Forum:
Mobilizing Media
Introduction
By John Walcott
At the same time as the American news media, already suffering from a series of self-inflicted wounds, confront a sobering array of economic, technological, and even intellectual challenges, the notion of a free, aggressive, and independent media has begun to put down roots in what heretofore had been stony soil. more...
Media Crackdown:
Chávez and Censorship
By Roger Atwood
In December 2006 Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez will be seeking reelection in one of the most restrictive legal climates for press freedom in Latin America.1 Laws enacted since late 2004 by the Venezuelan Congress, where Chávez’s party and its allies hold a solid majority of seats, have sharply reduced the latitude with which Venezuelan media can report on political figures in their country and have strengthened the central government’s power to fine or imprison journalists and close down news outlets. more...
Egypt’s Media Deficit
By Adel Iskandar
Cautious optimism pervades the Arab world’s most populous nation, as forthcoming political transformation seems inevitable. Egypt—one of the birthplaces of populist pan-Arabism— is at a historic crossroads. President Hosni Mubarak, the country’s “last Pharaoh,” took an unprecedented step this year by allowing the country’s first multi-candidate presidential election. more...
Online Storytellers:
Blogging in South Korea
By Yong-Chan Kim and Kyun-Soo Kim
Korea began the twentieth century as one of the poorest countries in the world. The “land of morning calm”—as European tourists called this small East Asian country at the turn of the century—was governed under colonial rule by its neighbor Japan for the first three decades of the century. Immediately after gaining independence from Japan, Korea was stricken by the three-year-long Korean War. Divided and impoverished, the Korean Peninsula was in ruins. more...
Exposing AIDS:
Media’s Impact in South Africa
By Mia Malan
HIV/AIDS is not just another medical condition like malaria, meningitis, or mumps. It has taken on a life of its own, a life that depends upon a multitude of vested interests linked to power, prestige, religion, and money.1 The news media’s reporting on this complex pandemic cannot be separated from these issues. more...
Media in Conflict:
Inciting Violence in Kosovo
By Claude Salhani
Given its reach, its power of advocacy, and its capacity to frame and influence political issues, the press is often referred to as “the fourth estate.” The term was first coined by Thomas Carlyle, a Scottish essayist and historian, during the first half of the nineteenth century, and it suggests that the press was so influential in politics that it could almost be considered a fourth component of parliament (the French States General had three official estates). Today, the media remains vital in politics, as acknowledged by the common expression “the power of the press.” more...
Web Exclusive Content
Reports of War
By Thomas Lansner
The present-day attitudes of soldiers, officials, and the broader public toward press coverage of conflict are often as dichotomous as those expressed by General William Tecumseh Sherman, Union army General during America’s Civil War, and General William Nash, U.S. commander in Bosnia in the mid-1990s. But whether journalists’ presence is reviled or shrewdly manipulated, there is no doubt that, since the inception of war reporting, the media have become more influential in shaping public perceptions and, in some cases, public policy. more...