Perspectives
by Lia Sciortino
Perspectives
Mekong Media Makeover
Not so long ago, adjectives like “staid” and “predictable” were used to describe the state-controlled media of the People’s Republic of China (PRC), Lao People’s Democratic Republic (Lao PDR), and Viet Nam.
Q & A: ‘Publishing Books Isn’t Like Making Instant Noodles’
The book publishing process can be tedious and take years, test the patience of author, editor and publisher, and involve concerns ranging from how interesting the topic is to the weight and colour of the paper used in printing the final product.
A Healthy Mekong River is Priceless
BANGKOK, Dec 4 - The timeless rhythm of the Mekong’s seasonal cycles has nourished and inspired the peoples of the region for millennia. Many rural peoples’ lives and cultures are intimately tied to the river’s health. Even residents of the region’s bustling cities, whose lives appear more distanced from the river, are linked by the cultural richness it spawns.
Reading Media
BANGKOK -- Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia. What images might these words conjure up in the minds of international consumers of news? Perhaps war, maybe the Khmer Rouge. Or they might say, ‘Oh, it’s that those countries that had that war some time ago. . . they’re near one another, and they’re all the same’.
Events
CROSSING BORDERS: REPORTAGE FROM OUR MEKONG (2006, 192 pp)
Borders in the Mekong Region evoke journeys, which is what this book invites us to explore.'Crossing Borders: Reportage from Our Mekong' brings readers to the countries where China's aid and investment programmes are going, to places like Luang Prabang, Hoi An and Xishuangbanna where culture collides with tourism, to societies where monks are going beyond the temples to take up social causes, and to border areas where the smuggling of goods and the sex trade meet.
This book is the fourth compilation of articles and photo essays on transboundary issues in the Mekong Region, done by 17 journalists who spent weeks in villages and towns, taking planes, boats and buses, to tell their stories.
These journalists are fellows who have completed the 'Imaging Our Mekong' media fellowship programme for 2005-06. This annual programme, which has worked with more than 140 journalists, is undertaken by Inter Press Service Asia-Pacific, together with Probe Media Foundation Inc.
For information about purchasing the book, please write ipsasia@newsmekong.org
Previous books: Invisible Borders: Reportage from Our Mekong (2003), Exploring Borders (2004), Bustling Borders: Reportage from Our Mekong (2005).
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What's New
Coming in December! Mekong Media Forum
Coming in December!
Mekong Media Forum
BANGKOK - How have economic integration and openness shaped the media environment in the Mekong region? What do audiences expect in the age of more openness? What changes in press laws and access to information have taken place in the last 15 years?
6th Mekong Book Now Off the Press
Whether it's a story about how rubber plantations are taking root at the China-Laos border, how Thai is having an impact on the Lao language, or the use of harmful fishing methods in Cambodia and Vietnam, all the features and photo essays in 'Changing Borders: Reportage from Our Mekong; follow the changes that have been taking place as countries in the Mekong Region deepen their cross-border links with one another.
News from the Mekong
China Pulling Southeast Asia into Its Orbit
BEIJING, May 1 (Newsmekong) - The global financial crisis is proving a boon for a resurgent China, which is poised to exert ever greater influence in Southeast Asia.
China Makes Deep Inroads into Cambodia
SISOPHON, Cambodia, Apr 10 (Newsmekong) – Chem Hout sits at the Maxxi coffee shop on a busy thoroughfare in this rural town of western Cambodia, waiting for the school bus to drop off his nine-year-old son. When the mini-bus eventually pulls by, it carries the Chinese characters for the local Chinese bilingual school – the enviable choice of Chem and other parents who can afford to send their children there.
Mekong Media Roundup
VIETNAM: Guidelines Seek to Assist Trafficked Women and Children
HANOI - Trafficked women and children would receive more help to return to Vietnam and integrate back into society with the release of ministry guidelines on effective use of the law, a press conference was told here on June 27.
LAOS: More Illegal Migrants Volunteer to Return Home
VIENTIANE - A group of 837 illegal Lao migrants arrived in Vientiane on June 22 after spending years suffering in Thai detention camps.
THAILAND: Land mines Threaten Elephants
Thailand - More than 100 elephants hauling logs on the Thai-Burmese border are in constant danger, as one step in the wrong direction could injure or even kill them.
THAILAND: Landmines Threaten Elephants
MAE SOT, Thailand - More than 100 elephants hauling logs on the Thai-Burmese border are in constant danger, as one step in the wrong direction could injure or even kill them.
CAMBODIA: Chinese Language Courses Popular
PHNOM PENH - While English remains the most popular foreign language among students in Cambodia, Chinese, Japanese and Korean are fast catching up as young Khmers increasingly view them as a gateway to better jobs in the country’s growing industrial and tourism sectors.