Asia Media Report: A Crisis Within now available
'Asia Media Report: A Crisis Within', a report on media trends in Asia produced and coordinated by IPS Asia-Pacific, is now off the press.
Have the Internet and new technologies brought about a more informative, independent or socially responsible media, or helped create more space to push for human rights and democracy? How are the pressures from the oft-invoked 'market' shaping trends in reporting and ownership of media in Asia?
Barring a few gems here and there, the product of those transformative years has been anything but desirable. In many countries in Asia, the sacred walls of separation between editorial and marketing functions are breaking down, making way for the commercialisation of media and concentration of media ownership. These, in turn, raise questions about whether media have become just another business product, and how media can keep to their function of being watchdogs.
Be it in Pakistan or China, Indonesia, Thailand or India, many among the region's dominant media have metamorphosed into advertisement delivery vehicles for ever-hungry corporate masters. In other words, media -- which do not look critically enough into themselves -- are facing a crisis from within.
The different facets of this crisis are what this 'Asia Media Report: A Crisis Within' examines.
For information on getting a copy of the report, please write to [email protected] or [email protected], or call (in Bangkok) + 66 2 246 7877/78, + 632 499 7244 in Manila, or +91 11 243 3134 in Delhi. You may also order online at http://www.kinibooks.com/product_info.php?products_id=633.
