Lack of Focus...

"Even with the apparent acknowledgement of economic development being an important issue in achieving press freedom, there does seem to be a clearly Western notion of what consitutes press freedom- notably that in general the less state influence in the news media the freer the press."(Campbell 49)

CNN as an open-ended news format. Instead of being about the validity and accuracy of the report, the emphasis shifts to the strength of impression of validity and accuracy because of a demonstration of presence at the time. This is a kind of "immersive storytelling"(251). The journalists themselves tend to lose the capacity to organize their thoughts in a manner that is constructive. Rather , the viewer feels voyeurisitic, as we are given glimpse of news through what the newsroom finds crucial and important.

"An ongoing problem and, what I think, is a constraint to democracy and the freedom of expression within the media freedom press is the question of whether purchase of media entities, especially television networks, by large corporations limits journalistic freedom. "(Freedom House, 2004).

This is where the internet now comes into play. The internet is allowing us to voice our personal opinion and to mobilize along those lines, rather than presupposed and preguided world views and thought processes. This could allow information anarchism where the major news outlets are consistently questioned for the accuracy of their data, as well as their biased opinions. As discussed in class, the internet has a variety of different benefits, although not without their own problems. The most emphasized at this point of time, is a lack of attached credibility from a number of sources. It becomes very hard to distinguish fact from fiction. Nevertheless, it has allowed for everyone to make their point on-line. This has allowed the increase of citizen journalism, in areas that had before been monopolized by media elites. Now, anyone can comment and make their own suggestive attempts at reasoning.

It also has allowed a voice for the voiceless.

My cousin Nisha is working presently in Thailand, next to the northern border with Burma/ Myanmar. There are several refugee camps there that need a voice because they have long been forgotten by the Burmese government, and have no real space within Thailand. Nisha works in a school there with people my age, young adults, and is trying to create a program that links the schools there with schools in the West. This is not only to access new resources but also to create dialogue between cultures that know close to nothing about each other. This has benefited the refugee population in many ways, as well as created some hope for the citizens of Burma. However, the case of Burma is so far from being solved, it is hard to get a grasp at the problems there, as well as in the bordering refugee camps. It seems like Burma is a lost cause for the UN. With more public exposure and pressure, there has been a push of interest from the international community. But it’s been a long time coming. The US government has only recently recognized that extended economic sanctions against the country aren't having enough impact on the situation, it is only deteriorating the country’s infrastructure even more. What needs to happen is a promoting of democratic ideals and a focus in alleviating massive human rights violations within the country. Rather than isolating the state, the US should follow the lead of ASEAN countries and engage with the leader. The military junta in power there has repackaged itself with the new name “State Peace and Development Council”, but the terror remains the same within its borders. Not to mention the crippling economic environment that has led to horrific living conditions, the regime also has a horrible human rights record that involved repression of political dissidents ( namely Aung Suu Kyi and followers), forced labor, ethnic persecution, lack of religious freedom and trade in persons indiscriminately.

The humanitarian crisis there is a given, like so many that have happened before.

What should be more important for the US is that Burma (Myanmar) is at the nexus between China and India, the two international powers that the US should be most aware of in the following decade. There is much to say about this and I won't go into it now. The point is that the US government should start listening to the truth about what is going on the country, rather than sitting on the sidelines, believing that non-action is the way to go. There is now a generation of youth that were born in refugee camps. They do not have a country of origin and they feel like they will be misplaced and forgotten forever. Nonetheless, their words are on-line just waiting to be read. We must follow through with our obligations as citizens of the Earth.

(What I really think is happening though, in some part, is that Burma is part of the Golden Triangle of the opium trade. Resolutely, I think that the US may be proposing counternarcotics efforts, but in some ways they don’t want the trade to stop. This is an entire new topic: “America’s War on Drugs”, which I have many issues with. Realistically, although the newspapers may claim that there has been major law-enforcement within the borders between the three countries, the results have little to no effect within the population. When I was in Northern Thailand, I met a few travelers- might I say junkies- who explained how simple it was to get opium from Burma. All you needed was money, and it wasn’t even that much. Mirrored in this conversation is the Columbian problem of cocaine trade, and how the US has failed to implement major changes there. The amount of internal corruption in these two countries, as well as the fact that the steady flow of drugs assures compensation for the country’s leaders, continuous a vicious cycle that is not so easily overlooked…In Columbia the war on drugs is a war on the South American poor who extract the resource for a living. Rather than reaping the benefits, they are just another clog in a massive industry. Bush’ war on drugs is missing the point. The US has consistently misunderstood their battles within Columbia, blurring the lines between counterdrug and counterinsurgency missions there.)


Works cited:

Cambell, Vincent "Information Age Journalism: journalism in an international context" London: Arnold, 2004

Freedom House Freedom of the Press 2004- a global survey of media independence Lanham: Rowaman &Littlefield Publishers, Inc, 2004

Seib, Philip "Going Live: getting the news right in a real-time, online world" updated edition Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc, 2002