Perspectives
by Lia Sciortino
Perspectives
China’s PR Problem Rears Its Head
Johanna Son
.bmp)
CHIANG MAI, Dec 11 (TerraViva/IPS Asia-Pacific) - Powerful neighbour. A rising power. Old friend. Big, secretive investor. Big boy of the region.
These were some of the terms participants at a talk-show format discussion at the Mekong Media Forum used when asked to share the images of China they get from the media.
Reading Media
Johanna Son
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’.
China: Benign Bully of the Mekong?
Johanna Son
SYDNEY, Oct 3 (IPS Asia-Pacific) – Over the last decade or so, China’s deft use of soft power has seen South-east Asian neighbours’ view of it change from a looming threat to a largely friendly, if still imposing, giant to the north.
Products
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.
Opening Borders: Reportage from Our Mekong (2007, 237 pp)
'Opening Borders: Reportage from Our Mekong' (237 pp, 2008), the fifth book in the Imaging Our Mekong series, is now off the press.
The phrase ‘Opening Borders’, which appears in this book’s title, also describes what the 21 journalists whose work appear here were doing while reporting on issues that link at least two countries in the Mekong Region.
2007 Imaging Our Mekong DVD Set
From documentaries that delve into issues of ethnicity to transboundary roads and infrastructure projects, to television features on avian flu, the works compiled in the Imaging Our Mekong 2007 DVD set look at what links the countries of the Mekong Region together.
The Imaging Our Mekong 2007 DVD is the latest compilation of the works of the television fellows under the 5th cycle (2006-07) of the Imaging Our Mekong media fellowship programme.
2006 Imaging Our Mekong DVDs
The Imaging Our Mekong 2005-06 DVD is the latest compilation of the works of the television fellows for the Imaging Our Mekong Media Fellowship 2005-2006, a programme that is implemented by Probe Media Foundation Inc and IPS Asia-Pacific, with the support of the Rockefeller Foundation.
The DVD set has seven documentaries, from filmmakers from Cambodia, Lao PDR, China and Thailand. The first video provides a background on the fellowship activities; the next videos are their documentaries on ethnic groups, food, children, migrants and commodities in the region.
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.
New DVD set - 2007 Imaging Our Mekong documentaries
Just out, the Imaging Our Mekong 2007 DVD is the latest compilation of the works of the television fellows for the Imaging Our Mekong Media Fellowship 2006-2007, a programme that is implemented by Probe Media Foundation Inc and IPS Asia-Pacific, with the support of the Rockefeller Foundation.
IMAGING THE MEKONG DVD SET
This 2-disc DVD is a compilation of the documentaries created by the Imaging The Mekong Fellows for the 2004-05 cycle. DVD 1 provides a background on the fellowship activities translated in the six Mekong languages. One documentary per country is presented in the second DVD. The fellows faced numerous challenges in producing these documentaries, from getting permission to shoot across the border, travelling across and near border areas, to convincing people to be interviewed.
BUSTLING BORDERS: REPORTAGE FROM OUR MEKONG, 140 pp.
From the craggy, grey scenery of Tibet to the warm green and brown colours of the Mekong Delta, this book gives readers snapshots of some of the key issues of the day in the Mekong Region -- drugs, migration, border trade, wildlife trade, ethnic identity, infrastructure development. The book is the third compilation of in-depth articles and photo essays on transboundary issues done by journalists from the six Mekong countries -- the journalists who know their region best, and have a stake in its development.
Mekong's Avian Flu
UID).jpg)
What's New
Mekong ICT Camp 2010
The Mekong ICT Camp (http://mekongict.org), a biannual training workshop on information, communication, and technologies for citizen media, community health, and civil society practitioners in Mekong subregion, is accepting applications until Mar. 31, 2010. Participants are welcome from the Mekong countries, including Burma, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, and Vietnam.
COMING SOON: 'TALKING GENDER IN THE MEKONG MEDIA'
.jpg)
BANGKOK - Do media organisations in the Mekong Region think that gender sensitivity, including giving voices to women, is part of doing better stories? How do they define it within the context of their societies and how do they report on different genders and sexuality? Do they include the use of gender-friendly language in their stylebooks and training programmes? How much is using a gender lens a news habit?