'Media should strengthen role as human rights advocates'

'Media should strengthen role as human rights advocates'
By MA. ALETA O. NIEVAabs-cbnNEWS.com
Families of victims of enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings on countless times have thanked the media for keeping their quest for justice alive by continuously reporting on the hundreds of cases of human rights violations in the country.
"In any society not just the Philippine society, our role is to be a monitor and guarantor of society to make sure the government doesn’t overstretch its attacks on the people," said Alan Davis, Director of Special Projects of the Institute for War and Peace Reporting (IWPR) and Project Director of the Philippine Human Rights Reporting Project during a discussion on Media Coverage on Human Rights in ABS-CBN News Channel's Media in Focus Thursday night.
Davis believes that journalists should advocate human rights and not just write stories about what violations are being done.
"I think there is no such thing as real objectivity everything is subject. Every time a journalist makes a decision they make a subconscious decision on how to frame a story. They are going to cover this story and not that story or use that quote or not that quote or use that picture or not that picture. Everything is subconsciously subjected," said Davis.
Davis explained that every story is related to human rights and should not be treated as just being a leftist or a rightist issue.
"The government has human rights concerns and responsibilities. It’s not always right for people to suggest, especially in the Philippines, that human rights is a leftist thing," he said.
Valid criticsm
For her part, Rowena Paraan, the secretary general of the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) agreed that there is no real objectivity "because the journalists decide whether to take up for example, the story of Karen Empeño or to take up another case."
Paraan said the media only took the issue of human rights violation seriously around 2004-2005 after the Amnesty International came up with a report and the visit of United Nations Special Rapporteur Philip Alston to the Philippines.
Human rights group Karapatan has recorded more than 900 cases of extrajudicial killings from 2001 up to the present.
"I think there is a valid criticism on some human rights organizations that media during the early years of the Arroyo government was not doing its job," Paraan said.
Despite this, Paraan believes that there were improvements in terms of media engaging in more human rights stories.
"I think so. When Philip Alston came to the Philippines it was a big media thing. Journalists were all covering the visits of Alston and after that, journalists monitored some of the cases. We should not limit the issue of human rights to extrajudicial killings, it’s a broad, broad issue," she said.
Although Davis considers that journalists are doing a good job in reporting human rights issues in the print and broadcast media, he still thinks that there is a problem in the society of the beat system.
He said that most local journalists whom they have talked to during their seminars in the regions are very much interested in writing stories about human rights but the difference in interests makes them ask "where does human rights fit" and "it might not get published in the newspapers" even if every story should be a human rights story.
‘Not telling story is the bigger problem’
When asked if telling more human rights stories desensitize the public to the issue of human rights, Paraan said that it would depend on how the journalist tells the story.
"There's a way of telling a story that you won’t be that. But not telling the story, that's a bigger problem," she said.
Most families of victims of human rights violations turn to media for help in the hope of finding a missing relative or finally obtaining the justice they have struggled for so long.
"In fact if you go to the province, people look at broadcasters, especially broadcasters, they trust them more than they trust the local government. They go to the reporters, the broadcasters if they have problems with hospital bills, if they need money to bury their relatives, they go to them if they have problems in the schools," Paraan said.
Help from media
During an earlier segment of Media in Focus, Mrs. Erlinda Cadapan explained that it is the media who is helping her in her search for justice.
"Nakakatulong positively," Mrs. Cadapan said adding that journalists who cover the disappearances of her daughter Sherlyn and fellow University of the Philippines student Karen Empeño, delivered the actual details given to them.
For Davis, journalists should also investigate cases saying "I think that they should and they do and they have done in the past. I think it embarrasses the police, the AFP and government bodies sufficiently for them to do their jobs. I think it’s the role of the media to be an advocate of society-that's people who don’t have a voice, that’s people in power. Media has to be a non political force but a force to change and has to keep people on track and specially the election time."
Paraan said that media is able to stay neutral when faced with the cases of human rights violations.
"I think if you ask human rights workers they would say I think we need to do more. Its not because were doing too much of it, leaning to the side of the victims, but they think we are doing not that much and that we need to do more precisely why we have this project," she replied.
Can be violators too
But while media is being trusted by majority of the public, journalists oftentimes commit human rights violations too like when presenting a suspect who is supposed to be innocent until proven guilty.
Paraan added that the perception that human rights is a leftist issue prevalent among journalists.
"The tendency is to treat a case of extrajudicial killing as a leftist issue so when other human rights issues comes up it is also treated as a leftist issue because the one who complains for example about low wages, lack of housing are usually members of militant groups," she said.
Furthermore, she said that when there are complaints, they are treated as leftist issue, "that’s why we need to educate journalists."

Media watchdog urges Vietnam to release blogger

Media watchdog urges Vietnam to release blogger
2 hours, 4 minutes ago
HANOI (AFP) - A media rights watchdog on Thursday urged Vietnamese authorities to free a blogger arrested before the Olympic torch relay who the group said was being targetted for his political views.
Nguyen Hoang Hai, who blogs under the pseudonym of Dieu Cay, was arrested April 19 for tax fraud. Authorities accuse him of not paying taxes for 10 years on a property that he owns, said the group, Reporters Without Borders (RSF).
"Tax fraud was just a pretext to prevent Dieu Cay from demonstrating when the Olympic torch went through Ho Chi Minh City and from criticising the communist party online," RSF said in a statement received Thursday.
The Beijing flame was dogged by protests against China's rule of Tibet and other human rights issues on several stops on its global journey.
Dieu Cay's arrest came 10 days before the torch passed through the former Saigon. The blogger is known for his opposition to Beijing's claim of sovereignty over the disputed Paracel and Spratleys archipelagos in the South China Sea -- island chains that Vietnam also claims.
"Dieu Cay had posted articles on his blog about protests worldwide during the Olympic torch's progress through various cities, along with articles critical of China's policy in Tibet and the Parcel and Spratly archipelagos," RSF said.
"He had called for demonstrations as the torch passed through Ho Chi Minh City," the group added.
In Vietnam, anti-Chinese sentiment had flared in rallies since late last year over the Spratly and Paracel archipelagos, and the issue was hotly debated on unofficial weblogs ahead of the torch relay.
Vietnam initially allowed peaceful demonstrations outside Chinese diplomatic missions last December but later deployed police to stop repeat rallies.
The Spratly and Paracel island chains have been flashpoints for years.
The Spratlys are claimed in full or part by China and Vietnam as well as the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan, and the Paracels are claimed by China, which now occupies them, as well as by Vietnam and Taiwan.

Sensationalism: The Established Media's Only Answer To The Long Tail?

Sensationalism: The Established Media's Only Answer To The Long Tail?

Posted by David Berlind, Jun 2, 2008 10:15 PM

In response to my last post (the one on why both the NY Times and Mashable.com were off-base about the connection between blogging and heart failure), several readers wrote to offer an opinion about the direction that the NY Times' coverage is taking. Have you noticed the dramatic background music being played on your favorite local or national news program? The river of graphic headlines on most big-league news sites? Some shortcuts in reporting being taken that certain news outlets would never have taken before? You can thank the Internet's....
...so-called long tail for the pickle that the established media is in, and having a hard time finding its way out of.
To be fair, every media outlet and every journalist, for that matter, has their great days and then their off days: days when they look back at the what went out that day and say, "We (or I) could have done better." I can also point to plenty of impressive and current coverage from the Times and Mashable.com. But when technology writers venture out of their comfort zone to discuss matters of medicine without even trying to report on the facts and a venerable brand like the Times lets it happen, you know the litmus test for integrity is changing. Thank the long tail.
Regarding the author and section (within the Times) of the NY Times story that I referred to, InformationWeek reader JohnJ wrote:
Matt Richtel is a technology writer, and he wrote this article in the paper's Technology section. He's not qualified to write medical articles, and should stick to subjects he knows about.
Reader NJ Mike wrote:
Just another example that the New York Times no longer deserves the respect or status that it once did. Just because it is not a tabloid and that it is published in New York doesn't mean it is a quality newspaper. The "paper of record" is anything but that title, which it hasn't been deserving of for quite a number of years.
An wrote:
As for The Times, well, most mainstream media is unreliable and full of shoddy reporters who don't know how to write. It's a dated system that no one wants to be a part of anymore, so they pick up whatever trash they can find on the street to write for them.
First, thanks to the small group of people who responded so far. Second, the call-outs above are only three comments and are in no way projectable. But each of them contains some shred of truth that, to me, as both an employee and student of the media business, is more demonstrative of the established media's struggle than not.
The second word in "media business" is business. My father, also in the media business, used to tell me how a media property (a magazine, a newspaper, radio station, etc.) is like a three-legged stool. One leg is your audience. The other leg is your advertising. The third leg is your content and editorial. If you weaken or pull out any one of the legs, the stool falls over.
This isn't true of all media properties, as some have a slightly different model (eg: Consumer Reports has no advertising). But thanks to the blogosphere and YouTube (where everyone gets a printing press or a TV station for free), the long tail is really giving the established media a thrashing.
Taken as a whole, the blogosphere and YouTube are basically media properties the likes of which older media properties never had to contend with before. If, in that long tail of the blogopshere, you find five sources of information that you really like, you are more likely to shift your content consumption time to those five sources rather than open up additional consumption time to accommodate the new content. That means shifting away from whatever you're regularly consuming today. That shift -- terrifying to most media executives -- is under way. For the most part, every minute you spend with YouTube or with some authoritative blogger's blog is one less minute you're going to spend with a previously relied-upon source of information.
This battle for eyeball and eardrum seconds forces the existing media to resort to things it might not have done 10 or 15 years ago in order to not just keep readers, but to grow their audiences as well. Growth? Yes. The last time I checked, the idea was to grow a business, not maintain it. But before the established media can return to growth, many outlets have to stop the bleeding.
Whether its CNN, The New York Times, or Mashable.com, the headlines, the presentation, the background music (where offered) are clearly more sensationalized. They're candy machines and, unfortunately, we live in a world where candy is preferred over a decent meal.
Some media properties have resisted this temptation better than others. But it's a very sad statement about media consumption as well (yes, you and me) since it speaks to what audiences are demanding (or what media execs think is working). Call it what you want (I've heard "Foxification"). It's a seduction to the dark side that, in reality, is no match for the long tail.
The proof is around us every day.
For example, on CNN.com, I just watched media veteran Larry King interview a man who claims to have shot video of an alien. The headline reads Space alien seen on video, man claims. I clicked only to find that there is no video of an alien. It's more like 10 minutes of agony for Larry King who, somewhere midstream through the segment, realizes he must summon all the experience he has to turn a nothing story into something worthwhile.
The absurdity is just as much my fault (for clicking) as it is the editor's (the one who decided to do this story) for chasing after my click.
Is this what the established media has come to?

Russian president criticizes media bill

Russian president criticizes media bill

MOSCOW (AP) — Russia's new president urged parliament Monday to scrap a bill widely seen as restrictive to the media.
In a letter to the lower house of Parliament, the text of which was released by the Kremlin, President Dmitry Medvedev criticized the proposed legislation and warned that it could hurt media freedom.
"The bill's provisions could only create obstacles to the normal functioning of mass media," Medvedev said in the letter. He advised the State Duma to dump the bill, which allows authorities to suspend and close down media outlets for libel and slander.
It was not immediately clear whether Medvedev's move signaled his intention to take a more liberal course compared to his predecessor and mentor, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, whose eight-year tenure saw a steady rollback of post-Soviet media and political freedoms.
But the move followed up on campaign promises to give more freedom to businesses, civil society and media. Some observers voiced hope that he could soften some of the most repressive policies of his predecessor.
During Putin's tenure, major national television networks came under the control of the Kremlin or its allies, and Russia's print media also experienced growing official pressure.
But critics said that Medvedev, who took office May 7, would likely follow Putin's guidance, who has retained clout as prime minister.

A new role for the media

A new role for the media

Big conservative papers like the Chosun Ilbo, JoongAng Ilbo, and DongA Ilbo have been looking pretty shabby at the daily candlelight protests. Citizens parading in the streets pass by the tall buildings that house those newspapers and call out for them to, ¡°Turn off those lights! You¡¯re not worth the electricity!¡± There are slogans telling them to go out of print, and their reporters on the ground at these protests find themselves being ridiculed. They¡¯re saying these papers can¡¯t be seen as news media, so their position is not much different from the way the government-controlled media was given a baptism by pebbles at the climax of the April 19 Revolution in 1960.
The reason these newspapers are being scorned is because they are pushing positions that run contrary to the will of the people. Early in the mad cow disease issue, their coverage was largely about preaching to the people, about how American beef is safe, and about how the Korean people don¡¯t know what they¡¯re talking about. After the government went through the motions on those additional negotiations, these papers announced that would be enough and tried to keep additional demands at bay. It tried to discredit the candlelight protests with the absurd, like saying that someone was agitating from behind the scenes. Now they are suddenly calling for President Lee Myung-bak to wake up and change, but that looks mostly like dwitbuk chigi, hitting the drum after the beat has come and gone, only because they realize the country is angry at them as well as at the government. They put their trust in the influence they enjoy and tried to push the will of the people this way and that, and this is what they are doing after having failed.
The media is, by its nature, supposed to suggest things that must be dealt with by the community, and to put those things to public discussion. It is supposed to perform the function of suggesting the agenda. The reason people have been turning their backs on the big papers in their coverage of the candlelight protests is because the papers saw the people only as entities that should accommodate their intentions.
That kind of arrogance doesn¡¯t work anymore. The public was once a consumer of information, but now, through the Internet and mobile communication, it produces information and debates common issues through exchanges in real time. Direct action takes place simultaneously online and offline, and on a massive scale. In the past, public opinion was formed through the one-way delivery of information by the massive newspaper and broadcasting companies, but now it is interactive communication that owns the market of public opinion.
The people are interactive communicators, and they are taking a stand; they¡¯re out to correct a public opinion formation device that is not what it should be. There is a petition of signatures of people who say they are going to stop subscribing to the Chosun, JoongAng, and DongA, and there is an online campaign against companies that advertise with those papers. This is something different than official government pressure on advertisers in that it is essentially a kind of consumer movement and citizen action, since it is the consumers of these media that are directly trying to influence them. It is also a strong warning, one that says the old ways of painting the pages of newspapers with the opinion of a minority - the newspaper conglomerates - isn¡¯t going to be accepted anymore.
If these newspapers ignore the changed climate, the news media as a whole could find itself not being trusted. This is what makes the fact that a few newspapers are being criticized for their arrogance not just the concern of those few papers. It is time to explore a new role for the media, one that is befitting of the new ways of communication.

Growth in PRINT media industry

Print media industry to record 14 per cent growth

New Delhi, June 3

The print media industry recorded a growth of 16 per cent last year and stood at Rs 14,900 crore, according to the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.Rising literacy across the country has led to a possibility of more growth and expansion in future as well, said Minister for Information and Broadcasting (I&B) P R Dasmunsi.He was addressing a meeting of the parliamentary consultative committee attached to the ministry on 'Growth of Print Media in Liberalised Economy' here on Monday.In a detailed presentation on the growth trend, the minister quoted a recent study of Indian media and entertainment scenario conducted jointly by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) and PriceWaterhouse Coopers.In 2007, the magazine industry size was estimated at Rs 1,900 crore and registered a growth of 15 per cent over the previous year.In the next five years, the newspaper publishing market is expected to reach Rs 24,300 crore, according to the study.Dasmunsi said that liberalisation in print media was catalysed in June 2002 when the Government allowed 26 per cent foreign direct investment (FDI) into Indian companies engaged in publishing newspapers and periodicals in the news and current affairs sector.He said 100 per cent FDI is permitted in companies engaged in publishing specialty, scientific and technical magazines besides those publishing Indian editions of foreign speciality, scientific and technical magazines.In the past five years, the ministry has given approvals for publication of 284 magazines in this sector, said Dasmunshi.

PTI

Welcome to CHAUTHAKHAMBA

Welcome to CHAUTHAKHAMBA

Welcome friends.

This blog is dedicated to all associated with media.

If you are a reader you have got a strong right to be here. The content you get may not be according to your taste. You might be having a better idea, a better cause, a better point to mention, a better presentation skill and need a platform. You need to be here. You are welcome.

If you are a viewer you need to be here for putting in your voice and feelings for the benefit of all silent viewers who watch and forget to add a word... if it could have been like this it would have been better and served the purpose of creating awareness...

If you are a writer and wish to write for the people and issues which your publishers are not interested or anything under the SUN for the benefit of mankind and planet EARTH. Now we have the option of making planet Mars a better place to live in. I am sure we can suggest ways for its proper and systematic planning and development. You need to be here and present your case.

Well if you are a publisher and feel to take the cause of global peace, progress and prosperity you need to be here. The reason is very simple and the logic is also very simple. Just close your eyes and imagine--how many people know good grammar but how many are good journalists.How many guys know two plus two are four but how many are well placed in counting the ups and downs of lfe. Are they in a position to extend their helping hand for the advancement of society. If no you need to be here for the promotion of peace, progress, prosperity and equality.