Global Media News

Cyberfeminists in Africa Stand Against Harassment

Ladies, has the internet judged you? If so, was it what you were wearing or what you were saying? Or was it both?

Trolling on social media is a much bigger problem for women than it is for men.  The ITU is reporting an increase in this online harassment during the pandemic.

The fight against patriarchal ideologies has been going on for centuries. Yes, we have made strides toward the right direction, however, there is still work to be done. Progress doesn't mean equal, nor can it happen fast.

Social media is a key setting where women are targeted for their appearance, identity, views, voices, and are severely criticized.  In Africa, particularly, women face the issue of cultural conditioning. The patriarchy is alive and thriving which is what lead to the research of Neema Iyer, Bonnita Nyamwire, and Sandra Nabulega's African Feminist Research for a Feminist Internet: "Toward a cyberfeminist future: A new study centers African women as protagonists online".

Nanjira Sambuli,  digital equality advocate for the World Wide Web Foundation, believes that "adverse social norms around what women can and cannot do lead to self-censorship." 

The bottom line is there is no safe space for women when gender inequality enters the era of technology, A woman can't go for an evening walk the same as she can't post a picture of herself that brings her confidence. Women are targeted and trolled for their appearances and their beliefs. Then in order to be "the bigger person" or just plain ole safe women oppress themselves so that they don't provoke.

“[Trolls] see a woman who has power, and they’re convinced they have the right to attack and shrink her down to the size they believe she should be,” said activist Mona Eltahawy. “This is ultimately patriarchy, a social construct that privileges male dominance,” said Eltahawy to Quartz Africa.

The cruel behavior that women in Ethiopia, Nigeria, and Ghana face inspired "A Survival Guide to Being a Woman on the Internet".  For women it's about inclusivity, we know we are stronger in numbers than in strength. This "survival guide brings light to topics that many women just deal with. The research shows staggering numbers of reported and guesstimations of unreported cyber harassment. Though there are cyber laws against harassment and sexual aggression most bots are triggered only by what one might call top priority instances.

One example from Ethiopia: Faris Cuchi Gezaheg, a trans-non-binary, was interviewed by the BBC about the living conditions in Ethiopia for a person such as they.  

African women activists have become a frequent target. Hodan Nalayeh, a Somalian Youtube blogger, admits to a lack of confidence. "I don't think that women in our country and our culture have been given that confidence to have dreams, goals, and aspirations," Nalayeh said. A cyberfeminist future forces one to recognize the plague of systemic oppression against women. It is up to us to educate women of their resources and power, that way offline inequalities are no longer replicated online.

The Rise of Crunch Culture

Crunch time starts whenever a game is in its final stages of its development.  Ben Gilbert described the crunch problem in Business Insider: "Too often, game developers are working unethically long hours to complete games, something that is often referred to as "crunch culture." Crunch Culture is a major issue for developers.

CyberPunk 2077 developers CD Projekt Red revealed that employees were being crunched into a 6 day work week. According to Jason Schreier for the Japanese time, Polish developer CD Projekt Red send out a email asking "all of its employees to work six-day weeks in the lead-up to the November release of Cyberpunk 2077."  The email came after the November release date was delayed twice and after the company tried their best to avoid mandatory crunch. 

CD Projekt Red has a good reputation with gamers, according to  Ryan Epps for the Gamer "Not only in their expansive gaming worlds, as witnessed with The Witcher series, but the Polish company has proven time and time again that it's not just about money or selling a game."  Their previous project, the Witcher 3, was also universally praised receiving 9 and 10 out of 10s; their post release support for the game was also praised.  But the news about mandatory crunch time has raised questions about what else is going on at CD Projekt Red.

Crunch is a major issue because of what it does to the developers health.  Wesley Yin-Poole for EuroGamer describes how some developers working on The Last Of Us Part 2 are suffering from crunch induced burnout and are leaving the industry entirely. A former developer tweeted that one of his friends ended up in the hospital:

For the demo shown last September, the gameplay animators crunched more than I've ever seen and required weeks of recovery afterwards. One good friend of mine was hospitalised at that time due to overwork. He still had over half a year to go. There have been others since.

— Jonathan Cooper (@GameAnim) March 12, 2020

The gaming industry needs better working conditions for their creative workers or more developers will burnout and end up hating the very project they worked for. Some developers say the game industry should consider unionizing so workers will have guaranteed labor rights and a safety net.

Both Koreas Collide in Netflix hit "Crash Landing On You"

Not your typical K-Drama soap opera

People might think that "Crash Landing on You" is just another typical K-Drama romantic soap opera created for Netflix. Well think again. What's so typical about a South Korean paraglider crash landing on the North Korean border or so typical about being rescued by a North Korean military officer? This series explores the differences in North and South Korean cultures. It combines two characters who are so different that they would be an unlikely couple, but who fall in love anyway. 

The following is an official trailer of Crash Landing on You from Youtube:

What's all the hype about "Crash Landing On You"?

Romantic Comedy is one of the most popular types of show. "Crash Landing on You" is a romantic comedy, but it's much more than that. It also has drama to it, and mixes both of  them with facts about real life in North Korea based on North Korean defectors. According to The Mainichi  the facts they get from interviews with defectors draw people to the show. "One of the highlights is that the series portrays the lifestyles of North Korean people--from their diet to shopping at markets--based on real-life information including interviews with North Koreans who defected to South Korea".  Since there is so little information available about North Korea and everything is so secretive there, people love the opportunity to get a peek at the real lifestyles there.

Worldwide binge watching craze even during lock down

Binge watching is easy to do when everything is on lock down, but people around the world still love to watch this series even without a lock down.   "Crash Landing on You" is very popular in Japan. Japanese audiences are attracted to this "off-the-wall" series. "...Crash Landing on You, a tale of love, friendship and beauty products that spans the divide between South and North Korea. It's addictively off-the-wall, heartbreaking and hilarious-and since the show is only available in Korean audio with English subtitles, it demands your full attention." By adding all these things together the writers created a series that people love.

During the coronavirus lock down people were binge watching the show to escape reality. According to The Guardian viewers made the best of a bad situation by watching the show. "Who have you been spending your lock down with? I've been spending mine with spectacularly good-looking Koreans in spectacularly unlikely romantic scenarios".  According to The Washington Post in Seoul the series was described as a great way to get away from the things going on in the world "How's this for for a romcom plot to escape the realities of the coronavirus pandemic? So many people found a way to cope with the pandemic by binge watching the show.

Even though lock down from the 2020 pandemic has been a negative thing, one positive thing to come from it is the huge success of  the K-Drama industry. According to Korean Investors Studio Dragon Revenue jumped from 468.7 billion in 2019 to 539.1 billion in 2020. The demand for entertainment that didn't need a person to leave their house during the pandemic helped skyrocket the success of this industry. 

 

North Korea wishes series would crash and burn

North Korea sees "Crash Landing on You" as an immoral and insulting portrayal of their country.  The Korean Herald reports that Pyongyang's state media says  the series involved false and impure information. "Pyongyang's propaganda media outlets lashed out at South Korea's latest hit TV drama dealing with North Korea....calling them an "unacceptable and atrocious provocation".  Due to the controversial plot of the series, it is not readily available in North Korea. "Crash Landing on You" and many shows similar to it are still popular there, but people have to work harder to watch them. According to BBC News K-Dramas have many fans in North Korea even though these shows are seen negatively by the government. "It is well known that North Koreans, especially the young ones, are fans of K-drama too-and as Crash Landing on You accurately depicts, a lot of South Korean films and dramas are smuggled into North Korea".

 K-Drama popular in many parts of the world

K-Dramas have helped with the continued success of Netflix and people in many parts of the world have become obsessed with watching them. According to The Diplomat " As of 2019, 30% of Netflix subscribers are from Middle East, Africa and Europe". Korean series have a different style of entertainment to them which may be why they are so popular. "At the moment, Korean series are being promoted as "feel good" series that can distract viewers from the pandemic. Korean series are known for their unique takes on love, representation of romance in non sexual contexts and having women leads". This type of entertainment gives viewers a chance to watch shows that are not just like all the rest of the shows out there.

What Role Will the Bolivian Media Play in the Upcoming Presidential Election?

The United States isn't the only country that has a presidential election coming up. Bolivians will decide who their president will be on October 18. Will the Bolivian media play a role in the election? Or will it play a lesser role while the candidates go at it? Also, will the government play a role in what the media does?

First off, it is important to highlight some rather alarming events that occurred during last year's presidential election involving journalists, as protests that broke out following the controversial election, which was said to have involved "electoral fraud by independent university analysts". These protests resulted in 438 workers suffering injuries, and 3 people dying. These protests resulted in the resignation of the President of Bolivia, Evo Morales. These attacks included shrapnel from an explosive injuring a cameraman, fires being set to journalists' houses, and news facilities being attacked by protestors. So, as you can imagine, the media in Bolivia has had quite a field day when it comes to dealing with the results of a presidential election.

On top of this, journalists and media outlets in Bolivia last year had little to no freedom when it comes to what they can publish, and what they can say, especially when it comes to the government. For instance, during Morales' tenure as president, media outlets were called out for criticizing the man, so much so that the media was accused of being a "cartel of lies". Additionally, journalists decided to write articles that weren't related to the president, or the government in general, in order to avoid trouble and scrutiny. However, ever since Morales has resigned, media has had more freedom as far as what they can post and let out in the public. As Nelfi Fernandez Reyes, an "investigative journalist with El Deber" who covered Morales' resignation, said in an interview with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, "We don't have restrictions like we did before (when Morales was president), in terms of access to information we have more options."    

However, in spite of these new freedoms found for the media in Bolivia, the country's government has recently been using rather questionable tactics in an attempt to get their political message across, even using the media as a means to do this. For example, this past month, the government, which has served under interim president Jeanine Anez since the day Morales stepped down, had 55 fake Facebook accounts, as well as "42 pages and 36 Instagram accounts", linked to it and subsequently removed. These accounts were said to have been publishing "fake news campaigns to skew democratic debate" in favor of Anez. Afterwards, the Bolivian government admitted to hiring a "Washington-based lobbying firm" to "carry out lobbying in search of backing for Bolivian democracy after fraudulent elections and in support of the holding of new presidential polls."

So, based on the information regarding the freedom that the Bolivian media has nowadays compared to the days of yesteryear, and the roles that both the government and the media have already played in the upcoming presidential election, it is safe to say that the Bolivian media will likely be heavily involved in what happens come October 18th.

Wrongful arrests of journalists in Turkey

On September 10, 2020 Turkish authorities convicted journalists Barış Pehlivan,Hultay Kilinc,Yeni Yasam,Murat Ağırel, Ferhat Çelik, and Aydın Keser for violating the country’s national intelligence laws in reporting the death of a officer in the National Intelligence Agency. In court Hultay Kilinc stated that "“What I did was journalism, I did not know that the photograph that was published contained (images of) members of (Turkey’s national intelligence organization) MIT and it was not possible for me to know that.” The people of Turkey stood outside the court outraged over the arrests due to the violation of the right to freedom of expression.

Since 2016, Turkey has arrested over 250 journalists and 25 were killed. CPJ Program Director Carlos Martinez de la Serna stated that "Turkish authorities never should have arrested a single journalist for their reporting on an intelligence agent’s death, and must ensure that no member of the press spends an additional day in jail for their coverage of that incident”. Journalists in Turkey are trying to do their job, but live in fear that they might be prosecuted for it. A journalist named Muyesser Yildiz, has been arrested for "revealing two state secrets".Yildiz stated “If the articles threaten the security of this country so much, they should have blocked access to them". Yildiz along with the many other journalists that have been arrested in Turkey should are being stripped away their right to freedom of expression. 

Since the failed coup attempt in July 2016, journalists who criticize the government risk criminal investigation and arrest. According to Amnesty international, "the severity of the Turkish government’s repression of the media is such that it has been described by some as the “death of journalism”. As of today, 68 journalists are being detained in Turkey. If Turkey continues to persecute journalists, the government might eventually gain control over journalism.