Global Media News

Welcome to Global Media News: the New Media Newsroom

Here are some tips for posting:

Fighting Communism One Tweet at a Time

Vietnam, a communist state is according to the CPJ (Committee to Protect Journalists), currently the 6th most censored country in the nation. Bloggers in Vietnam risk jail time for anti-state content. The governments intent is to prevent citizens from reporting on news. A law was put in effect known as Decree 72, which was created to control the type of content shared on social media platforms. Decree 72 prohibits the use of social media for news, allowing only personal information to be shared. It's difficult to imagine, considering most of us obtain majority of our news while scrolling Facebook and Twitter. Isn't that the only reason we tolerate the mindless tweets?  Well that and because, lets be honest, they can be wildly entertaining. But mostly because we know if we keep scrolling, well find something to nourish our curious minds. A perfect balance of entertainment and significance. 

So how does the Vietnamese do Facebook? Well if they're lucky its not temporarily blocked.  But does this mean their feeds are entirely filled with baby pictures and engagement announcements?  They haven't given up just yet, 80% of smartphone users are on social media. 

If it weren't for people like Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh, citizens would have absolutely no insight to what's going on in their country. There are people like her who risk their safety to report on important social issues such as police brutality, and government corruption. In the CPJ article, she discusses how she has to go "undercover" and dress in plain clothes to cover a protest. It hasn't been easy for her. Quynh was detained after police raided her home while she was sleeping. They arrested her following a blog article she published about government land confiscation. 

As technology develops, people in Vietnam are finding a way around the secure internet. We can only hope for their benefit, that the government ceases to keep up with the societies intel. 

The Risk of Social Media: Vietnam

It is no surprise that a communist country such as Vietnam is guilty of social and political injustices. 

A traditional response to injustice is protest. Many people are apprehensive to protest, due to the infringement on their rights, and potential danger. Protesters are handled with excessive force, they are intimidated, harassed and in many cases face detention. In alternative, activists use social media, especially blogging, as a tool to inform society. It's successful because of the ability to reach millions of people. The problem begins when bloggers receive a lot of attention.The citizens who follow bloggers online, are relying on them to expose corruption. They simply cannot detain every citizen who blogs against the state therefore they target the most prominent bloggers. The Civil Rights Defenders states, "More than three million individuals host blogs in Vietnam." The detainees include bloggers with the most viewers, and most radical content. 

Some of the many issues Vietnam struggles with include Human Rights, freedom of speech, freedom of the press. and more. An article published by the Civil Rights Defenders, explains in detail the types of  Human Rights violations occurring in Vietnam.

On a social standpoint, one injustice that Vietnamese citizens are fighting against involves land ownership. Land owners are commonly forced to give up their land to corporate development projects. In return, they receive unfair compensation for their land. Another major social issue is police brutality one that Americans are particularly familiar with. The difference is this: With the rise of social media in the U.S., we have seen evidence of police brutality. Typically, in the form of video footage from a witness. In Vietnam, individuals must be extremely cautious of what they post online. Any content shared that the government deems "anti-state," can lead to arrest and in worst case incarceration. 

Nguyễn Hữu Vinh, a well known blogger, was sentenced to 5 years for his published articles. His main focus? Government corruption. In an even worse case,  blogger  Ngô Hào, received a 15 year sentence. A petition has been created for both bloggers in attempt to get them out of prison. 

 

Twitter for Fashion Bloggers

Twitter is not one of the main places that you can find a fashion blogger. Most people on twitter retweet content or links of viral internet comedy or news. Twitter is not the place for someone that extensively writes about topics like a fashion blogger does. To the twitter world that stuff is just not entertaining enough. But it is a place for bloggers to drive traffic to their blogs or become more personal with those that follow their blogs. 

Having a twitter profile photo that is easily recognizable acts like a logo without being a logo so to say. Keep it something that is signature to your image as a blogger but also has a more relaxed and personal feel. A selfie works well or a close up professional photo in a fun setting. 

Sticking to a topic of expertise, in this case fashion and style, is one of the main ways to gain followers on twitter in general. Just like on a fashion blog, twitter followers like consistency. Twitter is just one of those social media outlets where you have to be 10x more consistent in order to keep your followers or readers attention. Tweet often about your day to day activities even if they are not interesting. Remember, they are following your life so make them feel as if they know you personally and are there enjoying the fun with you, even the not so fun activities.

Rather than simply saying something like "at a fashion show", tweeting updates in more detail would make your followers more interested so tweet something like "Balmain's runway looks at #NYFW were filled with military styles" instead with an optional photo/video to follow. Being a fashion blogger means living a visual and creative life so get creative and post photos or videos along with your tweets, including links to your blog photos or instagram.

New Outfit Post in lace on lace from PARIS! <3 http://t.co/1OJwl7APPA … pic.twitter.com/s5R3K35b81

— Aimee [Aw-Mee] Song (@AIMEESONG) October 13, 2015

If there is one thing to know about tweeting as a fashion blogger, it is that people love to see behind the scenes and updates on what they could be expecting. Arrange photos if possible for behind the scenes moments of projects you are working on or even reveal a secret about the project that only those who follow you on twitter would be able to know. It will engage your audience by making them feel special.

Sneak-peek at our brand new Holiday pieces hitting @PacSun stores 11/1! :) #kandk4pacsun pic.twitter.com/C7xWM6oFVk

— Kendall Jenner (@KendallJenner) October 28, 2015

Here are some more helpful tips and ideas for fashion bloggers on twitter.

Welcome to Global Media News: the New Media Newsroom!

Here are some tips for posting on our blog:

Latin American Press Pushed To Censor Their Work

A de facto license can be used to limit the freedom of the press in Latin America Congresses and judicial systems are under the power of elected presidents and aid in the censorship of press.

Independent press in Latin America have are under major pressure to censor their work because of rules being forced on the media.

The de facto license by the government can win over money and elections, inevitably silencing the media. The government wants to control all media outlets including, newspapers, TV, radio, and print. Those who are opposed to the governmental ideas on media are certain to face jail time. Several incidents have recently happened where writers are sentence to time in jail.

The president of Ecuador, Rafael Correa has gone all out in the mass raid to censor journalist work. Jaime Mantilla is a publisher who was sentenced to 3 moths in prison after defaming the presidents second cousin.

Media Censorship In Dubai

Media Organizations in Dubai are subject to strict content control by the government.

In Dubai the news is incredibly analyzed before the papers hit the news stand. Editrs scans news articles for any vulgar material. Most of the foreign newspapers are viewed as racy and have to be edited. Anything that doesn't meet Dubai's media standards is marked out with a dark line. Magazines, newspapers, books, you name it, has to be regulated before clearance. Although the telecommunications law guarantees freedom of speech, political media cogent is monitored daily. 

The governed are not getting full use of their rights to Freedom of Speech. The 1996 telecommunications law that guarantees Freedom of Speech is overshadowed by the serious regulation of political media. Journalists rely on self- censorship in order to avoid sanctions. The journalists who sensor their work tend to avoid criticizing political leaders, ruling leaders, religion, morals, or government policy. 

The city of Abu Dubai is home to 2,369,153 people. The hot weather and seven star hotels drives traffic to vacationers. The city is a big tourist attraction and is set up to stay that way. The media is censored in order to mold the idea of the city. Its goal is to attract celebrities and investors.  The press are supported by government funding. Neighboring countries such as India censor any reading materials such as magazines, books, or news papers. If the reading materials don't meet the consent of the countries media regulation agency, ( the National Media Council) whole articles can be removed.

A wealthy Indian news editor, Prem Singh says, "Nude pictures and anything [written] against these countries, especially Dubai. Anything against Islam." Prem would mark over any breasts that are too exposed in news papers or magazine before they are sent to UAE. As reported by Press Reference,  Most of the radio (13 AM, seven FM, and two short-wave) and television (15 total) stations available outside the free-zone are owned by the government with a few notable exceptions. These stations broadcast to around 820,000 radios and 310,000 televisions in the country. 

References:

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=18292869

BBC News Country Profiles. Available from http://news.bbc.co.uk/ .

Read more: http://www.pressreference.com/Sw-Ur/United-Arab-Emirates.html#ixzz3aGlcWl7k

Afghan Journalists Censor Their Own Work

Afghan rebels have sent threats to journalist about the media releasing news.

Media censorship is known to be forced globally by several different governments. Usually a government puts restrict on the internet and other media outlets to control the news. There are several groups that run to protect the freedom of the press and strive to release news for the public about corruption, land grabbing, violence against women, and human rights abuses.

"A Human Rights Watch reporter, Patricia Gossman released Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2015, said journalists increasingly face threats from Taliban insurgents and corrupt government officials". Journalist are trying to protect themselves from the threats by censoring their work. They fear that their will be no support because many of the Taliban attacks are ignored.

According to Human Rights Watch there was an increase in journalists after the fall of the Taliban in 2001. Since then there have been a rise of new media outlets in Afghanistan. These new media outlets are owned by political and religious figures, to broadcasting behemoth TOLO TV, owned by Afghan-Australian entrepreneur Saad Mohseni. According to the independent news outlet, Stars and Stripes, TOLO controls as much as 45 percent of the national market.

Since 2012 The Afghan Journalists Safety Committee reported 68 threats from pro- government forces and 63% of cases of the government being guilty of the reports. Self- censorship has become a "survival mechanism" since the government had failed to adhere to a "rule of law", said Gossman.  Rebels or corrupt government leaders would harass journalists at their offices, forcing them to apologize for critical reports, written against them. 

According to Nazifullah Salarzai, a spokesman for Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, the Afghan government takes threats to journalists seriously, and he encouraged media to report any harassment to government officials and that any government officials caught threatening journalists would be brought to justice. 

 

Sources

http://www.stripes.com/news/report-afghan-journalists-self-censor-to-survive-1.324786

Censorship Of Journalists In Hungary

Jounalist platforms are constrained in Hungary. Jounalists are charged taxes to write articles on news media. The independence of journalists is diminishing. 

The citizens of Hungaray are against the new amendments because they are being forced to pay internet taxes. Tamas Bodoky is editor and chief of  the investigative news website, Atlatszo. Tamas was awarded for his invasive use of technology at the Index Awards. He received the 2015 Index on Censorship Freedom of Expression Award for Digital Activism. Atlatzso uncoververd the cases of state control in the media, election fraud, government corruption, and misuse of public funds.  "Atlatzso means transparent in Hungarian" says Bodoky. The website strives to promotes free press in Hungary. 

Tamas wanted to bring to light the injustice of the citizens in Hungary and expose the challenges that they are facing. The website's team produce investigative reports and fights freedom of information for the press. Before Atlatszo, journalists were giving up on challenge their work because it was being restricted.  

China Makes It Difficult For Tech Companies to do Business

 China New Information Gathering Idea Rejected By the U.S 

Chinas new ideas promote gathering the information of tech companies users. The laws they are trying to in force require tech companies to turn over "snooping" mechanisms to the Chinese government.   The United States is against the act of China trying to enforce laws to collect user data. China's inquiries are mainly about tech companies encryption keys to their codes for personal data. The sharing of user data can threaten the U.S of economic cyber espionage.  In an interview Obama stated his concerns for China requiring tech companies to give personal data to their firms. 

"This is something that I’ve raised directly with President Xi," Obama said. "We have made it very clear to them that this is something they are going to have to change if they are to do business with the United States." (BBC)

Obama spoke on cyber security and consumer protection at Stanford University. Obama felt it would be critical for any international company to prosper while collects data to keep track of user data. He stated, "I don't think there's any U.S or European firm, international firm that can get away with that whole sale turning over of data".

China is concerned with any possible threats from religious extremist or separatists. "Beijing has argued the need to quickly ratchet up its cybersecurity measures in the wake of former NSA contractor Edward Snowden's revelations of sophisticated U.S. spying techniques." (reuters.com)