Here at the WPR blog, we’ve often commented on the usefulness of state-controlled media for sussing out the official line of a particular government on a particular issue. This works best, of course, in states like China where government control of official media is so well documented that its virtually certain that news and opinion articles reflect government wishes. In fact, the Chinese government is so open about using the media to get out the official line that there’s really no analytical skill involved in reading the state-issued tea leaves. Take the subject of Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao’s upcoming visit [...]
Syria’s leading independent human rights group, The National Organization of Human Rights in Syria issued it’s 2006 Annual Report in late-March. Among the highlights, according to an English-language translation provided to World Politics Review by the group’s spokesman Ammar Qurabi, was this assertion about media freedoms in Syria: Press and media freedoms made no progress in Syria this year. Indeed, these freedoms saw a clear decline through systemizing the mono-dimension throughout all media sources, and returning to the usage of totalitarian approach in the detention of writers and journalists … Syrian authorities have full control over mass media such as [...]
If you were reading the blog last week (see “What About KSM?” and “Cuban and American Military Officials Meet Regularly“), you know that WPR Senior International Editor Guy Taylor paid a visit to Guantanamo Bay. We’ll be featuring more of Guy’s reporting from that trip soon in our pages. In the meantime, however, check out this story he filed for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, which, among other issues, examines the question of whether Gitmo’s prison facilities will be shut down anytime soon. Here’s an excerpt: . . . with public and political debate raging over whether the Guantanamo prison ought [...]
