News Stories

[Vexx]

Originally Posted by aohige

However, I don't really feel there's a strong "nationalist" media the in the way FOX is.
Although far right wing holds power within high offices, they don't seem to serve the interest of the media that much. At least not in the major media institutions. That sounds very disjointed, I know.

I always figured the ultra-nationalists in Japan thought a "news server" was a van packed to the gills with large speakers and rolling down the street.

Traditional and comfy....

[ZephyrLeanne]

Originally Posted by Vexx

I always figured the ultra-nationalists in Japan thought a "news server" was a van packed to the gills with large speakers and rolling down the street.

Traditional and comfy....

Ah. Those black vans. Noise pollution.

[aohige]

They produce more noise pollution and annoyance than even the bousouzoku
Don't see much of those zoku guys anymore tho.

[TinyRedLeaf]

Tamil Tigers prepare for last stand

Mullaittivu, Sri Lanka (Jan 27): Sri Lankan troops are poised to crush the last stronghold of the Tamil Tigers in a bid to end a 25-year civil war. The army seized the north-eastern port of Mullaittivu on Sunday (Jan 25). The town was the last Tiger-controlled settlement to fall after a year of heavy fighting up the Indian Ocean island's coast.

Government troops are poised for a big push into a 300 sq km (115 sq mile) area of jungle — which is all the rebels control after a string of major losses since last November.

United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki Moon on Monday (Jan 26) called for both sides to let an estimated 250,000 civilians trapped in the warzone to move to safe areas.

The International Committee of the Red Cross said in a statement that shelling has killed hundreds of people and is hindering its ability to work in the warzone, where it is the only international aid agency with a permanent presence.

The Tigers say they are the sole representatives of the Tamil minority, which complains of mistreatment by successive governments led by the Sinhalese ethnic majority since independence from Britain in 1948.

- ITV NEWS

Who are the Tamil Tigers?

From the early 1970s, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam — more commonly known as the Tamil Tigers — have developed into a formidable fighting force involved in guerrilla atacks against the Sri Lankan armed forces and on political targets.

The Tigers' power base remains economically deprived Tamil agricultural workers whose families lost their livelihood due to economic reforms in the late 1970s, as well as unemployed urban Tamil youth who faced economic and social discrimination.

- BBC NEWS

[Shadow Kira01]

Originally Posted by TinyRedLeaf

Tamil Tigers prepare for last stand

The Tamil Tigers sound like a problematic bunch to me.. However, since the situation in Sri Lanka has just developed, I think I will watch it a bit more.

[0utf0xZer0]

Originally Posted by bladeofdarkness

and once again this proves my point about BBC being biased
look at the title of the article
"Israel launches attacks in Gaza"
an israeli soldier was killed by an IED at 8 am
the israeli strike followed that event by a few hours
israel didnt "launch an attack"
it responded to one
but not only is the title of the article suggesting that this is a case of israel making the first move (rather then responding)
the title itself completely neglects tp mention the IED that led to this response
in fact the IED is mentioned in exactly two line in the article itself
you could be forgiven for thinking that this is an israeli attack done for the fun of it if you happen to miss those two lines

Actually, the headline is pretty in line with what I've seen from other sources such as Reuters, and the response angle is mention three times - the tag line for the video, the first paragraph of the article, and again a bit after. Not exactly easy to miss.

Originally Posted by bladeofdarkness

and the report itself contains only mentions of palestinian sources and officials
without anyone bothering to ask an israeli source what actually took place

Although I would have included Israeli statements in the article, there's a perfectly justifiable reason not to: the Israeli military is not a neutral source. So overall, I wouldn't call the article particularly biased.

Now in terms of overall bias at the BBC, I do agree with certain points in the Gross article, namely in terms of whitewashing of atrocities by Arabs - the descriptions of the Arafat documentary and coverage of Sudan come to mind. However, as these are probably handled by a different unit within the BBC than the general coverage of Israel, such evidence is not conclusive. The quotes taken from the BBC's day to day coverage of Israel are worrying, but without seeing them in context, it's impossible to tell exactly what level of bias they actually indicate.


I do agree that certain units in the BBC need to stop being

[Shadow Kira01]

Four prisoners executed in Japan

Four vicious criminals just got hanged for reasons, such as kidnap, murder, and robbery. Although this sounds like "justice served" but it appears that various human rights group are protesting about it because the hanging is carried out in a secretive procedure in which prisoners are may be imprisoned for decades before getting hanged suddenly one day.

[Cosmic Eagle]

Originally Posted by Shadow Minato

Four prisoners executed in Japan

Four vicious criminals just got hanged for reasons, such as kidnap, murder, and robbery. Although this sounds like "justice served" but it appears that various human rights group are protesting about it because the hanging is carried out in a secretive procedure in which prisoners are may be imprisoned for decades before getting hanged suddenly one day.

Okay......this happens all the time in Asia. What, are they going to complain like....everyday?

[Cosmic Eagle]

Originally Posted by TinyRedLeaf

Tamil Tigers prepare for last stand


Who are the Tamil Tigers?

Last stronghold just fell. Sri Lanakans apparently are now pretty well armed with heavy Russian weaponry. They should have done this long ago.

[Tiberium Wolf]

So where is UN and the rest of the hipocrytics to stop the fighting? Seems like gaza getting a special treatment.

[bladeofdarkness]

Originally Posted by Tiberium Wolf

So where is UN and the rest of the hipocrytics to stop the fighting? Seems like gaza getting a special treatment.

and this is news ?

[ZephyrLeanne]

Originally Posted by Shadow Minato

Four prisoners executed in Japan

Four vicious criminals just got hanged for reasons, such as kidnap, murder, and robbery. Although this sounds like "justice served" but it appears that various human rights group are protesting about it because the hanging is carried out in a secretive procedure in which prisoners are may be imprisoned for decades before getting hanged suddenly one day.

Like that also called news. Singapore's papers will have a column every Friday for this, is it then? [Singapore carries out executions every (other?) Friday, or so I hear]

[Cosmic Eagle]

Originally Posted by Tiberium Wolf

So where is UN and the rest of the hipocrytics to stop the fighting? Seems like gaza getting a special treatment.

Stop what? The Tigers are virtually destroyed. It's over.

[Cosmic Eagle]

Originally Posted by ShimatheKat

Like that also called news. Singapore's papers will have a column every Friday for this, is it then? [Singapore carries out executions every (other?) Friday, or so I hear]

No, unless it's a big case like the guy who shot someone and was executed couple days back after donating his kidney.

But yes, it's done every Friday morning, the hangings I mean.

[ZephyrLeanne]

Originally Posted by Cosmic Eagle

No, unless it's a big case like the guy who shot someone and was executed couple days back after donating his kidney.

It's called sarcasm. I mean,those people,if they wanted their way, would have made noise EVERY Friday in Singapore.

But yes, it's done every Friday morning, the hangings I mean.

Ah. So it's sill the same.

[Cosmic Eagle]

Originally Posted by ShimatheKat

It's called sarcasm. I mean,those people,if they wanted their way, would have made noise EVERY Friday in Singapore.

Ah. So it's sill the same.

Then we laugh as they're packed off to court every week.

[ZephyrLeanne]

Originally Posted by Cosmic Eagle

Then we laugh as they're packed off to court every week.

Easier to just send them out of the country, right?

[Cosmic Eagle]

Originally Posted by ShimatheKat

Easier to just send them out of the country, right?

Yeah, but not after making some money off them the Singapore way, with a heavy fine

[ZephyrLeanne]

Originally Posted by Cosmic Eagle

Yeah, but not after making some money off them the Singapore way, with a heavy fine

That's more like it. And make them pay for their flight home on SQ.

[TinyRedLeaf]

After the momentary hijacking by ChannelNewsAsia forumers, I now return this thread to its regular programming.

How to save newspapers

New Haven, Connecticut (Jan 27): "The basis of our governments being the opinion of the people, the very first object should be to keep that right," Thomas Jefferson wrote in January 1787. "And were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate to prefer the latter."

Today, we are dangerously close to having a government without newspapers. American newspapers shoulder the burden of considerable indebtedness with little cash on hand, as their profit margins have diminished or disappeared. Readers turn increasingly to the Internet for information — even though the Internet has the potential to be, in the words of the chief executive of Google, Mr Eric Schmidt, "a cesspool" of false information. If Jefferson was right that a well-informed citizenry is the foundation of our democracy, then newspapers must be saved.

Although the problems that the newspaper industry faces are well known, no one has offered a satisfactory solution. But there is an option that might not only save newspapers but also make them stronger: Turn them into nonprofit, endowed institutions — like colleges and universities.

Endowments would enhance newspapers' autonomy while shielding them from the economic forces that are now tearing them down.

Failing business model
In the standard business model, newspapers rely on revenues from circulation and advertising to pay for news coverage and generate healthy profits. In the past decade, however, as Americans embraced the Internet, newspaper circulation has declined every year. Advertising revenues, which are tied to circulation levels, fell even faster. Classified ads, in particular, suffered as the Web offered cheaper, easier and more effective alternatives.

America's pre-eminent papers exemplify the distress. Average profit margins at The Washington Post over the past five years have been about 25 per cent less than what they had been in the previous 15 years. At The New York Times, the decline was more than 50 per cent. The debt-laden Tribune Company, which operates The Chicago Tribune, The Los Angeles Times and six other daily papers, has filed for bankruptcy protection.

As long as newspapers remain for-profit enterprises, they will find no refuge from their financial problems. The advertising revenues that newspaper websites generate are not enough to sustain robust news coverage. Though The New York Times website attracted 20 million unique users last October, Web-driven revenues support only an estimated 20 per cent of the paper's current staff.

By endowing our most valued sources of news we would free them from the strictures of an obsolete business model and offer them a permanent place in society, like that of America's colleges and universities. Endowments would transform newspapers into unshakable fixtures of American life, with greater stability and enhanced independence that would allow them to serve the public good more effectively.

Aside from providing stability, an endowment would promote journalistic independence. The best-run news organisations insulate reporters from pressures to produce profits or to placate advertisers. But endowed news organisations would be in an ideal situation — with no pressure from stockholders or advertisers at all.

How much to endow?
How large an endowment would a newspaper need? The news-gathering operations at The New York Times cost a little more than US$200 million a year. Assuming some additional outlay for overheads, it would require an endowment of approximately US$5 billion (assuming a 5 per cent annual payout rate). Newspapers with smaller newsrooms would require smaller endowments.

Note that just as endowed educational institutions charge tuition, endowed newspapers would generate incremental revenues from hard-copy sales and online subscriptions. If revenues were to exceed the costs of distribution, the endowment requirement would decline.

Many newspapers will not weather the digital storm on their own. Only a handful of foundations and wealthy individuals have the money required to endow, and thereby preserve, our nation’s premier news-gathering organisations. Enlightened philanthropists must act now or watch a vital component of American democracy fade into irrelevance.


David Swensen, the author of Pioneering Portfolio Management, is the chief investment officer at Yale, where Michael Schmidt is a financial analyst.

- THE NEW YORK TIMES

Also read this follow-up opinion editorial published on Jan 28 in The New Yorker: Non-profit newspapers