In The News

Slumdog Paradox

Sadanand Dhume February 4, 2009
“Slumdog Millionaire” is a rag-to-riches love story that has captured the world’s imagination. An orphan growing up in the squalor of Mumbai’s poorest neighborhoods overcomes overwhelming odds that life throws at him, learning in the process much that prepares him to compete in a popular game show and reunite with childhood sweetheart. Even as international audiences cheer the orphan’s goal – not...

As Obama Takes Office, Global Press Turns to Regional Concerns

Richard Wike January 23, 2009
No American presidential bid in history has been so closely monitored by the international community as Barack Obama’s. For the Pew Global Attitudes Project, Richard Wike and Michael Remez compare reactions from newspapers around the globe, many of which focus on specific regional concerns. From Kenya to Kerala, Bolivia to Baghdad, media and citizens followed the campaign, rooting for the young...

Gaza Conflict Plays Out Online Through Social Media

Corey Flintoff January 15, 2009
Israel has stopped journalists from entering the war zone, but photos and reports continue to flow. As war rages in the Gaza Strip, cross-border social networking continues on Facebook, Twitter, MySpace and YouTube. “Online media are conglomerating their information, and governments are getting into the act,” reports Corey Flintoff for National Public Radio. The public has changed the way it...

Arts and Bards, Political Branch

Jed Yoong January 8, 2009
Art is an individual’s reaction to the world around him or her, criticizing flaws or reflecting a vision of what could be. As such, art is subversive and can make political leaders and managers uncomfortable.With that in mind, the rise of opposition politics and activism in Malaysia also spurs the art community, writes Jed Yoong for the Asia Sentinel. A play that describes an interrogation that...

Mice Starting to Win in the Beijing Blogosphere

Kirsty Needham December 4, 2008
Computers add to the challenges of censorship in the world’s most populated nation. “Tens of millions of mice over-ran China's internet trap this year, swamping it with chatter, nibbling towards freedom of speech,” explains Kirsty Needham, writing for the Sydney Morning Herald. China has more than 100 million bloggers, and natural disaster, political protests, business fraud and corruption...

Obama's Wi-Fi White House Speaks to the YouTube Age

Paul Harris November 17, 2008
In the midst of economic crisis, US President Franklin D. Roosevelt gave his first “fireside chat” by radio on March 12, 1933, less than two months after entering office. President-elect Barack Obama did not wait that long, and two months before entering office, he turned to YouTube to share his thoughts with the public. “Technology and the internet are set to be a core part of the new...

The Death of the Washington Consensus?

Kevin Gallagher October 15, 2008
US officials over the past two decades insisted that free trade without limits tend to provide more benefits than costs for American and other consumers. Princeton economist Paul Krugman won the Nobel prize for economics, not for his columns for the New York Times, but for his study of international trade and his stance against trade without limits. Krugman has long insisted that government...