Global Media News

Media in Poland Post Cold War

Poland is a nice little country, situated in Central Europe, and has a population of over 38 million people. The country is divided up into 16 different provinces. Prior to the conclusion of the Cold War, Poland was not a country that was able to express itself freely in the media, but that is different today.

The first totally independent newspaper in post-communist Poland was launched in 1989 and was called Gazeta Wyborcza. Fast forward 21 years and today, Poland has more than 5,400 written press titles, including daily, weekly, and monthly publications. According to a survey done in Poland in 2006, readership rates throughout Poland showed that 90% of Poles read a daily newspaper.

After the fall of communism, radio and television in Poland really took off. In the past twenty years Poland has gained 74 Television stations and over 230 radio stations. Although freedom of speech is now allowed in Poland, the State Treasury does own the nations top radio and top television station. According to The Open Society Institute,today, Poland is ranked the third biggest cable television market with about 4.5 million subscribers throughout Europe.

This was just a brief overvier of where Poland stands today as far as media is concerned, but coming up next week, we will take a look at different media policies enacted throughout Poland since the end of The Cold War and really get into this subject.

The Czech Republic: Post - Cold War

  The Capital City of the Czech Republic: Prague

On January 1st, 1993, the nation of Czechoslovakia had separated into two independent nations: the Czech Republic and Slovakia.

After the split of these two nations, many democratic reforms were instituted in a radical shift from a Communist past to a Democratic future. The focus of this post will be about the Czech Republic after the fall of Soviet dominated Europe.

Soon after the split from Czechoslovakia, the Czech govenment instituted reforms for their economy in which the economy became based on free enterprise. By 1994, 80% of Czech firms had become privatized and business began to boom in Prague and many other cities in the nation. 

Today, the Czech Republic has a Parliamentary Democratic form of government in which there is both a Prime Minister and a President. The President is elected by the Parliament for a five year term and he or she is the head of state. Furthermore, the President may only serve 2 terms. The Prime Minister is appointed by the President and is the leader of the party and head of the government. 

The Parliament of the Czech Republic consists of the Chamber of Deputies (lower house) and the Senate (upper house). The Chamber of Deputies consists of 200 members elected by popular vote. Each member is elected to four year terms. The Senate consists of 81 members, elected for six year terms. 1/3 of Senate seats are up for election every two years. (Very alike to the United States) Lastly, the voting age in the Czech Republic is 18years old.

    Lastly, after the collapse of the Soviet Union and the rise of independent free nations in Europe, the Czech Republic was just one of many ex- Soviet states to institute freedom of the press. According to the European Journalism Centre, the official Media policy of the Czech Republic is, "The Press Act defines the rights and duties of the publishers, but does not mention any provision regarding ownership or content of the media. Radio and television broadcasting is regulated by the Broadcasting Act. The freedom of media is guaranteed by the Constitution, and by the Charter of Fundamental Rights and Freedoms. There are no limits to foreign ownership in print nor in broadcast media." 

I will get more into the Czech Media in the next blog post, but for more on the Czech Republic you may check out Encarta Encyclopedia or The New York Times.

 

South Korea: Preparing for Possible Nuclear Attacks From the North

Since the middle of January of this year, South Korea has been preparing for a possible "nuclear attack" from North Korea. South Korea defense minister Kim Tae-young has issued a warning to North Korea urging them not to resort to Nuclear War. North Korea promised to "launch a holy-war to blow away the South" because they feared a collapse of the government in Pyongyang.

"A nuclear attack from the North would cause too much damage for us to react,” Mr. Kim said, speaking at a security seminar on Wednesday. “We must detect signs, and if there is a clear sign of attack, we must immediately strike. Unless it’s a case where we would sustain an attack but still could counterattack, we must strike first.”

This statement by Kim shows the seriousness of the possible outbreak of war. If North Korea does in fact launch a nuclear attack on the South, Korea as a whole will be left in shambles. South Korea's biggest fear seems to be the North's exceptionally large military. After nuclear weapons are dropped, South officals feel the military will wipe away whatever is left of Seoul, the South's capital. Also, South Korea does not currently have nuclear weapons, but they do in fact have the United State's full support, who would lend missiles to the country at any given time.

The threat of war came at such an off time to South Korea because they were currently working with North Korea on various different projects both around the world and within Korea. Kim emphasized the issue on the homefront as well. Currently there are about one hundred and ten South Korean factories that employ North Korean workers (there are nearly 45,000 workers from the north). Should war break out, these factories would have to close completely which would cut the country's production significantly. Currently the factories are already strained under these circumstances, but losing their production all together is something neither side wants to think about.

South Korea hopes to be able to negotiate with North Korea before any drastic measures have to be taken. South Korea defense minister Kim feels that if some sort of agreement can be established, the two countries may be able to move foward and put these threats behind them without having any tensions between the two nations in the future.

This information can be found on The New York Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/21/world/asia/21korea.html

  

 

South Korean President Roh Moo-Hyun (Right) with visiting North Korean Prime Minister Kim Yong-Il at Blue House in Seoul, South Korea (before the threat of war was even though of).

 
 

I think im turning Japanese I really think so

In the Short Term Japan and the United States have had tensions relax just a little bit. One can not help but ignore the sad and violent history between the two countries dating back to the two world wars. However time seems to heal all wounds or at least in this case stem the bleeding. Current day relations out side of the bureaucratic sense are characterized by the consumeristic dealings.

For example lets take a look at all of the buying habits that have materialized over the half decade. For one the car industry of America and its homegrown manufacturers has been completely usurped. Toyota, Hyundai, Honda, Nissan, and Mitsubishi are the the choices Americans consciously make over American automakers like General Motors and Ford. Japan and America are linked by history as much as there are linked by economic interactions. There is much surface to be scratched however. Much of which will be covered on the air, issues of Japans dominance when it comes to electronics, and technological advancements.

Japanese Baseball Players Emerge In MLB From Widely Publicised Media Coverage

Today there are numerous Japanese players in the United States baseball league. US talent scouts use the Japanese media to sought out foreign talent.The aspect that separates the emergence of Asian players in the Majors from the emergence of African-American players is the intensity of media coverage. When African-American players were just beginning to be integrated into baseball, the media coverage of the time was limited to newspapers, radio, and scattered television broadcasts of games. The reasoning behind African-American ballplayers originally not being integrated into baseball, obviously, came out of racism and segregation. Some note Japanese players who have gone on to play in North America major league include Hideo Nomo, Kazuhiro Sasaki,Ichiro Suzuki, Tadahito Iguchi, Kenji Tohjima and Hideki Matsui. According to the bleacher report,The two most recent Japanese imports that made all MLB executives say, “I’d like to have that guy” were Daisuke Matsuzaka in 2007 and Hiroki Kuroda in 2008. These two pitchers come from similarly successful baseball careers in Japan, and then moved onto the greener pastures of the Major Leagues in big-market cities (Daisuke going to Boston and Hiroki to Los Angeles).According to http://www.japantimes.com Wayne Graczyk has written the "Baseball Bullet-In" column in The Japan Times since 1976. A native of New Jersey, he came to Japan in 1969 with the U.S. Air Force and is a 1977 graduate of Tokyo's Sophia University. Wayne was the long-time (1977-2004) sports editor of the Tokyo Weekender newspaper, he covers Yomiuri Giants baseball games for Nippon TV and, since 1976, has compiled the Japan Pro Baseball Fan Handbook & Media Guide. He is a member of the Tokyo Sportswriters Club and the Foreign Sportswriters Association of Japan.

Our Second Show: Media in China

Check out the latest Global Media News Show!

This week we are looking at China to learn more about the mass media. 

This show begins with a discussion of the news media in China and the relationship between the government and the media.  Other topics include: music, advertising, film and television in the People's Republic of China.

Click here to listen to our second show!!

Tune in to the next live Global Media News Show on Thursday, February 28, at 11:00 AM, on OWWR: Old Westbury Web Radio.   Or listen to the show on our website at your convenience!

Next WeeK:  Global Media News will take a tour of the Japanese media!

America Taking Over Japanese Horror: Good or Bad?

    In recent years, American movie studios have been buying the rights to classic Japaneses horror movies. They are taking the movies and remaking them for American movie theaters.

    Many people like this idea. They believe that it helps aid the global economy by sharing ideas, but some people believe that these movies should be left alone. They believe that this is another way that America tries to control the world by buying other countries' ideas and making them their own.

                                                                                                             

    One of the most prominent examples of this idea is the Godzilla movies.  American movie studios have obtained all the rights to all the Godzilla movies. Some of the movies have had minor changes to them such as just dubbing, but some movies have had scenes taken out or scenes added. The idea of Godzilla was that Godzilla was the spirits of those killed during the atomic bombing of Japan. Many American's don't like this idea, so the movies studios have changed this around.

America is running out of movie ideas?

For years Japan has been an innovator, reaching new heights in horror films and shocking audiences worldwide. Lately the Western world has tried to follow behind them and have adopted many of the ideas of Japanese cinema. However, there are a few that stand out from the crowd.  Movies like"The Ring" and "The Grudge" were originally known as "Ringu" and "Juon" in Japan.  Below are the movie covers of "Ringu" in Japan and "The Ring" in the United States.

The new popularity of Japanese horror films, also known as J-horror, help Hollywood producers succeed and terrify American audiences with their different style, which relies more on psychological effects and situations to create fear.  These films dive right into the mind of the audience and leave them thinking "Why?" and "How?" rather than just seeing the images of a man killing people.

History of Newspapers and Radio

    According to Wikipedia, on March 22, 1925, Japan produced the first radio broadcast in Japan. This was transmitted from Atago Hill. Nippon Hōsō Kyōkai, which means Japan Broadcasting Corporation is Japan's national public broadcasting organization. NHK, has always identified itself to its audiences by the English pronunciation of its initials. NHK is a publicly owned corporation that is funded by viewers payments of a television license fee. NHK was founded in 1926, modeled on the BBC radio company of the United Kingdom. The first program that aired included classical Japanese music, Beethoven, and a play by ōyō. Nippon Hōsō Kyōkai’s second radio network was started in 1931. In 1935, NHK started a shortwave radio service for listeners overseas, which was known as Radio Japan.

    Japanese newspapers began in the 17th century according to Wikipedia. They were known as the yomiuri which means to read and sell or the kawaraban which means tile-block printing which is referring to the use of clay printing blocks, which were printed handbills sold in major cities to commemorate major social gatherings or events.

"The first modern newspaper was the Nagasaki Shipping List and Advertiser, which was published bi-weekly by the Englishman A. W. Hansard. In November of the same year, Hansard moved the paper to Yokohama and renamed it as the Japan Herald. In 1862, the Tokugawa shogunate began publishing the Kampan batabiya shimbun, a translated edition of a widely-distributed Dutch government newspaper. These two papers were published for foreigners, and contained only foreign news. The first Japanese daily newspaper that covered foreign and domestic news was the Yokohama mainichi shimbun, first published in 1871.

Newspapers at this time can be divided into two types, Ōshimbun (大新聞, "large newspapers") and koshimbun (小新聞, "small newspapers"). People commonly referred to Ōshimbun as "political forums" because these papers were inextricably tied to the Popular Rights Movement (自由民権運動, "Jiyū minken undō") and its demands for establishing a Diet. After the government's official announcement of the formation of the Diet, these newspapers, such as the Yokohama mainichi shimbun and the Chūgai shimbun, became organs of the political parties. The early readers of these newspapers mostly came from the ranks of the former samurai class." This is according to Wikipedia.

   

TV is just the beginning

Last week I blogged about the history of TV in Japan and its impact on everyday society. This week we look at two other major media outlets- Radio and Newspaper. Radio began in Japan in the year 1925. The first broadcast was what we call a radio drama or basically audio story telling over radio. Some people do dispute this though as they claim the first radio broadcast in Japan was a translation of Richard Hughes's "Danger."  This broadcast was done by Japans National Radio Company, NHK. The transmission took place from Atago Hill which is just north Tokugawa Tombs in Shiba Park. The first program also included music from Beethoven, as well as some classic Japanese music. After growing in Japan, radio in Japan expanded as the second station was created in 1931, and it was also owned by NHK.  In 1935, Japan got its first short wave radio station which could travel over seas. It was known as "Radio Japan" and it was also owned by NHK. To this day, NHK radio is still the leader in radio throughout Japan.

Newspapers in Japan have a little bit of a different history. Japanese newspapers began in the 17th century.  They started as basically printed handbills which were only sold in major cities and they would commemorate major social fatherings or events.  The first modern newspaper in Japan was called "The nNagasaki Shipping List and Adviser" and it was published bi-weekly by an Englishman- A.W Hansard.  Later that year the paper was renamed the Japan Herald. In 1871, more newspapers had begun coming into circulation and you had your large newspapers and your small newspapers.  The large newspapers seemed to be controlled by political parties, and acted more as propoganda as opposed to news providers.  The smaller newspapers on the other hand were full of local information, human interest stories, and some light fiction.

Today newspapers are a vital part of Japanese culture, as is radio but the dominant media source throughout Japan is the television.