Sensational reporting puts media in spotlight: panelists
By ERIC JOHNSTON
Staff writer
OSAKA -- As profits and audiences shrink, the media are under increasing pressure to compete for readers and viewers, which has led to a growing number of human rights abuses that have fueled a public backlash.
At a symposium in Osaka on Saturday titled "Human Rights and Reporting," about 40 media insiders, lawyers, university professors and students gathered to discuss the backlash and other problems related to journalistic practices in Japan, as well as steps the media itself is taking to prevent human rights abuses.
Much of the discussion focused on the way television journalists report the news.
Shiro Matsuda, a former Yomiuri Television reporter who is now with the Broadcasting Ethics & Program Improvement Organization, which was created in July to monitor television programs, said broadcast journalism faces a number of issues that are different from print media when considering human rights issues.
"A recent trend among private broadcasters has been to buy 'packaged news' reports from outside producers," Matsuda said. "This saves the broadcasters money, because they don't have to pay the expenses of their own reporters and editors.
"But they only see the final product and have no idea how the news piece was filmed and edited. Thus, they can't defend themselves as easily if somebody charges that the news program violated somebody's human rights."
Panelists were divided on the issue of whether or not the Japanese media reports fairly on crimes committed by foreigners, or incidents abroad involving Japanese.
When it was pointed out that many view Japanese media reports of a rising foreign crime rate as sensationalized, Tsutomu Nomura, a local lawyer, agreed there are problems.
The Japan Times: Nov. 30, 2003
Saturday, November 29, 2003
Friday, November 28, 2003
Thought you should all talk a look at this great story from Kai:
Hong Kong Trip Kai Futami
Last week (November 6th), I was absent from class because I had to go on a trip to Hong Kong to help out a friend pick out some accessories to sell in a flee market going to be held in Yoyogi park November 29th and 30th. So I will write about my trip.
I left Narita Airport on the 3rd of November. I went on China Airlines for the first time. It was exciting and a nervous experience because I thought the airline was famous for crashing. We had to stop in Taiwan and then transfer onto another plane to Hong Kong. Taiwans airport had nothing. There was a big enormous soy sauce bottle object spinning in the aiport. It was rare to see such a thing. A beer bottle, I can understand, but why a soy sauce bottle? Anyways, we got to Hong Kong around 12midnight. The first meal?I ate there was wantanmen. Noodles with wantan. Another dish came along. It was fried snake skin. How Yummy, NOT! After eating the noodles, I was told that the meat of the wantan was dog meat. But eventually, that was a lie.
The next day I had yumcha for breakfast and went to a town where they sale wholesale goods. There were many interesting things and very cheap too. I wanted to shop, but I was on a business trip so I could only shop for acessories. We shopped and thenm went horse racing. It was fun. I couldn`t read the horse racing paper so I just looked at the kanji and bet on good names. We won the first bet but lost the other two. It was an exciting experience for me.
The next day we again ate yumcha and we again went shopping for acessories. At night we went to the night market, and there I was able to shop?finally. I had a good time. I didn`t shop much though. Then we went to the famous mango dessert parlor. This was the most delicious meal I had in Hong Kong. Mango with fresh coconut icecream and fruit on the side. YUMMY!! Then we went to Victoria Peak, the famous night sight seeing place. Unfortunately it was cloudy so I couldn`t see much but I was amazed.
The final day came and it was time to go back to Japan. I was again a little bit nervous about the flight. Luckily you can see it turned out all right because I am still here.
It was my first trip to Hong Kong and I found it quite interesting. Before I used to think I Hong Kong is not a very amusing place. Now I think I love it. There are few things in Hong Kong I noticed that are different from Japan. 1-The chopsticks are way longer and thicker than Japan. 2- The escalators move very quickly and people stand on the left hand side of the escalator. 3-The weather was still a bit hot. I could still walk around without a jacket. Etc... I will leave the rest for you to find out. I recommend Hong Kong a cheap and fantastic place to travel.
A picture of me at Taiwan Airport with the big enormous soy sauce bottle.
Hong Kong Trip Kai Futami
Last week (November 6th), I was absent from class because I had to go on a trip to Hong Kong to help out a friend pick out some accessories to sell in a flee market going to be held in Yoyogi park November 29th and 30th. So I will write about my trip.
I left Narita Airport on the 3rd of November. I went on China Airlines for the first time. It was exciting and a nervous experience because I thought the airline was famous for crashing. We had to stop in Taiwan and then transfer onto another plane to Hong Kong. Taiwans airport had nothing. There was a big enormous soy sauce bottle object spinning in the aiport. It was rare to see such a thing. A beer bottle, I can understand, but why a soy sauce bottle? Anyways, we got to Hong Kong around 12midnight. The first meal?I ate there was wantanmen. Noodles with wantan. Another dish came along. It was fried snake skin. How Yummy, NOT! After eating the noodles, I was told that the meat of the wantan was dog meat. But eventually, that was a lie.
The next day I had yumcha for breakfast and went to a town where they sale wholesale goods. There were many interesting things and very cheap too. I wanted to shop, but I was on a business trip so I could only shop for acessories. We shopped and thenm went horse racing. It was fun. I couldn`t read the horse racing paper so I just looked at the kanji and bet on good names. We won the first bet but lost the other two. It was an exciting experience for me.
The next day we again ate yumcha and we again went shopping for acessories. At night we went to the night market, and there I was able to shop?finally. I had a good time. I didn`t shop much though. Then we went to the famous mango dessert parlor. This was the most delicious meal I had in Hong Kong. Mango with fresh coconut icecream and fruit on the side. YUMMY!! Then we went to Victoria Peak, the famous night sight seeing place. Unfortunately it was cloudy so I couldn`t see much but I was amazed.
The final day came and it was time to go back to Japan. I was again a little bit nervous about the flight. Luckily you can see it turned out all right because I am still here.
It was my first trip to Hong Kong and I found it quite interesting. Before I used to think I Hong Kong is not a very amusing place. Now I think I love it. There are few things in Hong Kong I noticed that are different from Japan. 1-The chopsticks are way longer and thicker than Japan. 2- The escalators move very quickly and people stand on the left hand side of the escalator. 3-The weather was still a bit hot. I could still walk around without a jacket. Etc... I will leave the rest for you to find out. I recommend Hong Kong a cheap and fantastic place to travel.
A picture of me at Taiwan Airport with the big enormous soy sauce bottle.
Tuesday, November 25, 2003
Thought some of you might be interested in this:Fellowships
USC Arts Journalism Fellowships: The USC Annenberg/Getty Arts Journalism Program offers six to nine competitive fellowships to mid-career arts & culture writers and editors from print, broadcast, and online journalism to attend a three-week enrichment program in Los Angeles, March 7 to 28, 2004. The expense-paid fellowships cover lodging, meals, travel and a $450 stipend. The intensive multi-disciplinary program is designed to bring the fellows into direct contact with known and unknown artists and arts professionals who work in LA. Highlights of this year's program include New York Times critic John Rockwell as Speaker-in-Residence. Conversations are also planned with such artists + curators + directors as Amalia Mesa-Bains, Osvaldo Golijov, Dawn Upshaw, Peter Sellars, Michael Maltzan, Eric Owen Moss, Deborah Gribbon, John Malpede, Michael Ritchie and Ramaa Bharadvaj. The USC Annenberg/Getty Arts Journalism Program, based at USC's School of Journalism, is funded in part by a grant from the J. Paul Getty Trust. To apply, see http://annenberg.usc.edu/getty .
Deadline : December 8, 2
USC Arts Journalism Fellowships: The USC Annenberg/Getty Arts Journalism Program offers six to nine competitive fellowships to mid-career arts & culture writers and editors from print, broadcast, and online journalism to attend a three-week enrichment program in Los Angeles, March 7 to 28, 2004. The expense-paid fellowships cover lodging, meals, travel and a $450 stipend. The intensive multi-disciplinary program is designed to bring the fellows into direct contact with known and unknown artists and arts professionals who work in LA. Highlights of this year's program include New York Times critic John Rockwell as Speaker-in-Residence. Conversations are also planned with such artists + curators + directors as Amalia Mesa-Bains, Osvaldo Golijov, Dawn Upshaw, Peter Sellars, Michael Maltzan, Eric Owen Moss, Deborah Gribbon, John Malpede, Michael Ritchie and Ramaa Bharadvaj. The USC Annenberg/Getty Arts Journalism Program, based at USC's School of Journalism, is funded in part by a grant from the J. Paul Getty Trust. To apply, see http://annenberg.usc.edu/getty .
Deadline : December 8, 2
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