been fluctuating about Obama, Hillary, and some ridiculous incoming "soft" news, such as "Kathleen Turner on Cougars and Angering Nicholas Cage" and "Johny Knoxville on Stunt Misshap: I almost lost my own balls." I think that these two types of media is at the moment most popular saids alot about the status of our media and just the extent to which people are informed. As our readings have outlined, readers do not necessarily read the news because they should, but for entertainment. Are we learning anything of substance? The headlines of the political news are extremely dramatized, which shows that people are getting bored with the election coverage.

U.S. News: Presidential delegate battle

The running headling of The Huffingtonpost, news and commentary outlet, was "A Whole New Delegate Battle," discussing the upcoming battle for delegates on the Democratic side and the Republican side, which seems clearer. The blogs on the side seem to complement most of the other headlines displayed on Huffingtonpost. In national-oriented news, the U.S. banks have been borrowing extensively from the Federal Reserve as of late, another demonstration of our economy's less than stellar state. Most national news revolved around charges of plagiarism coming not only from Clinton and Obama camps at one another but in regards to McCain, too. National news covered Bush and how he claimed that "[he doesn't] think' the War Has Anything to do with the Economy".

Indeed, Huffington herself blogs that the media is ignoring just the extent of John McCain's conservatism. Other featured blogs arguing on both sides of the aisle about whether Obama is a "con" or not, whether he has plagiarized certain token gestures and communication from others before him. McCain, however, seemed to dominate especially concerning imminent fears about another four years of conservatism, such as the fear of a supreme court that travels to the right, and his ineptedness, and one commenting on the tactics of the Republican Party. There was only one blog on Roger Clemens case and one on Hillary--"Must Hillary be perfect?"

In addition, their international news cover the triumph of democracy and Musharraff's defeat to the opposition party; there was a blog covering this topic as well, saying that Bhutto would be "smiling down from heaven." Also, the Huffingtonpost linked articles to Kosovo's recent self-determination and has worsened the ethnic divide and tensions between Albanians and the Serbs. Another article framedthe Kosovo issue inan international light as a division between the so-called "superpowers": the West (U.S. and the EU) versus Russian and China.

U.K.: Kosovo's declaration of independence

The Guardian blogs about worldwide reactions to Kosovo's declaration of independence in its newsblog. The blog offers brief, complementary coverage to the main news event. Its focus today is on the diplomatic complications that will ensue, and it mentions the favorable responses of the U.S. and U.K. to Kosovo's independence as well as the unfavorable ones in Spain and Russia. The blog links to responses from legal scholars in the U.S., a New York Times audio slideshow providing background on Kosovo's history, and a posting by a Serbian journalist on BoingBoing. It offers a multinational perspective by including these links and makes use of the blog medium to summarize other coverage on the Internet that the topic has already received.

Japan: US University Gunman

The Mainichi Daily News lists the most popular international news of the day in its own section and number one on the list for today, Feb. 16th, was "US University Gunman's Deadly Rampage Baffles All that Knew Him." Despite the American origin of this piece of news, the following articles in that category includes news about calls for loyalty in North Korea for their leader's birthday, the closing of websites in Iran, the transfer of a Nazi war criminal from Canada to Italy, and inflation in Zimbabwe, before finally spiraling back to US news with an article on the White House and Congress's actions on the Spy Bill.

http://mdn.mainichi.jp/international/news/20080216p2g00m0in009000c.html

The US article says that students and school administrators at the North Illinois University in Dekalb, IL were shocked by the sudden attack of a 27 year old former student, who killed five students when he brought three hand-guns and a pump-action shotgun onto campus and proceded to open-fire on a geology lecture before committing suicide. After claiming that everyone, including the police chief, was shocked by the young man's out-of-character behaviour, the article then begins listing similar cases that have occured in the US recently: the Virginia Tech massacre in April, a Louisiana Tech case where a woman shot to fellow students on Feb. 8th, a high school shooting in Tennessee just on Monday, and the tragic brain-dead diagnosis of a middle school student shot in school in california. The article also includes a little background on the gunman, noting that he had worked as a fulltime correctional officer at a prision, but suddenly didn't show up one day. Furthermore, he had enlisted in the army, but had been discharged only a five months later for an "unspecified reason."

Much like US news outlets, the report of this piece of news invariable revolves around the shock and dismay of the community. Perhaps a reflection of the personalizing nature of the media, everyone noted in the article claims that the gunman did not appear to be the type of person to perpetrate such a horrific event. People lament and ponder, speculate and discuss. Interestingly enough, the last two parts on the gunman's background may be a bias on the part of the media, since it speaks about a acknowledged gunman, to portray him as a ordinary joe, who perhaps had a dark secret that no one knew about. It certainly gives the article more suspense and drama, a sense of could it be your classmate? Or your neighbor?

Japan: Stevie Wonder Takes a Tumble

The Mainichi Daily News conveniently provides a video forum on their website and one of their leading stories is indeed about the US 2008 primaries, specifically, Barak Obama's campaign. Rather than discuss the boring political counts of delegates, superdelegates, and tactics, hoever, Mainichi's International AP Video section features a clip of Stevie Wonder's tumble during an Obama rally.

http://video.mainichi.co.jp/img/pluginv3r1.js
or
http://mdn.mainichi.jp/community/video/
it's titled "Stevie Wonder takes tumble at Obama rally"

The caption with the video states that Stevie Wonder took a slight tumble during an Obama rally in California and was helped up by his wife Michelle. Interesting, isn't it, that the leading news story is about the US, and an important event in the US, but the content is about a celebritiy's mishap. I think this definitely a clear indication of marketability. The Japanese don't really want to hear the boring news. It's excitement and novelty that catches the readers' attention and the media sells on that point.

U.K.: Shooting at Northern Illinois University

The Times of London dramatizes the story of the shooting at Northern Illinois University, billed (just as the Virginia Tech shooting last year) as "US Campus Massacre." An article two days after the shooting leads with the latest developments: the revelation that the former student was "normal" according to those who knew him. It goes on to depict the sequence of events in which the gunman stormed into the lecture hall and carried out the shooting. Towards the end, the article notes that the shooting took place in Illinois, "the home state of Barack Obama, the Democratic presidential candidate," and that gun crime has increased in that state recently.

The Times often includes sidebars with their articles, and the one accompanying this one is the most illuminating on the international perspective of the event. It gives a timeline of the gunman's life before listing recent shootings in other parts of the U.S. and more general statistics about deaths caused by firearms in the U.S. This hints at the disbelief with which other nations often view gun rights and gun control laws in the U.S.

Super Tuesday Across the Pond

The Times of London, like many foreign news outlets, has had extensive coverage of the 2008 election in the U.S. What distinguishes their perspective from that of American media outlets is their frequent need to explain the electoral system (really, many Americans would benefit from having it spelled out for them, too). The newspaper has devoted an entire blog on its website to coverage of the election, entitled "Across the Pond." In multiple posts a day, it breaks down the definition of a "superdelegate," reports the latest primary results, and more. The "superdelegate" post (published today at the above link) gives a concise definition before linking to American news sources for elaboration.

These blog posts complement the news stories that will be published tomorrow, including one apparently filed right after Virginia was called for Obama in today's primary that forecast his predicted victory in Maryland and D.C., as well, before going on to devote a brief paragraph to McCain's success over Huckabee. The rest of the article analyzed Clinton's chances of remaining in the race, echoing the presumptive sense of doom that American media have also been hinting at. It is not hard to imagine the tone of the latter half of the article shaping the news rather than reporting it.

I'm going to turn to old news now, but since I'm just now beginning the blogging for this comparative study of international news agendas, I thought it would be helpful to reflect on how a British news source covered Super Tuesday, too. With all the coverage the election is receiving is the press, one has to wonder whether Britons are actually paying attention. When I was in London during the spring of 2007, I spoke with British university students who knew as much (or sometimes more) about recent campaign developments and predictions as I did. Students (especially those studying politics at a metropolitan university) are a rare breed, though, and The Times suggests that not all Britons care that much about knowing up-to-the-minute developments in the campaigns.

On Super Tuesday, The Times posted a video on its website interviewing mostly middle-aged adults around the streets of London, and few of them knew it was "Super Tuesday." They were first asked if they were following the U.S. elections (many were), and then if knew what day it was. The majority were unaware that it was anything other than the 5th of February. This is an interesting reminder that audiences pick and choose what news to follow closely, and news agendas may not always match up with the public's interests as closely as editors imagine.