Post by Sunday at midnight.
We saw the power of media framing in encouraging social movements (or disencouraging them as well). Media can be 'social movement organizations' both ways, in other words: encouraging mobilization or encouraging 'erosion', as we learned that term previously.
I said I would post this. It's an interesting short documentary about 'pirate satellite service' in Islamic Iran, where the state dominates the media by banning any external media coverage in the country that is 'unfiltered' by the state itself.
The Dish (Covert Satellite TV in Islamic Iran)
8:43 min
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vOWnaTR_AFk
You might additionally think about the filtering of the news in other countries and whether that encourages or demobilizes social movements and/or state policy legitimacy as a social movement itself.
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5 comments:
1. Hojin
2. Teachers against state
3. Teachers and some parents boycotted the state-administered test for primary school children. It is quite interesting how they did it: The parents took their kids to a field trip on the day of the test. I think it is a quite brillant strategy. I wonder how the kids think or feel about it.
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Teachers, Gov’t Clash Over State Test
By Kang Shin-who
Staff Reporter
Some teachers and parents boycotted a state-administered scholastic aptitude test for third-grad elementary schoolers Wednesday, which the government revived for the first time in 10 years.
The Ministry of Education, Science and Technology brought back the exam to enhance academic achievement through competition. Nearly 600,000 third grade elementary students at 5,756 schools took the test in reading, writing and basic math.
However, parents of some 160 children in Seoul took them on a field trip to protest the test which they say could be used as a tool to rank schools by test scores and only boost what they call unnecessary competition among schools.
``Parents opposing the test sent their children to the field trip program,’’ said Jung Kyung-hee, director of the parents association for equal education.
Earlier on Tuesday, the Korean Teachers and Education Workers’ Union (KTU) released a statement criticizing the ministry, saying the uniformed test will put more burden on students.
"The uniform test is an act of suppression against students' human rights, and ranks students and schools into a hierarchy based on their scores," the teachers' union said in the statement.
As a means to protest the test, some members of the union reportedly encouraged children to help each other solve questions. Some teachers also said students may refer to textbooks and told students it was not necessary to return answer sheets.
In response to the movement of the teachers’ group, the ministry announced that teachers disturbing the government's exam could face dismissal. ``Their attempts to hamper the state-run exam will be subject to punishment according to education law. We will take stern measures against those teachers,’’ a ministry official said.
The exam has been introduced to measure students’ academic level and is the first time all students have been tested since 1998.
kswho@koreatimes.co.kr
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http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2008/10/117_32356.html
1.Chenyang Wu
2.Thousands in London Burma protest
3.I didn't understand what the professor had talked about Burma very well until I came to know about the Burma Campaign UK, the largest campaigning organisation for Burma in Europe. As far as I know, the Burmese have a great grievance of the dictatorship. They want to bring the regime under the leading of legally elected Government of the country--Aung San Suu Kyi. They are looking for a way to turn their grievence into the action. They made this protest hoping to arise the world's attention. "Please," they said on their website," make a donation today to support our vital work." Faced with such a powerful military dictatorships, they really need to frame alignment, as what they have been doing. This may be their only nonviolent way to win.
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Thousands of people have taken to Britain's streets to support pro-democracy protestors in Burma.
The Burma Campaign UK said an estimated 3,000 people attended a march in London, which was the biggest protest for Burma in the UK so far.
Gatherings were also held in Newcastle and Brighton.
The protests happened as UN envoy Ibrahim Gambari met detained pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi in the Burmese city of Rangoon.
'Effect on morale'
The London demonstration, which was organised by the Burmese Democratic Movement Association, followed a call for action on social networking website Facebook.
The march was led from Trafalgar Square by a Buddhist monk while various members of the UK's Burmese community carried banners, flags and large portraits of Ms Suu Kyi.
Burma Campaign UK's founding member John Jackson said people wanted to show solidarity with protestors inside Burma.
He said: "I think this was basically people who have seen the images on their television screens, have seen innocent people peacefully protesting and then being brutally attacked by the Burmese military and basically they wanted to show their solidarity and their support for people inside Burma, which is actually very important.
"The thing is is making sure the news gets into Burma which is always a difficulty, but it does have an effect on people's morale inside the country if they feel people outside are both watching what is happening and also showing support."
'Silver bullet'
He called on Prime Minister Gordon Brown to ensure the EU presented a united front as he hoped continuing international pressure would make its mark.
He added although there was no "silver bullet" to solve the crisis, it was important that every country played its role.
"In Burma, the organisation, discipline and strength of the demonstrations have been the most remarkable thing," he said.
"That is what makes me think that this time it is not a movement that will simply just be put down by troops on the streets."
Demonstrators are set to converge on the German Embassy on Monday, where they will call on the country to stop blocking EU economic sanctions.
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http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7020956.stm
1. Graciëla Nooitgedagt
2. Protest against US.
3. Alhough this article is not that actual, I do think it can give a good example of how media can surpress and censor happenings in their country. The authority is anxious to be seen as supporting the US-led alliance, and wants to distance itself from any connection with Bin Laden. That is why they have banned foreign journalists and tried to alter the happenings in their country using the media.
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Palestinians protest against US
Protesters chanted: "Bush is the father of terrorism"
Thousands of Palestinians in the West Bank have held peaceful marches against the US-led attacks on Afghanistan.
Senior members of Yasser Arafat's Fatah organisation also took part in the demonstrations in the West Bank towns of Nablus and Ramallah, where protestors chanted support for Osama Bin Laden and denounced America.
[The media] are just looking for hidden photo of Bin Laden, whether here or there, because they a looking only for a story and not revealing the real facts on the ground
Palestinian Information Minister Yasser Abed Rabbo
The BBC's Kylie Morris in Gaza says the Palestinian Authority has been working hard to limit coverage of demonstrations there.
On Friday, police briefly detained a number of journalists, including a BBC correspondent, in the Gaza Strip, because they tried to report on an anti-US demonstration by the militant group, Islamic Jihad. All were later released.
In Ramallah, Fatah leader Marwan Barghouti led some 1,000 protestors and officials of the radical Islamic movement Hamas and smaller PLO factions, chanting "Bin Laden, Bin Laden" and "Bush is the father of terrorism."
About 2,000 Palestinians - supporters of Hamas and Fatah - marched in Nablus.
Editor arrested
An Islamic newspaper editor Alaa Saftawi has been charged with incitement over an article criticising the Palestinian Authority for suppressing protests against the Afghanistan attacks.
Three people were shot by police on Monday in university protests. More than 20 students are still in prison and universities remain closed.
Mr Saftawi wrote that every Israeli should be happy now the Palestinian Authority has again turned its guns against its own people.
More than 45 people were injured in the clashes
Mr Saftawi is the editor of Al Esteqlal - The Independence newspaper - which is a mouthpiece for the militant group Islamic Jihad. The weekly paper has a circulation of 6,000.
In its latest edition, he said the people knew it was the police who shot the three demonstrators.
And the host of a political talk show on Palestinian TV, Hassan Kashef, who had criticised the police's violent crackdown, was quoted by the Associated Press news agency as saying his programme had been taken off the air.
'Special measures'
But Information Minister Yasser Abed Rabbo says the shootings are being investigated.
He defended the adoption of what he described as special measures for the media, saying the Palestinian Authority has to protect its national interest.
Mr Abed Rabbo says he does not want to censor the media, but accused journalists of failing to report Israeli actions against Palestinians, in favour of finding Palestinians who support Osama Bin Laden.
"They are just looking for hidden photo of Bin Laden, whether here or there, because they a looking only for a story and not revealing the real facts on the ground."
Photographers and cameramen attempting to film protestors have been beaten and detained and had their tapes confiscated.
For two days the Palestinian Authority closed the border to foreign journalists.
The authority is anxious to be seen as supporting the US-led alliance, and wants to distance itself from any connection with Osama Bin Laden, who himself has declared the Palestinian cause an issue which motivates him and his supporters.
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http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/1594461.stm
1. So youn Kim
2. Both camgaigns spending about the same on negative ads
3. Over last week we had a great time to think about 'media', the effects that media influence on people and how the media work for those purposes. Then now I found some articles about the running campaign in the US now, especially about the ads of the campaigns. I do believe that ads are a part of the media. The reasons I believe like that are not only my media studies includes the studeis about PR and ADs, also ads sometimes are conducting a function of paropaganda like media often do. And I think this article I chose coveres this function of ads well, especially it deals with one of the 4 arenas of the media, election. Also, this article is covering the neggative ads form both campaigns that looks not really good so that give us a chance to think about 'what roles those ads are doing now'. Therfore, I think look at this article is one of the good examples to see how we've learned about the 'the power of media' had happened in real world, conducted its role and affected receivers(people), especially on the part of election.
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WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The race for the White House is being waged in the final weeks in American living rooms through a blitz of negative campaign commercials.
Both Sens. John McCain and Barack Obama are throwing large amounts of money into TV ad campaigns this year.
And though the Sen. Barack Obama's campaign circulated a University of Wisconsin Advertising Project study earlier this week indicating all of Sen. John McCain's ads are negative compared to just 34 percent of Obama's, both campaigns are spending about equal amounts on attack ads.
An analysis of campaign commercials aired over the last seven days shows Obama outspent McCain nationwide by more than 2-1: $21.5 million vs. $9.2 million.
But just under half of the money Obama is spending is going toward negative spots, meaning the Illinois senator is roughly keeping pace with his GOP rival when it comes to negative commercials, in terms of cash spent.
Campaign Media Analysis Group's Evan Tracey, CNN's consultant on campaign advertising, said Obama's cash advantage over McCain provides the Illinois senator with a luxury McCain cannot afford: the means to run both positive and negative TV spots. Watch more on McCain's ad attack »
"McCain is almost all negative because he needs to be," Tracey said, adding that McCain is "behind in the polls and outgunned."
"He can't afford the positive ads Obama can. ... It's not likely McCain can raise his own positives with only weeks left but he can raise Obama's negatives."
Don't Miss
CNN Election Tracker: Ad spending
The campaigns' ad spending patterns over the last week also show the two men are each attempting to drive home a vastly different message in the dwindling days of the race.
Obama is directing his heaviest dollars to television spots that attack McCain's health care plan, while the majority of McCain's money is behind ads that portray Obama as an out-of-control tax-and-spender and one who voted against funding troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.
It's all part of a concerted effort from both campaigns to hammer a few dominant messages through the clutter of the 24-hour news cycle, endless campaign skirmishes, and the chattering class.
Tracey said viewership of the ad buy "is what drives home the messages, not the day-to-day stories."
For Obama, that message is health care and the threat he says McCain poses to it, namely that McCain is proposing to "tax health care, not fix it," according to one ad receiving heavy rotation this week.
It's an argument the campaign thinks will resonate with middle-class swing voters uneasy about the country's financial woes and perhaps fearful of their own job security. It's also an issue that has demonstrated particular salience with women voters this election cycle -- the key voting block this year that appeared initially to be drifting towards the GOP ticket after Sarah Palin was named to the No. 2 spot.
Conversely, McCain and the Republican National Committee are invoking themes that were successful in defeating Democratic presidential candidates in past elections, running spots that portray Obama as a significantly left-of-center politician who wants to raise taxes and cut off war funding. Watch an RNC attack ad »
The McCain ad airing the most over the past week is a 30-second spot called "Dangerous" that claims Obama voted to cut off funding for the war and says he is "too risky for America."
Another McCain ad receiving nearly as much play alleges Obama voted to raise taxes in the Senate 94 times and says he's "not truthful" on the issue.
And with just over three weeks to go until voters weigh in, it's likely the tit-for-tat negative ad war won't let up.
"This is what the final leg of this race is about, not getting outdone," Tracey said.
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http://edition.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/10/11/negative.ads/index.html
1. Kyung-Hee Kang
2. South Korea wants to gag the noisy internet rabble
3. Attempts to control over media by present ruling party has been expliticit for a long time in the country needless to mention the authoritarian governments. After the lost election in 2003, particularly on line media was their target.
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The leaders of the most wired country on Earth are seeking to curb online anonymity and debate, with laws that many say will fail
Michael Fitzpatrick The Guardian, Thursday October 9 2008 Article history
While governments around the world try to make sense of the internet and wonder how to curb some of its darker incarnations, all eyes should now be on South Korea, which is one of the first democracies planning to use the law to hold the internet to account.
Many believe that the government's attempt to impose rules on internet users will fail. What it is seeking to do is bring websites in line with traditional media: to make them accountable, subject to laws of libel and so forth.
This is a risky strategy for Seoul: if it fails, the government will face the kind of online rebellion that nearly ended the ruling government's tenure only a few months ago.
South Korea is possibly the most wired nation on Earth: 97% of South Korean households have high-speed broadband access. In the UK, by comparison, 35% of homes have no access to the web at all.
Bad manners
Some observers say this growth in internet access has brought out the worst in South Koreans.
"Internet behaviour in South Korea is somewhat of a low culture. I'm often disgusted or even offended by the manners on the net," says Dr Youngmi Kim, a professor of sociology and politics at the University of Edinburgh whose research is focusing on issues of governability in Korea, Taiwan and Japan. She is against any outright censorship, but would like to see some sort of campaign encouraging better web manners.
The South Korean government is ahead of her. Along with laws controlling internet postings, which are due to be passed in November, Seoul also plans to introduce internet etiquette and ethics lessons in schools this year for children aged seven and older.
The question is, can you police the internet? British MPs seem to think so. Members of the Commons select committee for culture, media and sport, which has made the case for centralising controls, say they want "a tighter form of self-regulation, under which the industry would speedily establish a self-regulatory body".
South Korea is going much further. Not only will all sites that publish news be liable to the same restrictions as newspapers, TV and radio, they will be answerable to a government regulatory body - the Korean Communications Standards Commission.
The rules extend beyond websites to individuals. All forum and chatroom users will be required to make verifiable real-name registrations, while internet companies will have to make their search algorithms public to improve "transparency". Most controversial of all, the commission will be given powers to suspend the publication of articles accused of being fraudulent or slanderous, for a minimum of 30 days. During this period the commission will then decide if an article that has been been temporarily deleted or flagged should be removed permanently.
However, Seoul's previous experience with such censorship suggest that unless the government hires thousands more people to staff the commission, which is already behind in processing some 2,000 internet-related objections, just addressing the initial complaints will be unworkable, untenable and unenforceable.
Professor Jonathan Zittrain, co-founder of Harvard's Berkman Centre for Internet & Society, says other aspects of the new laws are unworkable. "There are genuine worries about misinformation that can be spread online, but a regime of requiring real-name registrations for all message boards and chatooms would represent a sweeping law-enforcement effort - and one that could not be readily accomplished without filtering out overseas sites that decline to implement the requirement."
Jean K Min of OhmyNews International, South Korea's leading citizen-
journalist-based portal, says that the new controls smack of Big Brother. "The approval rating of president Lee fell below 20% after the fiasco of US beef imports and poor handling of other sensitive diplomatic issues. Many here suspect the ruling party lawmakers and government officials are actually trying to save the deeply unpopular government by intimidating netizens from posting free online opinions with a variety of new legislation and legal threats."
'Excessive emotional behaviour'
Myung-bak Lee, South Korea's president, defends the proposed measures as checks against "a society rampant with excessive emotional behaviour, disorderliness and rudeness". In a recent speech, he said: "We have to guard against 'infodemics,' a phenomenon in which inaccurate, false information is disseminated; prompting social unrest that spreads like an epidemic."
That speech followed internet-orchestrated protests in August that spilled over into candlelit rallies and vigils in protest at Seoul's decision to restart beef imports from the US. Composed mostly of the young, the protests emptied schools and colleges and brought cities to a standstill; many ended in violence.
The Seoul government blamed the disruption on rumours and lies spread by internet users. It went on to accuse internet service providers of failing to police the content they host and of providing a platform for hate, libellous claims and cyber-bullying.
Providers have heeded the warnings. Korea's biggest portal, Naver, says it will drop all its news output while its rival, Daum, has offered an olive branch to old media. Daum says it will share revenue from its banner advertisements on news stories with newspapers, TV and other media outlets providing the articles.
There is an irony in the fact that South Korea, with its focus on giving its citizens access to the high-speed internet, is now seeking to curb how its people use the internet. But will it stick?
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http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/oct/09/news.internet
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