| Center of Innovation: Media, Conflict and Peacebuilding Weekly News Roundup, May 10 - 16, 2012 Media and Journalism - Post Taliban, Saad Mohseni Builds Media Empire (NPR, 5/16/12)
- Fighting for Freedom of Speech in Ethiopia (The Root, 5/15/12)
- Razistan, Afghanistan War Photo Project, Showcases Impact of Conflict on the Country (Huffington Post, 5/14/12)
- In BRICS Nations, Journalists at Risk (New York Times, 5/14/12)
- Pakistani Journalist Killed by Kidnappers (Guardian, 5/14/12)
- How Iraq Is Using Reality TV and Facebook to Inspire a Generation of Peacemakers (Mashable, 5/13/12)
- Building Libya's New Media 'From a Void' (Al Jazeera, 5/12/12)
- Arab Media Struggle to Adapt to New-found Freedom (AFP, 5/11/12)
- Q & A: Eritrean Journalist-in-exile Reflects on Censored Country (Los Angeles Times, 5/11/12)
- Turkey Turns to Iran to Help Secure Release of Two Journalists Detained in Syrian Capital (AP, 5/11/12)
- The AP (Temporarily) Holds a Big Story (NPR, 5/11/12)
- Vietnamese Reporters Beaten (Guardian, 5/10/12)
- North Korea Access to Outside Media Up, Says US Study (BBC, 5/10/12)
Internet and Social Media What's New from PeaceMedia **Click here to subscribe to USIP's Science, Technology and Peacebuilding News Roundup.**
Media and Journalism Post Taliban, Saad Mohseni Builds Media Empire
It's hard to overstate the explosion of media that's overtaken Afghanistan since the repressive Taliban government was toppled. There are now scores of radio and television stations here. And TV has a 1950s feel with entire families gathering in the evenings to watch their favorite shows. By far the biggest player is Tolo TV, founded by Saad Mohseni and his siblings nearly a decade ago. Along the way, Mohseni has incurred the wrath of politicians over his network's news reporting, and the country's mullahs over its edgy programming.
See the full article (NPR, 5/16/12)
[Return to top] Fighting for Freedom of Speech in Ethiopia
[Eskinder Nega] faces life in prison on charges of terrorism and incitement to violent revolt after writing an article discussing the implications of the Arab Spring uprising for democracy in Ethiopia. And Nega is not alone in being on the receiving end of an ongoing government crackdown on independent journalists in Ethiopia, many of whom are also being silenced by arrests and imprisonment. Many have fled the country to keep hope (and themselves) alive.
See the full article (The Root, Charlayne Hunter-Gault, 5/15/12)
[Return to top] Razistan, Afghanistan War Photo Project, Showcases Impact of Conflict on the Country
The war in Afghanistan is far from over, though one might forget as much given the Western media's waning interest in the conflict. HuffPost World is proud to partner with Razistan, a new initiative working with both local Afghan photographers and foreign photojournalists, to share the underreported stories of Afghanistan and its people.
See the full article (Huffington Post, 5/14/12)
Click to read "Afghanistan's Civil Order Police," a USIP Special Report by Robert M. Perito.
[Return to top] In BRICS Nations, Journalists at Risk
A meeting of emerging economic heavyweights in New Delhi earlier this year received generous press coverage. The so-called BRICS countries - Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa - pledged to expand mutual trade and discussed the possibility of a new development agency to balance the Western-dominated global financial system. But the group has found notoriety in another sphere - the impunity with which journalists are killed in member countries.
See the full article (New York Times, Sruthi Gottipati, 5/14/12) *NYT sign-up may be required to view the full article
[Return to top] Pakistani Journalist Killed by Kidnappers
The bullet-riddled body of Pakistani journalist Tariq Kamal, a Karachi-based reporter for a local Sindhi newspaper, was found last Wednesday (9 May). He had been kidnapped three days before along with his friend, Fawad Sheikh, who was also murdered. The family [was] informed by the kidnappers that the two men were being killed because they were police informants. Kamal was on a visit to a dangerous area of Balochistan to work on an exclusive report.
See the full article (Guardian, Roy Greenslade, 5/14/12)
Click to read about USIP's upcoming event "'Saving Face' - A Special Screening" on May 22 at 1:30pm.
[Return to top] How Iraq Is Using Reality TV and Facebook to Inspire a Generation of Peacemakers
Educational reality TV and social media are the drivers inspiring a group of Iraqi youth demanding a different future - one with peaceful resolutions and equality. Nareen, an 18-year-old Iraqi whose last name has been withheld for safety reasons, starred in Iraq's first youth reality TV show called Salam Shabab. After the first season of the show aired, participants went home and turned to social media to continue conversations about peace. Nareen said she talks with her fellow Salam Shabab participants on social media to discuss news, peace and political issues.
See the full article (Mashable, Alissa Skelton, 5/13/12)
Click to watch the Season 2 promo of "Salam Shabab," an Iraqi youth reality TV series supported by USIP.
[Return to top] Building Libya's New Media 'From a Void'
Going from being a country with a highly controlled press to one that has free, independent and functioning media in roughly a year is a tall order. Gaddafi's four-decade rule has left its scars everywhere, including the nation's newsrooms, which, for so long, acted as nothing more than the propaganda machine of the "Brother-Leader". Despite the initial revolutionary surge of entrepreneurial journalists, finally free to report on the horrors of the Gaddafi era, what remains is a struggle to understand the type of media a budding democracy needs - and what it takes to build it.
See the full article (Al Jazeera, D. Parvaz, 5/12/12)
[Return to top] Arab Media Struggle to Adapt to New-found Freedom
Caught out by last year's Arab Spring uprisings, the region's media are still coming to terms with their new-found freedom from the strong-arm tactics of now toppled dictators, participants in a Dubai conference say. "The Arab media is trying to find its way after this 180-degree about turn," said Nabil al-Khatib, editor-in-chief at Al-Arabiya news channel. "Many journalists were used to receiving orders from information ministers in their countries on the coverage of events, and suddenly they found themselves free."
See the full article (AFP, Acil Tabbara, 5/11/12)
[Return to top] Q & A: Eritrean Journalist-in-exile Reflects on Censored Country
Under President Isaias Afewerki, who has led Eritrea since it wrested its independence from Ethiopia nearly two decades ago, the heavily militarized East African nation has clamped down on dissent. Foreign reporters are shut out. All media are controlled by the government. It didn't used to be that way. Eritrean journalist-in-exile Aaron Berhane published an independent newspaper in Eritrea before the government shut down private media in 2001, angered by criticism of the regime.
See the full article (Los Angeles Times, Emily Alpert, 5/11/12)
[Return to top] Turkey Turns to Iran to Help Secure Release of Two Journalists Detained in Syrian Capital
Adem Ozkose, 34, and Hamit Coskun, 21, are expected to be released after negotiations reflecting the opaque blend of regional rivalry and cooperation between Turkey, a foe of Syria's regime, and Iran, a staunch supporter of Damascus. Iran was acting as diplomatic go-between between Syria and Turkey, which has shut its embassy in Syria and wants President Bashar Assad to resign for attacking population centers. As in Syria, Turkey and Iran back opposing factions in Iraq in what some analysts call a proxy conflict tinged with sectarian tension.
See the full article (AP, 5/11/12)
[Return to top] The AP (Temporarily) Holds a Big Story
Early this week, the Associated Press broke the story that the US government had stymied an attempt by a Yemini Al-Qaeda group to blow-up a US bound plane. It was a huge scoop, but at the government's request the AP sat on the story for several days. [On the Media] speaks with AP reporter Matt Apuzzo about the decision to hold the story, and the decision to publish it.
See the full article (NPR, 5/11/12)
[Return to top] Vietnamese Reporters Beaten
Two Vietnamese radio reporters were kicked and beaten while covering the eviction of villagers from their farmland. The assault on Nguyen Ngoc Nam and Han Phi Long, who work for state-run Radio Voice of Vietnam, highlights the risks of reporting on increasingly sensitive land issues in the country. In what appears to have been state-sponsored violence against state-sponsored journalists, it signals an extension of the media crackdown that has previously targeted unsanctioned journalists and bloggers.
See the full article (Guardian, Roy Greenslade, 5/10/12)
[Return to top] North Korea Access to Outside Media Up, Says US Study
North Koreans have more access than ever to outside media, including radio, TV and DVDs, a study has found. The government was unable to maintain a ''total monopoly'' over information and the people's "understanding of the world is changing," said the report. Viewing of foreign DVDs in North Korea, especially, had risen sharply. Most of these DVDs were South Korean dramas, and had been smuggled across the border with China, said the report, commissioned by the US government.
See the full article (BBC, 5/10/12)
[Return to top] Internet and Social Media Could Facebook, Twitter be Charged Under Thailand's Computer Crime Act?
According to the lese-majesté law, [web comments] could be considered a threat to Thailand's national security. The issue could get even muddier this month as the Thai courts rule on the case of Chiranuch Premchaiporn who has been charged under Section 15 of the Computer Crime Act for allowing anti-government comments on the site Prachtai.com. The case could set a precedent, not only for Thai citizens, but for anyone allowing Thai citizens to comment online.
See the full article (PBS, Clothilde Le Coz, 5/16/12)
[Return to top] | [Return to section] Arab Spring Govt Stance 'Unleashed Twitter, Facebook Wars'
Banning mainstream media from reporting on the Arab Spring threw the governments of affected states into a battle with social media hijacked by an uncontrollable opposition propaganda genie, media monitor Sharif Nashashibi told RT. Sharif Hikmat Nashashibi is the chairman and co-founder of Arab Media Watch, an independent, non-profit watchdog set up in 2000 to strive for objective coverage of Arab issues in the British media.
See the full article (RT, 5/14/12)
[Return to top] | [Return to section] Iran Curbs Foreign-sourced Email Providers
Iran's telecommunications ministry has barred local banks, insurance firms and telephone operators from using foreign-sourced emails to communicate with clients. The order prohibits banks, insurance firms and telephone firms using foreign hosts for their sites or to inform their clients using foreign providers such as Yahoo, Gmail, Hotmail or MSN. individuals seeking to communicate with such firms must now use email addresses ending with iran.ir, post.ir or chmail.ir.
See the full article (AFP, 5/12/12)
[Return to top] | [Return to section] How Azerbaijan Demonizes the Internet to Keep Citizens Offline
As the world discovers Azerbaijan, the Azerbaijani government is doing its best to keep its citizens from connecting with the world. Over the past few years, the Azerbaijani government has waged an aggressive media campaign against the Internet. Social media has become synonymous with deviance, criminality, and treason. Social media has become a vital political issue despite the fact that 78 percent of Azerbaijanis have never used the Internet.
See the full article (Slate, Sarah Kendzior and Katy Pearce, 5/11/12)
[Return to top] | [Return to section] In Indonesia, Social Media Checks the Military
Last week a young man was attacked by an army captain on a busy Jakarta road. The whole thing was recorded in a two-minute video that went viral on YouTube. The spontaneous public outcry indicated that this was not an isolated incident of abuse of power by the nation's security apparatus. Commentators on Facebook and Twitter recalled that it wasn't so long ago that such actions by members of the military went unpunished. Not this time. YouTube provided the video, and Facebook and Twitter gave people the platform to vent their anger.
See the full article (Foreign Policy, Endy Bayuni, 5/11/12)
[Return to top] | [Return to section] The Kony 2012 Controversy: A Look at Its Coverage in American Media vs. Ugandan Media
The sudden phenomenon drew wide attention in the mainstream American media where the focus was on the rising power of new media versus traditional media. In Uganda, however, the focus was altogether different. There, accusations were raised against the accuracy of the video itself. Prominent Ugandan journalists and activists were vehemently critical of the video's factual flaws and oversimplification.
See the full article (Huffington Post, Fatima Muneer, 5/10/12)
[Return to top] | [Return to section] What's New from PeaceMedia "Robert Kirkpatrick: How the United Nations is Using Social Data to Spot Disasters" - PSFK
Robert Kirkpatrick talks about how the social media revolution has opened up a significant amount of data that can be analyzed (anonymously) to see signs of change. Kirkpatrick, together with his Global Pulse team at the United Nations, studies sentiment in Twitter feeds, fluctuations in price data and changes in other available information to look for trouble. By using data for good, the United Nations can respond to disaster rapidly - rather than well after the fact.
See the full video
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