Global Media News

Bin Ladin's Burial Video: Should it be released?

The discussion has already started as to whether or not the footage of Osama Bin Ladin's burial should be released. Two pentagon officials say that the video will probably be publicly released soon. According to Robert Burns, national security writer for AP, photos of the body that were taken prior to its disposal in the Arabian Sea may also be released. However, the White House has not officially made a decision as of yet. National security adviser John Brennan said on NBC,

"The Obama administration is also weighing whether to release video footage of the raid on bin Laden's compound that was captured by Navy SEALs whose helmets were equipped with cameras"

The debate has been whether or not it's safe for the country to release the photographs and video. Some Muslim clerics including radical preacher Bakri Mohammedclaim that Americans want to humiliate Muslims through this burial. The United States government claims that be burial was performed in accordance with the laws of Islam. Obama said that if the materials were released, they would be released very carefully in order to prevent an attempt at retaliation by Muslim extremists. However, many feel like the footage shouldn't be released at all.

 

Global Media News from Central Asia: Our Eighth Webcast!

Global Media News on Central Asia

• Afghani Media:  From Taliban censorship to a free press?
• Press Freedom in Central Asia:  Is Pakistan the most dangerous nation for journalists?
• FM 100:  A visit to Pakistan's popular radio network
• Social Media in Pakstan:  Are Pakistanis on FaceBook? 

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Pakistan: Lack of Social Networking

    As everyone knows, social networking is one of the most popular attractions throughout the world when someone logs onto the internet.  Although this may be true, in Pakistan, it's a different story.  It has been stated by forum Pakistan:

"Pakistan has emerged as a great potential market for social networking, but still only has 1% of internet users using social networks."

    As of now, there are only around 117,000 Pakistanis on Facebook, and only a few thousand users logging onto MySpace.  Pakistan has social networks of their own that are very similar to Facebook (Circle!) in the sense that people are able to connect with friends and be able to upload photos and videos for your friends to see.  Even though Pakistan has this, this site still does not attract nearly a fraction of the users that Facebook has in the United States and in other countries. Pakistan actually blocked Facebook for a period of time because there was page that featured "blasphemous caricatures" of the Prophet Mohammed and the people of Pakistan were not happy about it.  This also included the block of youtube because people began to post images of Facebook on youtube having to do with the Prophet Mohammad.

    Although Pakistan does not have a large quantity of people logging onto their social networks, Pakistanis are still making efforts to launch new social networking sites hoping that it will catch on more throughout the country.  One of these new sites is linkedpk.com and so far, just like all of their other social networking sites, people have registerd, but not nearly the amount compared to other countries and what the creators of the sites were hoping for.  Also, since the site is still reasonably new, there are still a couple of problems with the site that have to be worked out.  This is a very common problem when starting a new website, but in order for the site to grow to what the creators expect, it has to be a free flowing site, or no one will want to deal with all of the problems.

Net Control: Internet Censorship Around the World

 

Click to Listen! "Net Control" on Global Media News

Learn about "Net Control" on this week's Global Media News: Digital Edition   

Governments around the world are trying to control access to the Internet.    From surveillance to censorship the freedoms of the web are under attack. Nation-states seek to limit and control the effects of the digital revolution on the politics and culture of their societies.  What will become of the free exchange of information on the web? 

• Introduction to Net Control
• Internet Censorship in China
• Google Vs. China
• Australia's Net Policy
• Net Control in South Asia and Pakistan
• A Summary of Recent Attempts to Control the Net from around the Globe

Global Media News on Pakistan, Iran, and Afghanistan

On today's show we delved into the following topics.

• Afghanistan, and the way in which the United States influences media there.  
• Iran, and the censorship of music, along with the censorship of social networking sites such as Twitter.  
• Pakistan and internet usage.  Also, how the internet usage there is making it easier for illegal gambling to take place.

As always, comments and questions are welcomed.

Click here to listen!