Nov. 23, 2009

1. Nov. 23, 2009 No media journal due next week Will have graded media journals for you next week. Dana Hirsch—news of the day Next Tuesday? News of the day Reading Discussion International News Reporting Chapter Seven “Mumbai” by Suketa Mehta

2. Dec. 2, 2009 Chapters 12 and 13 in “International News Reporting.” Watch website for additional readings on citizen journalism and the Internet Discuss media journals—use of citizen journalism Lecture on the effect of the Internet on global journalism

3. Reading Discussion Do we really know more about the world today because we have 24-hour news? Chapter Seven Too much frenzy and too little understanding The world doesn’t exist unless there is a journalist in a flak jacket covering it. Does the ability to “go live” add anything or does it detract from the coverage of a news event? Would you pay for international news coverage?

4. Reading discussion “Mumbai” by Suketu Mehta Statistics: by 2020 Bombay will be the world’s biggest city. At the time of writing, it had more residents than the country of Greece. What does this mean? In the U.S. our interest in Islam began when? In India, the divisions go back centuries and yet are still alive and causing chaos and suffering today. The bombings on Thanksgiving last year were one of the most recent cases of this violent division.

5. Africa and Press Freedom Where access to information can mean life or death.

6. Colonialism to war lords, democracy, anarchy….

7. African countries

8. From more free than the U.S. to … Namibia—more free Ghana—more free Somalia—less free Democratic Republic of Congo—less free What are the consequences of such a range of freedoms? How could one country affect another? Kenya—more free—shares a border with Somalia—very restrictive?

9. External issues facing African media • Lack of interest from the world—despite a combined population of almost 1 billion with natural resources of gold, oil, diamonds, etc. • War, poverty, disease tend to take the headlines • Focus shifts quickly when a new war, famine, disease spreads • One bureau—often located in Johannesburg, South Africa is the only outpost of Western media in Africa • Coverage is too often “superficial and cliched” in the words of Laura Pawson, who worked as the BBC’s Angola correspondent in the 1990s.

10. Internal issues facing Africa’s press • Each country has a different set of laws governing the media—ranging from South Africa with its Western-style media to Zimbabwe where broadcasters are state-controlled and reporters are jailed and harassed. • Use of “hate media” has forced discussion of how much control a government should have over media. In Rwanda, journalists have been found guilty of inciting violence during the 1994 genocide. • While most countries have enshrined press freedom as a right in their constitutions—as well as signing on to the UN Charter—how press freedom is practiced is driven by social, cultural, and historical imperatives • Lack of funding for the press is a major issue with only a few countries such as Kenya and South Africa having a middle class that will support an advertising-based model of the press

11. Kenya—Moving toward a more democratic press

12. Kenyan press freedom…or? • President Mwai Kibaki refuses to sign media legislation that included a requirement for journalists to name their sources • Onerous media legislation has been voted against… • Kibaki appears to support a more open media system with few controls by gov’t. • One man’s story of life in Kenya • But following his Kibaki’s election there was a media blackout ostensibly to keep election violence from getting out of control—but news got out through SMS messages • Jail sentences and fines still remain for defamation • The government told public sector groups not to advertise in the papers of the Standard Group. This followed stories that a government minister had had discussion with Armenian crime syndicates to have the former president’s son murdered. • Politics and media are intertwined.

13. Somalia—from international news story to deadliest place for journalists outside Iraq

14. Somalia—press battleground Seven journalists killed in 2008, second only to Iraq Journalists die in crossfire covering the fighting, but also are targeted specifically by the various factions 60 journalists arrested, many with no formal charges Often are subject of attacks after reporting on human rights abuses on both sides of the conflict

15. Somalia—can anarchy uphold press freedom? • No effective government sinc 1991—ruled by transitional government backed by Ethiopia—but the capital and country often raided by Islamic militants and various militias • Declaration of martial law has caused the shutdown of numerous television and radio stations • Journalists often caught in the crossfire between militant groups. Also have been kidnapped and held for ransom • Stations were allowed to start broadcasting again…if they would “protect national security interests and to cooperate with the government.” • Al-Jazeera has been targeted, told to shut down not long after it had requested a debate between a person who was against Ethiopia’s intervention and the chairman of the ousted Islamic group that had held sway in Mogadishu. • The impact of Somalia in America

16. Somalia—and by extension all of Africa—is the place that desperately needs an independent press • The competing interests in the region make it difficult to make sense of—who is right, who is wrong? • Access to independent, neutral information could help Somalis determine what government would be good for them. • Access to information can help get drugs, food, and clean water to people • But in 2007, RSF painted a dismal picture of Africa. Even countries that had been models of press freedom have backed away from support of an independent media. • The idea of an independent media as benefit may be slipping away as leaders see advantage in controlling the press.

17. Sources International Press Institute http://www.freemedia.at/cms/ipi/freedom.html?country=/KW0001/KW0006/ Committee to Protect Journalists http://www.cpj.org/2008/02/attacks-on-the-press-2007-somalia.php

18. The final question Is access to information a basic human right? *particularly in a region where information can keep you safe and keep you alive) *is it a basic human right to report news? *What’s the difference between a citizen and a journalist?

19. Taj Mahal Hotel Thanksgiving weekend 2008 Three days of terror with bombings, killing, shootings 179 people dead, 22 of them foreigners, 300 injured

20. Traditional media How the international media covered it The New York Times’ traditional sourcing

21. Citizen Journalism From Twitter to Dipity, Mumbai attacks are covered in journalistic fashion by citizens CBS News on the role of citizen media