In The News

In Mexico, Tweeting on Drug War to Fill the Void of Traditional Media

Justin Ellis March 22, 2013
The drug wars in Mexico have targeted traditional journalists and blocked investigations. But a research study is showing that Twitter users “are spreading the word on shootings, arrests, and clashes between the cartels and police,” reports Justin Ellis for Neiman Journalism Lab. “And, researchers say, they’ve developed a kind of media-esque ecosystem that values traits like sourcing and...

Annoyed, China Sticks With North Korea

Nayan Chanda March 11, 2013
In 1961, China and North Korea signed the Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation, and Mutual Assistance, committing either party to come to the aid of the other if attacked. China has since been doling out food and energy aid despite North Korea regularly issuing threats to South Korea and the US, as well as repeatedly defying UN resolutions on nuclear and missile tests. In a departure from past...

Soap Opera Diplomacy: Turkish TV in Greece

Robbie Moore February 27, 2013
Greece’s high rate of unemployment allows ample leisure time for watching television. Yet the economic crisis has also meant that Greek television producers can no longer afford to write, shoot and broadcast television shows. So stations have turned to affordable Turkish shows, which are gaining in popularity among Greeks, explains Robbie Moore for the International, adding that “Some in the...

Meteorite Explodes Over Russia, More Than 1,000 Injured

Andrey Kuzmin February 16, 2013
Chelyabinsk, transportation hub and one-time Russian industrial center for weapons manufacture, was closed to foreigners until 1992. The combination of crisscrossing highways, a million-plus population and Russians’ fondness for dashboard cameras in vehicles to collect evidence in the event of potential mishaps has given the world ample footage of a rare event – a large meteorite blazing across...

Hackers in China Attacked the New York Times

Nicole Perlroth January 31, 2013
Hackers attacked the New York Times after the newspaper reported on an investigation suggesting that relatives of former Premier Wen Jiabao had accumulated a fortune of billions while he was in office, a report based on public US records. The hackers routed the attacks through US universities, sending malware to individuals, before entering the system and obtaining passwords. Computer security at...

Pakistan’s Two Worlds

Hassan Siddiq January 30, 2013
Pakistan’s youth confront two stark realities: one that’s ambitious and cosmopolitan and the other radical and inward looking. Oddly enough, young Pakistanis obtain much of their news from international sources like BBC or CNN, even as those same broadcasts focus on violence and radical elements of society. Young, educated Pakistanis are as disturbed as audiences in the West about a vicious...

To Get Movies Into China, Hollywood Gives Censors a Preview

Michael Cieply, Brooks Barnes January 21, 2013
The world’s most populous country and big market for entertainment imposes tough restrictions on films with sex, violence, politic, ghosts or Chinese villains. So China’s censors get a first peek at major Hollywood films, sometimes even sitting in on film shoots. Negotiations and edits can ensue. “The lure of access to China’s fast-growing film market – now the world’s second largest, behind that...