Media Industry

Analysis by Milind Kokje*

The media seem to have lost their way. They not only have forgotten their social agenda but have also lost their very purpose due to the rampant commercialisation of the media 'business'. With this 'poverty of purpose', how can anyone expect this profession to help in eradicating poverty worldwide?

By Milind Kokje*

Mention 'independent media' and we immediately think of monarchs, political dictators, uniformed heads of state, military junta and similar entities as the main obstacles for media independence. There may be some honourable exceptions, but in general, our past experiences tell us how these types of political systems are anathema to independence in general, and independent media in particular.

By Sanjay Suri

GLASGOW, Jun 27 (IPS) - Parents call it the strawberry coloured nightmare. In the suburbs of Cape Town in South Africa they call it 'tik'. Something that mimics the effect of adrenalin. The news feature on 'tik' explores its dangerous spread, interviewing parents and others who talk about the devastation this addiction is bringing to homes and lives. 'Tik' is coloured pink, we learn, to make it more attractive to teenagers.

By Ilnur Cevik [*The New Anatolian]

The Turkish constitution specifies in very clear terms that citizens will enjoy freedom of travel and communications. However, in practice this article of the constitution has been violated systematically in Turkey both by state institutions and even by private persons.

Journalists need to carefully consider when the risk of following a story outweighs the benefit of securing a story, writes Alan Davis, special projects director of the Institute for War and Peace Reporting in his blog at the Philippine Human Rights Reporting Project site.

By Lin Quan Zhong

SINGAPORE, Jun 6 (Asia Media Forum) – When Lee Hsien Loong became Singapore’s prime minister after his father, Lee Kwan Yew, four years ago, he encouraged citizens to “feel free to express diverse views, pursue unconventional ideas or simply be different”. Today, these hopes for a city-state that can be more relaxed about criticism and more open to frank debate appear to have been too high.

Are Rupert Murdoch and his fellow media moguls' happy days numbered? In May, the 'mere mortals' on Capitol Hill gave Murdoch and company the sort of slap that masters of the universe don't expect.

By Nitin Jugran

TONK, Rajasthan, Jun 4 (IPS) - Children should be seen, not heard -- an adage that remains in practice in most parts of rural India even today where the orthodox patriarchal traditions continue to hold sway in tightly-knit local communities.

By Shaheen Buneri

PESHAWAR, May 23 — In a fresh row of violence unidentified assailants Thursday killed Muhammad Ibrahim Khan, a senior TV journalist while he was returning to his home town after interviewing Moulvi Omar, spokesman of Pakistan Taliban Movement in Pakistan Bajaur Tribal Agency.