In Asia Media Forum this week - The debate continues on how much the western media really understand the events occurring in the Asia-Pacific region. This week, we share with you two journalists' frustration over the seeming lack of knowledge of the western media about the Thailand political crisis and the recent attacks on Mumbai. You be the judge as to which side has a more accurate picture of the whole story. In other stories, we have updates of the latest restrictions in China's cyberspace, a Burmese journalist's views about his country's 20-year struggle, and on the much-reported shoe-throwing incident early this week involving Iraqi TV journalist Muntadar al-Zaidi and U.S. President George Bush.
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Burmese Journalist Looks Back at a 20-Year Struggle
On the 20th year anniversary of the 1988 uprising in Burma, a Burmese journalist in exile looks back at how that crucial event influenced his decision to tell the truth about his country.
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Western Media Slip Up in Mumbai Attack Reportage
What's in a word? A lot, says journalist and media studies professor Vamsee Juluri. In his blog entitled, How the West Lost Us: A Critique of Media Coverage of the Mumbai Attacks' on Dec 17, he noted that western media, the CNN and 'The Economist' in particular, used 'Terror in Mumbai' for their headlines rather than 'Attack on Mumbai'.
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Iraqi Journo's Infamous Shoes Destroyed
The controversial shoes that the Iraqi journalist lobbed at United States President George Bush has been destroyed by Iraqi and American security agents. An AFP report was quoted as saying that the move was "to ensure they did not contain explosives".
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China Blocks Websites Anew
China has reportedly once again blocked Internet sites, including the BBC's Chinese-language news site, Voice of America's Chinese-language edition, Asiaweek, Reporters Without Borders as well as some Hong Kong and Taiwan sites for having "content that violated Chinese law".
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Killing of Journalists Continue in the Philippines
Three years after Marlene Esperat was shot dead in her living room, she continues to symbolise the plight of journalists who are being victimised or murdered in the Philippines, a country that prides itself on having a free press.
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'Foreign Coverage of Thai Crisis Distorted'
The foreign media are "painting a simplistic picture of a very complicated situation" and are putting the blame on the monarchy for the political crisis that almost left the country paralysed economically, declared Thanong Khanthong in his Dec 12 column, Overdrive, in Thailand's English-language daily 'The Nation'.
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No Beating Around the Bush for Iraqi Journalist
In what was seen as a highly symbolic gesture — and the highest insult in Arab culture — an irate Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at United States president George W Bush during a press conference in Iraq on Dec 14.
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