JCI Generol Poper 2009: Moss Medio Tutofol Moteriqls

Ihis brulolity will never breok our willlo be free (Article l)Ihe Poresrine I'mes: i0 Jon 2009lArso publthed in lhe Guot.)ion 6 Jan 2009) By Khotid Mish ot

For lB monlhs my people in Gozo hove been under siege, incorceroled insicle lhe wo d's biggesi prison, seoledoff irom lond, oir ond seo, coged ond slorved. denied even medicoiion ior our sick. AJler the slow death policycome lhe bombordmenl- ln this mosl denselv populoled of ploces, nolhing hos been spored Isroel's worplones,from governmenl buildings lo homes, mosques, hospiiols, schools ond morkeh. More lhon 540 hove been killedond lhousonds permcnenily moimed. A lhird ore women ond children. Whole fomilies hove been mossocred,some while they slepl-

This river of blood is being shecl under lies ond folse preiexh. For six monlhs we in Homos obseNed ihe ceoseilre.hroel broke it repeoiedly irom lhe slorl. lsroelwos required to open crossings io Gozo, ond exlend the lruce iolhe Wesl Bonk. 1l proceeded lo tighfen iis deodly siege oi Gozo, repeoledly culling eleclricily ond wolersupp ies. The colleclive punishmenl did nol holi, bul occeleroled os did the ossosslnolions ond killings. Thirty

Gozons were killed by lsroeli fire ond hundreds ot poiienh died os o clirecl e{iect of lhe siege cJuring ihe so

colled ceosefire. lsroel enjoyed o periocl ot colm. Our people clid noi.

When lhis broken truce neotecl its end, we Jxpressed our reodiness for o new comprehensive lruce in lelurn lorlifting ihe blockode oncl opening {:rll Gozar border crossings, includlng Rofoh. OuI colls fell on deof eors. Yei slill

we would be willing lo begin o new kuce on ihese lerms following ihe complele wilhdrowol oi ihe invodingforces from Gozo.

No rockels hove ever been fired from ihe Wesl Bonk. Bui 50 diecl ond hundreds more were injured ihere lclslyeor ol lsroel's honds. while iis exponsionism proceeded relenilessly- We ore meonl lo be conlenl wilh shrinking

scrop5 of lerilory. o honcliulof contons oi lsroels mercy, enciosed by il irom ollsicJes.The iruih is lsroe! seeks oone sided ceoseiie, observed by my people olone, in relurn for siege, slorvolion, bombordrnenl,ossossinolions, incursions ond coloniol seillemenl. Whot lsroelwonh is o groluiious ceoseiire

The logic of ihose who demond ihol we siop our resislonce is obsurd. They obsolve the oggressor ond occupierormed with the deodliesi weopons ol deolh ond desiruclion of responsibiliiy. while bloming the viclim,

prisoner ond occupled. Our modegl, home-mode rockels ore our cry of proiesl io ihe world lsroel oncl ilsAmericon ond Europeon sponsors wont us lo be killed in silence. Bui ciie in silence we will nol.

Whol is being visilecl on Gozo lodoy wos visiied on Yosser Arofol befole. When he refused lo bow lo lsrqel\dicloles, he wos imprisoned in his Romolloh heoclquoders, surrounded by lonks for lwo yeors. When lhis foiledlo oi-ot -r'e ol, a. ha

^ o -n. dar-o b, poi\or 'ng.

Gozo enlers 2009 jusl l]5 ii dicl 2008: under lsroeli fire. Belween Jonuory ond Februory oi lost yeor 140 Gozonsciied in oir slrikes. And iusl beiore il emborked on iis foiled miliiory ossoull on Lebonon in July 2006, lsroel roinedihousonds of shelts on cozo, killing 240. From Deir Yossin in 1948 io Gozo todoy, ihe isl oi lsroels crimes is long.The juslificolions chcrnge. bui ihe reo i1y is lhe some: colonioi occupolion, oppression, ond neveFendinginjusiice. ll this is lhe "{ree world ' whose "volues hroel is defending. os ils foreign minisier Tzipi Livni olleges, thenwewonl nolhing lo do wilh ii.

lsroel ! eoders remoin in the grip of confusion, unoble lo sel cleor gools for ihe oiiocks from ousiing lhelegiiimolely elecied tlomos governmeni ond deslroying iis infroslruclure, lo siopping lhe rockels. As they ioil lobreok Gozo s fesislonce lhe benchmork ho5 been lowered. Now ihey speok oi weokening Homos ond limilingihe resisionce. But they wilt ochieve neilher. Gozo s people ore more uniled ihon ever, deiermined noi lo belerorised inlo submission. OuI fighte6, ormed wiih the iuslice ol their couse, hove o reody coused mony

cosuoliies omong lhe occupolion ormy ond will lighl on to defend lheir lond oncl peop e. Noihing con defeolorrr will 1() be fiee.

Once ogoin, Wcrshinglon ond Europe hove opied to oicl ond obel lhe joier' occupier ond oggressor, ond locondem; its viciims. We hopecl Borock Obomcr would breok wilh GeoTge Bush s disoskous legocy bui his sloll is

not encouroging- while he swiflly moved to denounce lhe Mumboioilocks, he remoins longue iied ofler l0tovioirf"ugit;1

'n cozo. Bul my people ore nol olone. Millions oi freedom loving men ond women slond by ils

stn_,qqte tor istice ona liberotion witness doily prolesls ogoinsl lsroeli oggression, nol only in ihe Arob ond

lslomic region, bul worldwide.

lsroelwill no doubi wreok unlold desiruclion, deoth ond suffeing in Gozo. Bul il will meel lhe some fole in Gozo

osildidinLebonon-Wewillnolbebrokenbysiegeondbombordmenl,ondwillneversurrenderlooccupolion.

* Kholid Mish'ol is lhe heod of the Hdnos polilicol butedu

Where were lhe proleslers when missiles were hilting lsroel? (Adicle 2)

fhe Jerusolem Pasf: Jon 12,20a9 By Beniomin Pogtund

The deolhs ond moimings of civilions in Gozo is lefiible ond wrenchlng. seen on lelevision ond in newspopers,

lhey ore driving innumeroble people in mony ports of the world io go inio ihe slreets lo proiesl ogoinsl lsroel's

ollock on Homos.Ihe proiesis ore Jierce ond ongry,Iuelled by lroged;es like the killing ol 46 people when thelsroeli ormy shelled o school building in lobolyo refugee comp, ond in ihe deoth ot o fomily of seven.

Bul where were the proiestors when missiles were folling on soulhern lsroel? Hod lhey come inio lhe streets lhenoncl demonded ihol Homos 5lop iiring we woulcln l hove the gory mess in Gozo lodoy

The rockeh ond morlors lirststruck on April I6, 2001 . Since ihen, there hove been more ihon 6.300 Losl yeor's

iollwos more lhon 3,000.

For much of ihe lime ihe rockels were primilive Qossoms wilh smo I worheods Howevel smoll, they kill os

efleclive y os ony hiqh iech qrenode iouncher. The missiles hove been geiiing deocJlier: Kolyushos ond, morerecenlly, Grocl missiles hove been reoching ludher inlo lsroeJ, siriking lowns 25 miles Jrom Gozo

Cosuollies from ihe rockels hove mercifully been light, with oboul20 deolhs Thol is noi due lo ony lock oiirying by Homos. lnsteod, il s becouse of oir roid sirens which give people less lhon o minule lo gel into sheller.And luck: Losi week o missile hil o schoolj coloslrophe wos ovoided becouse lhe children hod been senlhome. A kindergorlen wos bodly domoged lhis week: ogoin, lhe children were ol home.

A million people now live under ihreoi ol lerror crttock. Life is siroined ond uncerioin

The governmenl hos never been oble lo resolve the quondory of commonding one of the worlcl\ mosl modernormies oncJ yel beinq powerless io holl low lech rockeh ond bornbs. ll sfill hunh for o solulion-

Public clemonds mounled for horsh oclion. For every rockel lhoi lcrnds, fire bock o shell, soid some; or for onerockel, one shell, for lhe nexl rockel, two shells, ond so on. Oblilerole Gozo, soicl olhers. Some, o minorily,collecl for ending lhe siege of Gozo ond greoier elfods lo lolk io Homos.

The governmenl urged reskoinl. Thol become more clilJicull wilh o generol eleclion due on Februory 10.

De{ense Minisler Ehud Borok, hi5 Lobour poriy sliding in opinion polls, pul his polilicol coreer on lhe llne byrefusing to lel ihe ormy go in. His view wos o lhe slronger becouse he wos previously chiei of slolf ond is thecounlry's mosl decoroled soldier for brovery. Those pressing lor wor clid noi undersloncl whot il meoni, he soid.He wos bocked by ormy chief Generol Gobi Ashkenoziond Prime Minislel Ehud Olmerl-

Thev ieored ihoi o morsive ollock would couse heovy civilion cosuoliies crnd loss of soldlers lives.

Ihe tuming poinl wos November 4. lsroel soys Homos wos ciigging o lunnel lo kidnop soldiersi it foiled the ploiby killing 5even mililonh. Homos soys lhis wos o provocolionj it sioriecl iiring rockel5 en mosse, ending lheunwrilien ceoseiire in eftecl since June. Missiles hod siill loncled cluring thot iirnei only 38, bui enough for sroel

lo soy il wos reoron tor il lo inlerrupt the llow oi iood ond good5 inlo Gozo.

ln ihe lhird week of December, mole lhon 200 missile5 slruck. They wele 200loo mony. Borok ond Olnred

occepled they could no longer hold bock. The olmy wos ordered 10 put inlo eilecl plons which hod olreody

Why did the world keep silenl for so mony yeors? Could onyone reolly expecl lsroel lo do nothing for evermore?

Thot there is much onguish ond onger oboul Polestinion sulfering while lhere wos so liille response 10 whotlsroelis were enduring roises worrying quesiions. Are proiestots giving venl io genuine compossion for Polesiinionviclims, or is ihere somelhing dork oncl ugly under lhe sudoce in singling oul lsroel os though ihere hos neverbefore been o wor in which innoceni civilions ore lrogicolly cought in the fire?

How else io exploin lhe extreme condemnoiion oJ lyoel? The oulpouring of so much holred ond lhe wild obuseof longuoge ond history in occusoiions of 'genocide," 'Holocousl" ond lhe Worsow Ghello ?

An officiol of lJnrwo, lhe Uniled Notions relief ogency, wos on lelevision this week wilh o long ond possronoie

coll lo end ihe lsroeli ollock. But nol o word oboul whot led lo it. Why do he oncl olhers speok os lhough lhelsroeli onsloiJghl come oul oJ noihing, wilhoul reoson or couse? why, loo, is lhere silence oboul Homos firing ofmissiles from ihe heorl oi civilion oreos?

Diplomotic moves ore underwoy oncl will, hopefully, quickly leod to o ceosefire But lsroel hos mode very cleorlhoi it insisls lhot there be no more missiles wheiher by Homos or ils cronies ond lhol Homos nol be ollowed losmuggle in new weoponry. The ceoseiire will be of little occounl unless lhe world ensures thot ihis is done ondthol on eJfeclive mechonism is pui in ploce io moinloin il-

The siory, of course, is mlrch more complicoled. lt hos io do with lsroe \ blockode of Gozo ond ils ollempl,unsuccessfully, io use ihis lo turn lhe people lhere ogoinsl Homos. ll hos lo do wiih Homos rejeclion of lsroels

exisience ond reiusol to forsweor violence, ond ils power slruggle with Foloh li hos to clo wiih lsroel's

occupolion of lhe west Bonk crnd the slow moves lowords creotion oi on lndepenclenl Poleslinion dofe.

lhe fulure ior bolh lgroelis ond Polestinicrns depencls on resolving ihese issues. Ending ihe onslought on Gozo

ond ho ting missiles roining on sroel ore the lmmediote cruciol sieps

lhe witer i5 dieclot al Yokdls Cefter lr)rSociol Cofcern i. le.usoJem. Solih Africon bor., he wos dep!ry edriat at lhe Rahd Doilv Moit

wh--n the .ewspoper wos clo5-ad .towf. Hc ho5 wri,le. boor5 obo ul Robert sobllwei Nel5on Mo.delo; ond the ptest rn'iet aponheid He

ij co ediror ofJhored hhlor'es:A Po/errjnio. hroeJiDiorog!e.

Activily 1: Reliobilily of medioReocl the lwo orlicles on lhe recenl Gozo conilici ond discuss lhe to lowing quesiions:

I ) Whot is the view oi eoch wriler on ihe Gozo conflici? How do the views diiier?2j How does the writer suppori hi5 view? (Evidence, longuoge used, eic) ls lhere o discreponcy in ihe locls

providecl on lhe conflicl belween lhe lwo oriicles?3) whot do you think is lhe iniendeci eifeci of eoch odicle on lhe reoder?

Fighting the Medio wdr in cozd

IIME: Jon i4, 2Cu9 By Andre|| Lee Buhea / Jerusolem

The orivol of Somuel J. wurzelbocher, o.k.o. Joe ihe Plumber, ot ihe kroeli border town of sderol on suncloycoused o minor sensolion omong ihe membets oi the foreign press who were cqmped out there.wurzelbocher, who gol his lirst l5 minutes of iome os o prop for John Mccoin during losl yeor's U.s. eleclioncompoign, hos swopped his plunger for o reporler's noiebook on o mission lo cover the Gozo wor for lheconservolive websile Pojomos TV. [Jnoble io see much of the fighling himself, Wurzelbocher who dudng theeleclion compoign worned lhol o vole ior Borock obomo wos o voie for lhe deslruclion oi lsroel- picked ofighi of his own. Turning on his new colleogues in the ioreign press corps, he groused, You should be oshomedof yourself. You should be poirioiic, prolecl your fomily ond children, nol repod like you hove been doing torlhe posi lwo weeks since ihis wor hos slorled. His comploinl, il seemed, wos ihol he wcts seeing loo monyrepods ot civilion cosuollies inside Gozo.

But lhe reolity is ihot Weslern reporiers hove done litlle repoding from ihe ironi lines o1lhis lolesl phose of theworlds mosl repoded conflici. Borred by lsroel{iom enlering Gozo even betore the firing siorled, mosi foreignreporlers con only gel neor ihe wor zone by chosing down lhe occosionol rockel seni by Homos inlo lsroel. siill,lhe press hos once ogoin found ilself coughi in o diiferenl kincl oi cross tire: lhe propogondo bollle, ocross ollmedio plotforms, belween lyoel ond Homos {ond the supporlers of eoch) ior inlernoiionol sympolhy. And thereoson Joe lhe Plumber is ongry is thol, despiie {ond perhops olso becouse of) lsroels ovelwhelrriing militorysuperiorily, lhe Jewish slole is losing on the propogondo troni.

The lyoeli governmenlt rnedio operolions ore ihe most sophigiicoiecl in ihe region, oncl ils extensively plonnedhosboro compoign of public odvococy swung inlo high geor olmosi os soon os lhe currenl offensive begon.lsrcrel ond ils odvocoles ore slres5ing o brood iheme lo frome lhe conilicl rockei fire irom Gozo is onexislenJiol lhreoi irom which lsroel hos o righf to deiend itself, they orgue - ond lhey ore seeking lo limiireporling on civ ion guflering in Gozo by chollenging how rnuch lime or spoce medio outlels cjevole io suchimoges ond by emphosizing lhe greoi core being ioken by lsroeli solcliers lo ovoid huriing the civilions behindwhom lsroels enemies ore hiding.

Meonwhile, lsroeli polilicions ond punclih ore consionily on lhe oir poinling Homos os on implocoble, genocidolioe. Deiense Minisier Ehucl Bor.rk iold Fox News, For us lo be osked io hove o ceose fire wilh Homos is likeosking you io hcrve o ceose fire wiih crl Qoedo * clespile ihe foci lhoi lsroeloncl Homos hod, in ioct, ogreedvio Egypi lo o six monih ceose firelusl lost June. And lsroeli mililory spokeswomon Mojor Avilol Leiboviich is

conslonlly reqssuring TV oudiences worldwide lhoi lsroelilroops ore going ihe extro mile 10 ovoid colloierqldomoge in Gozo- However, some lsroeli officers speok more blunily when lheir oudience is domesiic. ("We orevery violenl,'lhe commonder of the lsroeliormys 6lile comboi engineering unil, Yoholom, lold lhe lvoeli p.ess.

''We do nol bo k oi ony meons lo prolecl lhe lives of our soldien.') When lsroeli forces shelled o Unitecl Notionsschool lhol letl more lhon 40 deod, the sroelimiLiiory initiolly did iis besi io bock ih cloirn (denied by locol U.N.

officiols) ihot ihe school wos being usecl by miliionk to fire ot sro--liforcet by releosing video iooioge from 2007

showing militonis lighting lrom ihe cornpound.

Homos' propogondo efforis ore cruder ond rely on ihe civilion cosuolties inilicied by the lsroelis lo wininiernoiionol sympoihy. Homos iighleG hove shed iheir uniiorms ond blended inlo lhe civillon populolion.hiding weopons ond communicolions 5yslems in houses ond rnosques- Thol moy hove coniribuied lo o deoihtoll so lopsided thol il speoks louclel thon ony lsroe i press officer _- oncl weokens Homos polilicol rivol, lhemoderole Po esiinion Aulhorily Presideni Mohmouci Abbos.

tsroels decision lo keep lhe weslern press oui of Gozo moy olso hove bockfired, becouse its given o monopoly

ol coveroge lo lhe more inllommolory reporting of Arob sotellile television siolions strch os ol Jozeero ond olArobiyyo,;hich moinloin bureous in cozo. And while lhere ore mony excellenl Poleslinion journolisls working

for lhe weslern press in Gozo, there hove been some exomples of doctored phologrophs ond suspicious-

looking videos s;owing civilion suifering. Conservolive blogs hove singled out one video of doctors trying lo

resuscitole lhe brolher of lhe cNN comeromon ocluolly shooting lhe video, ond suggested ihol ii wos reolly o

re enoclmenl.

while medio wors ore por for lhe course when lsroel ond the Poleslinions closh, lhis lime lhey seem lo be

following the lrodit'onol meclio's migrolion lo ihe lnlernei.lhe hroeli miliiory spokesmon's oifice hos ils ownyouTub; chonnel {it hos recorded more lhon L5 million views), while Homos is lrying io counier wilh o websile

disploying its videos ond imoges. Bloggers hove joked thot ihis is the tirsi wor lo be covered by Twitler- the

lsroeli Fo;ign Min6try hos in tocl been conducling public cleboies on the sociol messoging service -whilehockers hove been infillroling lsroeliwebsiles ond leoving onii lsroelslogons

The more limiled role of lrodiiionol medio in covering this wor hosn'i prolecied ii from criticism by lsroelis. The

Jerusolem posl on Tuesdoy published on oriicle olleging wo d medio bios ogoinsl lhe lvoeli operolion in Gozo

ond occusing TIME mogozine of leoding lhe chorge wilh ils cover slory lhis week'

ullimotely, of course, lhe perceplion of lsroel's mililory compoign will be determined by evenls on the ground.

Even lhen, imoges w l ploy o vitol role, which is why the fighiers of bolh sides ore wellowore of lhe need ioplodUcewhoilheyhopewiilbeihedefiningpiclureorVicleoclipoiihewor.Forisroel,lholmighimeonimoges of o recognizoble Homos leoder k1ied or coplured, wh1e ior Homos, phologrophs of o burning lonk or

coptured lsroelisolciier would be o greol p ze

As much os eoch side seeks io spin ihe wor os odvoncing their overoll vision, lsroel hos yei to orliculoie o cLeor,

workoble exii plon thot will ochieve ihe wo/s objectives withoul reoccupying Gozo. Meonwhile. Homos constock civilion bodles like cordwood for lhe ccrmeros ond procloim ihe virlues of ils sleodfosl resislonce bul ilhos otfered ihe Poleslinions no explonotion ol how ihis fighl willodvonce lheir noiionolgools. To mony o

foreign iolrrnolisl, then, ihis wor conjures crn !moge wiih which Joe ihe Plumber will be fomilior: lhe proverbiol

pig whose nolure con't be disguised by ony omounl of lipslick

\vilh repaning by Jomil Hanod / .lerlsolem

Quesiions lo consider:

I ) Whol role does lhe lsroel governmenl hove in offecling ihe Weslern repoding of lhe recenl Gozo conilicl?

why hos lhis bockfired on lsroel?

2) Exploin how ihe medio hos been used or monipuloted by bolh lsroel ond Polesiine in o bid to goin

sympoihy from lhe world.3) Whot discreponcy is there belween inlormotion releosed lo lhe domeslic medio in lsroel os compored lo

ihose releosed lo lhe foreign medio? How does ihis otlect reliobilily ol lhe news reporls?

4) Apiclureismorepowedulthonmerewords'Howi5ihisproveninihemedioworinGozo?

Responsibility qnd press fteedom go hond in bond

Ihe Siroiis Imes: Feb 9, 2006 B/ Prilom Singh

THE oclion of lhe Dulch newspoper Jyllonds-Posten in publishing corloons solirising lhe Prophei Muhommod is

sure to go o long woy in proving Somuel Huniinglon s Closh Oi Civilisotions lhesis righl.

His ossessmeni oi civilisolionol conflicl does no fovours lo the nolion ot o progressive humon society, ond lhesubsequenl oclion of o slew of Europeon newspopers in republishing lhe corioons in lhe nome of press

ireedom hos provided connon fodder lo the couse of AlQoedo ond oiher lslomic ieffor groups, furlherolienoling ihe Muslim mojority who obhor vlolence ond seek greoler cjiologue lo repoir lheir'Osomo lornished'r6pulolo'1.

Press freedom hos pul poid to mony dictotors, criminols ond ossorted bod guys.

Bul ils obilily io couse inlongible domoge ond provoke lension connot be !ndersloled.

Loie losi yeor, ihe Moloysion governmeni premolurely opologised lo Chino lor on incidenl in o Moloysion lockup in which o Muslim policewomon mode o'Chinese noiionol' perform repeoled eorsquols in lhe nude,osiensibly lo eject illegol subslonces from her body covilies.

The incideni wos widely reporied ln o locol Moloysion newspoper-

Like ony responsible governmenl, Moloysio look oclion lo oved Iociollension ol home ond inlernolionolemboffossmeni obrood.

As il lumed oui, loler inves goiions reveo ed lhol lhe Chinese noiionol'wos in focl o locol Moloy.

Therein lies lhe dllemmo suffounding press lreedom - who moniiors ihe occurocy ol press reporis?

Newspopers ond their edilors regulorly cloim lhey run o business like ony olher.

This view belies the privileged position of the press os o lhoughl engine, opinion shoper ond inielleciuol

The pres5 is no ordinory business. ond ihe Donish Prime Minisler. in o sincere opology lo Muslims worldwide,mighl hove mode o slronger cose for lhe responsibllily ihol comes wilh the power of lhe wriiten word.

Nonelheless. lhere hove been suggestions lhol ihe infomous corioons were o reileclion ol o Europeon concemover ihe inobilily oi iis Muslims lo inlegrole ond lhe concomilont Muslim ghello-isolion .

Whie lhis moy hove some bosis, the convoluied ond complex issue of iniegrolion oughf lo remindgovernmenls concerned lhol lhe problem is o iwo woy streel, ond ihot ihey oughi 1o ioke equol .esponsibilityfor inlegroling their new cilizensi o responsibilily 5ome governmenis hove devolved lo on orguobly misplocednolion oi individuol lreedom.

Europeon governmenls would do well lo odopt o less possive ollllude ln deoling wilh it5 voriolrs minoriiy ondreligious communilies who could do wilh some siole sponsored empolhy-

Jyllonds Poslens misconceived ideo oi freeclom helps exploin lhe regulor lociol slurs heopecl upon blockployers in vorious pods of Europe, bul porliculorly during Sponish soccer molche5.

The some mi5conceived nolion of freedom olso exploint ihe oudocily of lhe Sponish notionol toccer leom s

monoger, Luis Arogones, in relering lo Thierry Henry, o block French footboller crnd ombossodor ogoinsl rocism

Such behoviour is closely porolleled in ihe ltolion copitol where seclions of AS Romo ond Lozio soccer fonsregulorly breok oul in foscisl ond neo-Nozj slogoneering.

Given such Europeon 'freedom ond liberlies, the re-publicolion of -iyllonds'Posien's corloons in llolion ondSponish newspopers is no surprise.

For lhe record, Arogones wos fined 3,000 euros {s$5,800) ond Romo hos lo ploy one molch behind closeddoors.

ln Hollond, where lhe corloons were olso republished, Dutch society's poinful experience with lhe cold-bloodedmurder oi producerTheo von Gogh in 2004 by o Muslim who fell lhol lhe tormer hod disporoged lslomillusirotes lhe norrow line lhol seporoles religious sensilivilies ond odislic licence.

Bui lesl lhe Dulch forgel, ihe hollowness ol United Notions peocekeeping mondoles in lhe 1990s

notwiihstonding, it wos their peocekeepeA who in 1995 sioocl powerless os 7,800 to 8,000 Bosnion Muslim menwere mossocred by Serbion forces ol Srebrenico, on event thol precipiloled mlrch soul seorching in jheNelherlonds, lo ihe credil oi every Dulchmon.

lf onybody, lhe Duich edilors who republished lhe inflommolory corloons should hove been in lhe besl posi onlo ulilise lheir press freedom wilh the nolionol cothorsis of 1995 in mind.

The imporlonce of such nolionol hislories should be remembered os lessons ior fulure generolions.

Crilicolly, respecl forlhe sensilivilies ot ony communily, religion or minorily on the one hond, ond press Jreedomon the oiher, need nol be viewed in zero sum lerms.

Press ireedom musi be monoged in o monner refleclive of the cenlrol posilion the press p oys or oughl io ployin socieiy.

Rolher lhon hove ihis responsibilily reguloied by governmenls, the press needs lo set high sionclords tor ilsell.

When the Tolebon in 1999 took ihe Jotefuldecision lo fire rockel'propelled grenodes ot ihe sloiues of Bi-rddhoin Bomiyon, Afghonislon, lhey lhreolened to cemeni lhe perceplion of lslom os o ioilh oi inloleronce-

By disploying indifference 10 Muslim sensitivilies oboul clepiclions oi the Prophel, one wondels ii ihe Tolebonond -iyllonds-Posten ore iwo sides ol the some coin one lighling ior o couse wilh o convenlionol wecrpon, iheolher wiih o drowing pen.

fie wri,er is o Reseorch A5rocio,e o he,rstilute ofJouth-edsi Ation Studies, Sttgopore. fte optnions exp/essed hete qe his own.

Aclivily 2: Regulolion of lhe lnlernel

Reod lhe following orticles. ln lhe 2'd qrticle Mr. Poin soid "surveillonce is much eosier in cyberspqcelhon in the reol world." Whol is your opinion? Whol ore lhe limitolions of online censorship? Shouldlhe Inlemei be reguloted?

Article I

The lomily of leochet Jone Longhu6l - whose killer wosioiled lot life for murder - is demonding lhe closule oflome pornogrophic internet siles. Bul is lhol possible, podiculorly if lhey ore siled oulside lhe UK?

The inlernel is not o legolvocuum ond, occording io ihe lnternel Wolch Foundoiion, service provide6 oreexpecled io implemenl reosonoble, proclicoble ond proporlionole meosures lo hinder lhe use of ihe lnlerneifor illegol purposes. The queslion is, whoi is illegol? Thot which conirovenes lhe low ol lhe couniry in which lheconsumer of ihe moleriol lives or is ofiected by ils conienl-

And iherein loys o mojor problem. Whilsl it is possible thol some of lhe hord core siies visiied by Grohom Colrilswho wos iound guilty on wednesdoy oJ rnurdering Ms Longhursl - breoch lhe obscene Publicoiions Acl, lhe

focl lhoi ihey ore hosled by service providers (lSP si bosed overseos. meons lhol lhe UK oulhorilies hove nojurisdiclion lo ocl. Where lhe moieriol originoles oulside lhe UK, ihe lnternel Wolch Foundoiion will otlempt totroce ihe source ond poss deloiLs to the Ncriionol Criminol lnlelligence Service. They will then lioise with thepolice in the couniry concerned. But whelher o siie is closed down os o lesult depends very much on iheoitilude of ihe ISP hosting il ond lhe level oi oworeness of lhose proclucing lhe imc,ges.

Blocking silesEighleen monlhs ogo, on inlernolionol lnlernel poeclophile ring colling itselt the Shodowz Broiherhood wosbroken up by lhe police. Bul il hcrd evoded low enforcers for some yeors by using sophislicoled encryplion oncl

con5ionily swiiching lSPs. ln lhe losl two yeors. heightenecl concern oboui child obuse hos led lo o number ofcounler meosures. Perhops lhe mosl high-profile wos the clecision by Microsofl to withdrnw ih UK chol roomselvices.

Bul where obscene or pornogrophic moleriol oimed ol odulh is concetned, ihe some consensus does noi exisl.

Consullonl Roy Wyre soid: The inlernel hos deve oped on lhe money lrom lhe pornogrophy lnduslry ondconlinue5 io do so. The censorship oi oclult pornogrophy even ot lhe exkeme end seems now o non-sloder''lhe foci ihot the bulk oi lhis mole o originoles in lhe ljs, where lhe Fir+ Amendmeni hos proviclecl o bor iocensorship, is olso relevonl,

The iechnicol meons lo bon occess lo ceri,fin siles is ovoiloble. There ore crny number ot blocking sofiworeprogrommes, some oi which work by plocing on eleclronic pod ock on siies which conloin porliculor wolds or

lellers- But lhere ore problems- For exomple, occording io oulhor Alon Trovis, blocking siies wilh ihe leiters s, e

ond x in ihe iiile slops occess noi only lo sex siles but olso lo lhose io do wilh Mors exp orolion-

BBC News Thursdoy. 5 Februoly 2004

Ariicle 2ln less thon l0 yeors Chino hos gone from o nel newcomer lo lhe counlry wilh lhe world s second-lorgesl onlinepopulofion.

The firsl iniernolionot lnlernel dolo from chino sloded irovelling ocross lhe nei in 1994. yel now lhe counlry hos

more lhon tOOm nel users. Thoi puis ils second on y to ihe US wiih ils I85m web users. Bul Chino looks sei io poss

lhol wiihin o tew yeors especio ly when you consider lho I Chino s nel users replesenl borely 8% of ilspopulolion. lf chinese nel use grows io lhe levels seen in ntony wesiern nolions, il coulcl end up wilh 750m

people regu ory going on ine. Bul cLrrrenlly the experience oi the overoge Chinese nel user differs greoily from

ihol oi mony in lhe Wesi.

p(lri ol the nel s ollure lo wesiern users i5 ihe sense of freedom ii gives them io look ol, reod, ond soy olmosl

onylhjngiheywonl.Byconllo5i,ChineseneiUsei5mUchmolecilcUmsclibecl.Ml,chhosbeenmodeofihesoco led dreol Firewoll of chino ihol censors whol peop e see using lechnology buift in io ihe counlry's bosic nel

infroslruclure. The chinese outhorilies hove used severol melhods lo 'bonitise' whot people see online,occording lo o report from us firm Dynomic lnternet Technologies, which wolches nei use ;n the counlry.

On lhe mosl bosic level, the firewoll blocks nel oddresses hosling webpoges lhot the ouihoriljes would rolherpeople did nol see. Anyone trying ro visit rhese poges geis tord ihot lhe [oge connot be found or does norexisl. More sophisricored fireworr technorogy spors when peopre ore seoiching ihe web for porricuror wordsond hijocks iheir sess;on to slop ihem getting the informolion.

Aho chino hos chonged ils core nel oddress books, known os Domoin Nome servers, which iell o useiscompulerwhere ro iind o porricuror webpoge on the ner. The siles blocked by these techniques incrude rhemony deoling wiih toboo subjects such os libei ond Folun Gong os well os the BBc News websile, seorchengine coogle, sex sires such os proyboy ond mony brogs- There is arso on entire deporlmeni of the poriceio , e ll'ol pohols online.

But despjte the sophistlcolion of lhese lechnologieg, ihey ore nol infollible. To begin with, blocking on enlire neloddress con slop people geiting ot oll the inlormoion on o webpoge, some of ,,ihich might be ;hliv;lyneutror. Numerous reports show thor mony of chinot ner users kno;how to get oround these resiricrioni. theweb oddresses of proxies, thoi help users see bonned poges, ore wel known:Mony ociivisr orgonisoiions in rhewesi help poss on ihe oddresses of rhese poges ond ser up new ones when ord ones ore shui-down. Equo ylhere ore ptogroms produced by firms such os Dynoweb ond Ullroreoch ihol lei peopte see bonned siles ondgel e-moil from overseos.

The iechnoloqy crrso hos some emborrossing hores. For insronce o ve^ion ol the Googre webeiie coled Ergoog(coogle sperred bockwordt rhoi occepts queries orso wri en bockwords opporenfly sfips through ihe firJwoii

Bui whol does moke o difference is ihe responsibililies ihe Chinese ouihorilies heop upon notive nei servicefirms, soicl Xioo Qiong, heod of lhe Chlno inJernel projecl ol lhe Universily of Colifornio Berkeley ond oconlribulor lo the chino Digiior News blog. The governmeni rnokes every digrlor enrerprise, online hoslingservice ond commercior porlor occounrobre for whot ihey pubrish, he sord.

;if they don r. rhey won r be obre rodo business in chino. This sronds in controst ro mony wesrern nolions which regord nel setuice firms oscommon corriers, which like posiol services, ore nol responsible ior whol cusloirers do.

Nel cofes hove ro obide by o srrict series ol guiderines thoi govern where rhey con be siied, whor services rheycon offer ond how rhey musr monitor whor cusrome^ do. Those ihor do nol cornpry ore shut down. rn 2004,more ihon 47,000 ner cores were shrrr for breoking rhese rows. This reods io o roi ;r serf-censorsrip onJ o- - '

wiilingness by privole firms lo co operole wiih governrnenl moniloring of whol peopte <1o online, soid JulienPoin, heod oJ ihe iniernel ireedom <jesk ol Reporiers Wilhout Borders:

'The inlenlion is ro creor rhe web of subversive morer;ol," he soid. The moniioring of commenrs posred in choirooms ond on bullelin boords is quile oggressive, soid Mr poin. Now, he soid, lhinks io oulomoiic censoringsyslems unclesirobre posrings onry rosr o lew minures. Less thon r8 months ogo, such posrs wour<1 survive tor"uplo 30 minules, he soid.

The consequences of posring sLrbversive informorion, be ii oboui Tiber, Forun cong, or even 5.,rs con besevere This week Amnesiy rniernoiionor rereosed o reporr ihoi highrighled the number of peopre imprisoned ioru reL'or I rnor nlgchompioning humon righh in Chino. Mony were io'led for poslinq-I r-lor.norion online. , Ltrentl\ 'z oFoole o,Fihoughi to be in joil becouse ihey were judged to distribuied ill;-qol' informolion vio the nel

Mony ocJivists used io lhink ihot lhe more people thol were ontine lhe horder ii woutd be lo censor. soid MrPoin. Bul, by conrrost, censorship of poriricor clebore in chino seems io be getiing more eifecfive. we orelolking obour soiiwore rhof's reo[y efficienl, he scrid, ond when you novei oo mition or zoo mittiu0o wnen you nove tUU mttron or 2O0 million people iidoes noi moke ony difrerence. The resources rho he chinese government puis in io monitorinq dworis iheq clworfs ihe:-r1?1r-:f_11.^::1"i.t Sroups workins to combot it. soid Mr poin: ":urueitr"nce i, -uln-.<,siu, i" ir,"rr.rrp.." ii ."in the reolworld.

BBC News 8 Morch. 2005

Aclivily 3: Rolionole behind censorshipReod lhe following qrJicles ond discuss wheiher or not you feel lhe censorship is vqlid.

Adicle Achino's popers see long- term consequences lor lhe medio over ils initiolhondling ollhe Sols epidemic.

'When we previous y deolt wilh public crises, il wos ike o iighlLy closed dujce or pressure cooker ond mollen were lockedowoy very lighily, ihe Zhongguo Qingnion Boo (Chino Youih Doily) soys. Everyone knows if ihe volve on o pressure cookeropens, o person con be hud by the steom that blows oul. The plblic. il commenis, wos previously lefi uninforrned. leodingio ihe spreod of rumours.

BBC, 25 Apil, 2003

Ariicle B

A debote hos begun omong medio commenlolors overwhelherlhe Brilish medio should give"lhe oxygen of publicity" lolhe kldnoppeE ol Ken Blgley. Some orgue lhot showing videos mode by lhe Bilons coplors merely plays into the hosiogetokers honds ond encouroges lerrorisrn.

Others disogree, soying ihot such videos ore news. and thol io refuse 1o show ihem would be o poLilicol oct of censorhip.

Prime MinislerTony Bloir, in o inlerview for Sundoys observer newspoper. soid the hosiogeJokers holding Mr Bigley were'monlpuloling lhe medio in pu$uit of then gool of desiobilising lroq. He soid they be ieved: ihey con use ond monipulolelhe rnodern medio io goin enomous publiciiy for ihemselves ond pui democrotic politics ond poiliclons in o very difJicull

Adion Von-K overen. BBC s head of newsgoihering. iold Todoy ihe videos conloined reol informolion . He odmilied thehostoge siluoiion wo5 on incredibly clifficuli areo . Bul he soicl it wos vilo io show vldeos ond imoges from ihe hoslogeiokers wilh contexi ond explanotion . He soid: The reolily is lhese people hove been kidnopped. ihere ore the videos, ondthe videos conloin reol informoilon. Thev conloin reol informolion oboul demonds being mocle by lhe iefforlsls. theycontoin reolinformolion aboul whelher peope ore deoclor oive.

BBC, 26 Sepfember, 2004

Article CA bonflre of Horry Potter books hove been bLrrni on o bonfne in New Mexico. by people occusing ihe ficllonol boy wizord oibeing lhe devil. JK Rowling s novels were burnl olongride olher iiems contidered lo be lhe work of the devi. including ho(orbook5 by Stephen King. ouijo boords ond AC/DC records. Eminem CDs ond copies oi Disneys Snow whiie iim were thrown

The congregoiion of ihe Christ Communily Church in Alomogordo in southern New Mex'co heord an onii-Horry Poiierserrnon in which Postor Jock Brock cloimecl lhe chorocier ioughl children io toke up wizordry. Behind ihol innoceni ioce is

the power of solonlc dorkness, he soid. Harry Potler is the devil ond he it detlroying people.

BBC.3l December.200l

Arlicle DMoloysio bons Afrleck s Doredevil

Ben Afftecks Lotest supehero movle Doredevilhos been bonned in Moloysio for being loo violent. Censors bonned !heoclion fil'n becouse ediiing out whoi lhey lhoughl wos unsuiloble woLrld hove mode !i meoninglessThe fim s siuctio, Twenlielh cenlury Fox, is oppeoling lo lhe Film censorship Boord lcl chonge ih decision. Bul ihe bon is

unlikely lo hove o greoi irnpoci os pirole vicleo ond DVD copies hove oreodv flooded lhe morket

Mo oysio s Depuiy prime Minisler Abduttoh Bodowi soid lhe mojorty of fims were possed by ihe censorship boord. He soid

fitm5 were onty bonned tf they conioined exces5ive violence ond sexuo moieriol or e ernenls which con creoie choos in

ihe communiiy . Most of ihe time. censorship is odequole ir on y some ponions of lhe film require censorship, bul if ioomLrch censoBhip is requlred. moking lhe {i m meoning sss. il is ben bonned. he lold ihe couniry s Slor newspoper'BBC. 14,Februory. 2003

Sinqopore upholds Jonet Jockson bon I

Officioh in Sinoopore hove lhrown oul on oppeologoint o bon on Jonel Jocksons olbum, AllFor YoLr. The PublicaiionsAppeol Commiiiee, o ponelof ocodemics ond professionols, considered lhe oppeol by record compony execulives. Theydecided thoi ihe lyrics of lhe olbum, podjculony one song, wouLd You Mind, were nol occeploble lo our socieiy - Therecord wos iniliolly oullowed becouse ol ils sexuolly expllcil lyrics". The song lyrics include I just wonno louch you, ieoseyou, lick you. p eose you, love you, moke ove io you.

Disiibutor EMlis now ollempling o compromise by lrying lo peKuode Jocksons managemeni to delele Would You Mindfrom the olbum. This would moke the olbum more occeploble in Singopore. However, Jockson fons con slilloccess onddownload the ofiending song ftom the intetnet

Slngopore officiols bonned Jocksons previous olbum, The Ve vel Rope. becouse three of lts songs conloined lyric! oboulhomosexuolily. Singopore, o conservolive ciiy siole, is nolorious ior ils lighl conlros on ollmedio ond iorits promotion ollomily-oriented Asionvolues".

BBC.5 June,200l

d l 16cln lhe Modo Hedogh cose, lhe Moloy press ployed up lhe ongle (in ils words ond piclures) lhot the Dulch gl brought up oso Mudim by o Moloy lomily wos now torced io loke uplhe Chrislion religion.lhe dory was reod by the Musim communilyor o cose of religious injustice ond o riot broke oul leoving l8 deod ond I73 wounded. Evenis like these ore used lo iunifylhe need for censorship in o mu iirocioi /mullne igious society. where the unimpeded flow of ideos insleod of leading 1oenlightenment con someiimes hove negoiive effecis.

.-,,o hpo^dr-or..l ^ rrgopor6 D6r'Dp lr\phtip://www.isoc.orq/HMP I P AP ER I t 32 I lxl /pope.'lxt

Ariic e GGlobol blockbuder The Moiilx Relooded hos been bonned in Eqypl becouse ol its violenl conteni ond becouse il tockles

The couniry's censorship boorclsoidi Delpile ihe high lechnoogy ond fobulous effecis oflhe movie.ll expiciiy hondlesihe rsue of exislence and creoiion, which ore reloted to lhe lhree divine reiglons. which we o lrespecl ond believe in.

Ihe movie tock es the issue of the creotor ond his creolions, seorching ihe origin of cr--olion ond ihe issue of compulsionond free wil, il soid. :luch reLigio'Js i5sue5, roisecl in previous limes, colsed cises. Violence olso ployed o pod in thedection, the commillee soid. Screenlng the movie rnoy cause troubles ond hom sociol peoce, occording to the

BBC. ll.iune,2003

Arlicie H

Rop lobe bosr Rulsell Simmons hos goiecroshed o LIS Senoie censorship heoring io le 5enolor thot the lyrlcs of rop musicwere nol lo blome for socielys iLs. Simmons, who founded lhe inUuenlictlDef Jom lobel. hod been refLrsed permission lo beo wiiness ol the hearing but wos o lowed lo 5peok ofler he turned up on Wednesdoy. The heoing discussed lhe seporoieroiings synem lsed for mlsic. films ond elecTronic games. ond lo exomine wheiher o unlversol syslem wou d b-o eosier forporenls.Ihe entertainmenl indunry hos orgued thoi lhis would nol work, os eoch medi!m is differeni.

Simmons orgled ogoinsi any fudher rerlrlciions. Some ot lhe songs yoLr moy find offensive prolest songs ond oiher songsore ocluolly o reileciion oi ihe reoljiy thoi need5 lo be erpressed, he soicl. lhe reol issue is how do we oddress iheseissues. Aclor Wiliom Boldwin oho tenified ot the heorlng. orguins thot the medio did noi couse violent behoviour. The corecouses ore drug ond olcoholobuse, divorce ond lomily breokclown ond phy$colond sexuolobuse,'he soid. the culprihore neglect, povedy, mentolillners ond eosy occessto fi'eorms.

nterest in lhe influence on ch'dren oi ihe enlerlarnmenl rndLrnry hos rnTenrlned $nce o repori osl yeor by ihe FedFroiIro.leCommission lt occused the indusky ot toulinely ond oggressively morkeling sexuolly explicil ond violenl lilms, videogomes ond songs to young5le6.

Ihe Senoie Governmenlo Affon! Cornmillee is choire.l by Democrol loseph Liebermon. who hos compoigned ior nricTerconlrol! on The enierio nment medlo. porlicu ory ihose amed ol ch dren. tiebermon soid thotthere wos o growins senselhol lhe medio preoccupotion with sex ond violence wos hoving o hormluleffecl on Americos children.

Ihe music indusiry olreody ploces porentol odvisory "explicil conlenl lobels on records wilh sexuolly grophic orviolent lyrics,but does not give detoik of the offensive moleriol. Some members otCongress ond porenlol odvococy groups hoveorgued lhol lhis opprooch is ioo vogue, ond thol porenis should be given more deloils obout conlenl, os hoppens wiihlelevision ond fllm rofings.

BBC,26 July. 2O0lArticle I

The censorship ol music with conlroversiol contenl i5 o lhreol lo lhe future ol music oround ihe world, o top Alricon sinserhosworned. Zimbobweon musicion Thomos Mopfumo. who moved to the Uniied Stoles ofter his music wos bonned byRobed Mugobes govemmenl, soid he feored musicol lolenl wos being repressed like never before.

Mony counties oround the world, including the US, censor music in voriouswoys. occording io lhe Free Muse orgonisotion,which odvocoles fiee musicol expression oround lhe globe- Censorship is porliculorly severe in o npmber ofdevelopingcountries, where music con hove o big impoct on ihose who heoril. lhey soy.

'We in ihe west tolk obout lhe prjnled press as so impodont - thols how we gei to know ihings, soid Free Muse s execllivedireclor Moie Corper- Especlolly ln lhose counlrles where lhe writlen word ir nol thoi lmporionl - counlrles where peoplecont reod ond wrile - music ond rodio i5 the moss medio.

She soid mlrsicions such os Mopfumo sow ihemselves os o voice for ihe voiceless , Aulhoriiies iJse o brood ronge oftechniques to suppress music ihey feelthreolens their power, she soid.ln Mopfumos cose. vorious trocks crilicolol Mugobehove been bonned. Every piece of rnusic lhol is cilicol ol ihe governmenl is noi ollowed lo be ployed on lhe rodio, hesoicl. Whoever critiches the government is 6n enemy ol lhe slote. Thol disiurbs me o loi.'

ln the US itself. there ore cerloin forms of censorship. Ms Coper soid. sLrch os music impo.is from Cubo. And lhe Fe.leroLCommunicoiions Commhsion {FCCJ hos ihe power lo Jine .oclio stoiions ihoi ploy records ii considers indeceni . ln onecose, singer Soroh Jones found she hod been reslicled becouse hersong conloined lhe lyrics your revo ulion wil nolhoppen belween lhese thighi. She oppeoled ogoinst lhis decision ond won. Rop singer Emlnem hos comploined thol ihetCC woni let me be in his song Wilhoul Me.

Meonwhile. mony rodlo siolions refLrsed to poy r-^cords by ihe Dixie Chicks ofler their comment thol lhey were oshomed'Presideni George w Bush come from lheir home siole of Texos. lsveryeosy locensorihe press, forinsionce, becolsenewlpope^ need big offices, ond lhey need repoders, soid Andy Morgon. journo isl and co orsoniser of Molis Fesiivol inihe Deseri. Music cdn be produced oulside o counlry, it con be smuggled in, it con be dislfibuled, il con be copied odinfinitum. Even if lhe censorcould soiher up olllhe cDr ond cossetles ond burnthem. the songs would slillbe in people s

heods'which mokes it so much more powertul.

Free Muse s Ms Corper is ollempling lo enob ish o globo netwo* of infomonh io help build up o complele picture ofcensonhlp oround the world. Bul she 5oid il wo5 prevo enl in mony Alricon ond lome Asion couniries, incUding Afghonition,Moloysio, Burr.o, Chino, ond Singopore. The mosi exlreme exomple, however, i5 Notlh KoIeo. Theie, lhe onlv music thol is

ollowed is lholwhich sewes revolulionory ideos. So "lhe only music considered ot onyvqlue i5lhol which glorifiesthe GreolLeoder ond lhe revolutionory dspects of society , exploined Simon Broughlon, edilor ol mogozine Sonqlines.

Even in Nodh Koreo. insirumenh ore permitted somelhing nol o lowed under lhe Tolebon ln Afghoniston. l1 wos feoredinnrumenis woud be o drslrociion from the leochings of lhe Koron. ond theywere seized by ouihoiUes ond hung from thetrees in effigy. Governmenls ore scored ol musicions," Mopulo concluded. When lmusicionslsing songs,lhev educotelhepeople, io moke people know whot ir reolly hoppenlng in lhis world,lo moke people know their mislokes-

BBC. 28 Moy. 2004

Adislg,lHisiory hos shown thol the ellobished ollhorily ofien fohey oppresses iclea! lhoi ole oler shown lo be lrue. Golieo Goieiwrote a book ctoiming lhot the eorth was noi the cenler of the univerle. His ldeo5 were podiculorly powe.fLr becou5e he

hod rnlrch evidence slrpporiing his ideos orising from ihe use of ieescopes he deveoped. h 1633, lhe cotholic church,which tound ihe Copenicon ideos endorsed by colileo herelicol, bonned the book ond lorce.l Golileo to reconl hh ideos.

Todoy, not mony people willoflempl lo deny lholthe esrth is the cenler ollhe universe

''Censorship oncl Book Bonninq Connoi

Aclivily 4: Censorship in Singopore

sinocpore & lhe foreion press

ln 2006, the Singopore governmenl bonned ihe sole ond disiribulion of the For Eoslern Economic ReviewJocolly.Quesiions:

o) Whol ore the reosons why the Singopore governmenl look such o drostic move ogoinst the journol?b) Why d'd the Singopore governrnenl nol bon occess io the publicolion's websile?

The mrbrown soooln 2006, mrbrown wos suspended from TODAY newspoper oftea his orticle 'Singoporeons ore fed, up wiihprogressl' {hiio://www-mrbrown.com/bloo/2006/07llodov sooreons .htmu wos published in luly. Three doysofler lhis oriicle oppeored, o leller from K Bhovoni, Press Secrelory to MICA, wos olso published(hiip://www-mrbrown.com/bloo/2006/07llelier irom mic.htmll. A hot debole obout censorship in lhe mediosoon followed oiler mrbrown's suspension ond lhe subsequenl resignolions of Mr Miyogi, o fellow blogger ondTODAY columnisl, os well os lhe eclilors of TODAY by the end of 2006.

Todoy, mrbrown is siillconiinuing wiih his podcosls ond blog, www.mrbrown.com, on which he stillexpresses hisopinions oboui evenls in Singopore.

ln the 2006 Nolionol Doy Rolly, PM Lee olso mode references lo lhis issue:(excerpi from speech) "Mr Brown is o very iolenled mon. Jn focl, he is Mr Lee Kim Mun. lf you listen lo hispodcosts, they ore hilorious. And he is entitled lo his views ond eniilled lo express lhem. Bul when he lokes onthe governmenl ond mokes seious occusotions. os he did in ihis cose, becouse he soid the governmentsuppressed informolion before the eleclions which wos owkword ond only lel it oui oflerwords. Then thegovernmenl hos io respond- Firstly, 10 sel ihe record slroighl ond secondly, lo signol thoi ihis is reolly not ihewoy io corry on o public deboie on nolionolissues ond especiolly noi in lhe moinslreom meclio."

To whot exlenl should ihe "moinslreom moss medio", poriiculorly wilh regords lo columnisl b oggers likemrbrown, be subjecl io censorship?

Iodoy's Counler-Enlighlenmenl

Prolecl Syndicote: acl2006 By Rolf Dahtendan

Noi long ogo, one might have concluded thol. ot leosl in Europe, ihere were no loboos lefi. A process thot hod begun withihe Enlighlenrneni hod now reoched lhe poinl oi which "onylhing goes." Podiculorly in the orls, lhere were no opporenllimils lo showing whol even o generotion ogo would hove been regorded os highly offensive.

Iwo generotions ogo, mosi countries hod censors who nol only lried lo prevenl younger people from seeing cerloin filmsbui who ociually bonned books. Since lhe 1960's. such proscriptions hove weokened until, in lhe en<1, explicit sexuolit/,violence, blosphemy while upsetling io some people - were toleroled os o pori of the enlghtened world.

Or were lhey? Are ihere reoly no llmils? Ouiside Europe, lhe'onything goef'oltilude wos never fully occepled. And therewere limils in Europe, loo. The hisiorion Dovid lrving is slillin deiention in Ausirio Jor the crime of Holocolsl deniol. This is, io besure, o speciol core. The denial ot o well documenled lrL.rlh moy leod lo new crimes. Bui is lhe onswer to lhe old queslion,"Whoi is lrulh?" olwoys so cleor?

Whol exocily ore we doing if we insisi on lurkey's ocknowedgemeni lhol lhe Armenion genocide did loke ploce os ocondilion of iis membership in the Europeon Union? Are we so slre oi Dorwin's theories of evolulion ihoi we should bonoll-raoli. ^ no'ior. o' gFra\: ror \ hoo\?

Ihose concemed with freedom of speech hove olwoys wondered oboui its imits. One such limit is ihe inciternent toviolence. The mon who geis up in o crowded iheoler ond shouh. "Firel" when there is none is guilly of whol happens in theresulling (ompede. Bul whol if there ocluoly is o fire?

rhis is the context in which we moy see the invosion of lslornic loboos into lhe en ighiened. mosliy non liomic word. Fromihe lolwo on Salmon Rushdie for Ihe Soionic Ve^es io the killing oi o nun in Somalio in response to Pope Benedicl'sRegensburg eclure ond ihe Berlin Opero's concelloi'on of o performonce of Mozori's idomeneo . wiih ih severed heods oireligious founders. inc uding Muhommod, we hove reen violence ond inlimidotion used to defend o poriiculor religion's

Ihere ore quenions here lhol are nol eosiv on5wered by civilized defenders of ihe Enlightenmeni. Tolelolion oncl respeci iorpeople who hove lheir own beliefs ore ghl ond perhops necessory io preserve on enlighiened wor d. Bul ihere is lhe otherside io conlider. Violeni responses lo unwelconre views ore neverjustiiied ond cannol be occepted. Tho5e who orgue iholsucide bombers express underslondobe grudges hove lhemselves sold oul thek freedom. Self-censolship i5 wo6e lhoncenso15hap iiie f. beco!se il socrifices freedom vountorily.

Ihis means thot we hove lo clefend So mon RL.rshdie ond lhe Donish corloonisls ond the friends of /clorneneo , whelher welike ihem or nol. lt onyone does nol ike lhem. there ore oll ihe lnslrumenls of public debote ond of crilico cliscourse lhol oneniqhtened communily ho5 ot ii5 disposol. li is oso lrue thot we do nol hove lo buy ony porticulor book or lisien io anopero. Whol o poor world il woud be if anylh'ng lhol might offend ony group could no longer be soidl A multicultLrrosocieiy lhol occepls every loboo of ih divere groups woulci hove lillle io lolk oboul.

The kind of reocilon we hove seen recenly lo expressions of views lhol ore offensive io rome does nol bode well for lhetuture of ribe.iy. ll is 05 if o new wove of counieFenliqhlenmeni is sweeping the world, wiih lhe mosl reniclive viewsdominoling lhe scene- Agoinsi such reociions. enllghtened views musl be reosserted strongy. Defending lhe righT of oLl

peope to soy lhings even if one detests lheir views is one of lhe first principes of liberiy.

Thus, kJomeneo musi be performed. ond Somon Rurhdie mun be publishecl. Whether on edilor publishe! corloonsoffensive to betievers in Muhommod (or Chisl. for lhol moiier) i! o moller of judgr.ent, o nrost of toste. rnighl nol clo i]. bultwoud neverlheess clefencl the righi of someone who decicles oiherwise. tis deboloble whelher recenl inciclenls oflhBkin.l requne o "dioogLre beiween religions. P!b:c debole moking cleor coses one woy or lhe olher seems moreopproprlote thon conciioiion. The goins of enightened discourse are too precious 10 be lurned inlo negoliobe volues.

Defendlng those goin5 is ihe losk lhol we now foc,-

Queslions io considerl

I whol .1o you ihink the wriler meons by en ighieneclwo .l ?

2. whol i5 ihe polni ihe oulhor i5 tryinar io moke in posing ihe 2 que5lion5 in porogroph i?3 Exp oin ihe wr ief s orgumeni Setf,c ensors hip ii worse lhon censorship ihelf. becouse ii soc.ific es freedom volunlorilY '

4 whot is ihe wrii-oas siond lowords Solrnon Rurhclie s Soionic verses, ihe Donlsh corloonish ond ldom-'neo? whv?

I .*"'"n sense lo selt-censot

New vork Times syndjcoler reb 20,2006 By Rabe'l Wbhl

THE Americon Lefl ond righl do nol ogree on much, bulweeks of demonslroiions cnd embossy burnings hove pushed lhemlowords convergence on one polnt there is, if noi o closh ol civilkolions, ol leosl o very big Cop beiween lhe Weslernworld ond the Muslim world.

When you get beyond this consensus - lhe culiurol chosm consensus ond osk whol lo do oboul lhe problem. lhere is less

ogreement. After oll. chosms ore hord io bridge.

Fodunolely, this chasms size is being exoggeroled.lhe Mlrslim uproor over those Donish cotloons is not os olien 10 IJS

cuI/ao ^11a on(lil^loll .t.

Even mony Americons who condemn ihe corloons publicoiion accept the prenise ihol the now fomous Donishnewspoper ectiior set out lo demonsirote: ln the Wesl. we do nol generolly lel inieresi groups iniimidoie us inlo whoi hecolled self censorrhip.

Whot nonsense. Edilors oi rnoinsirearr Americon medio olrtleh de eie words, senlences ond i;oge5 lo ovord offendinginleresl ctroups, especiolly eihnic ond religlous ones. li is hord lo cile exomples slnce, by definilion, they do noi oppeor- Bui

u5e your imoginolion-

Mr Hugh Hewilt, o conservotive blogger ond evongelicol Chisiion, come up with on opl comporison lo lhe ProphelMuhommod corloons: A corioon of Chrills crown oi thoms lronsformed lnlo nicks of TNI ofler on oboriion clinic bombing.Ar he noled. thol corloon would offend many Arnericon Chtuiions. Thal is one reoson why you have noi seen ih ike in omolnslreom Americon newspopef.

Or. opporeni y. in mony moinslreom Donish newspopers- The poper lhol published the Muhommod codoons il ilms oul,hod eorier reiecied cortoon5 of Christ becouse. os the Sundoy edllor exp oirred in on e moilmessoge lo ihe codoonisi whorlbmilied ihem. they would provoke on oulcry.

Defenders of the chosm thesis might reply lhoi we5len edliors proclise self censorship lo ovoid conce led subscipiions.pickel lines or odvertising boycolls, noi deoih. ndeed, whol lorged the chosm consensus. convincing monv Americonslhol lhe Muslim wor d mighl os well be onolhel plonei. is ihe imoge of hon figger violence o few iffeverenl drowingsoppeor ond embossies go up in flom-as.

Bui the more we leorn obout ihis episode. the less it ooks like sponloneous combuslion. The iniiiol Muslim response lo lhecodoons wos nol vlolence bul smol dernonsholions in Denmork o ong wiih o lobbying compoign bY Donish Munims lholcronked on ior monihs wilhoui moking it onto ihe wo d s rodor screen

Ony ofier ihese ociivish were snubbed by Donish poilicions ond found synergywilh powedul po ilicions in Muslim sloies cllcl

big demonstrotions ensue. Some of lhe denronilrolions lurned violeni. bul much of lhe vioence seerns lo hove been

orcheslroled by siole goveinmenh. ierrorisi group5 ond olher cynicol poliiicol ocior5

Besides, who sotd there is no Ameicon lrodilion of using violence lo moke o pojnl? Remember lhe urbon iols of lhe lt60s.slorling wilh ihe Wolis ioi of 1955.ln which 34 people were killed?

tn the woke of ihe rioiing. btocks got more spoce. The Notionol Associolion lor ihe Advoncemenl of Cololred People hocl

been prolelting ogo nsl the broodcost of the Amos n Andy show, wilh ils co5i of shiflless ond conniving blocks since ihel?50s. bul only in 1966 cli.l CBS wilhdrow reruns lrom dlstribulion

There i5 no woy Jo e5iobtilh o c ous ol tnk, but ihere is lltt e clolbi lhot the iols of lh e I 960s heighiened s e nsilivlty togrievonc e5 obo Lri lh e po.troyo o f b oc ks n lhe medio. {Tronnoiion: rreighte ned se f c enso6hip )

Am d the corioon proiesis. some conjervolive bloggers hove womed lhol oddressing grievonces expressed violenilv is o

folm ofoppeosement thot wit bring more vioence ond weoken Wesieln volues- Bul oppeosemenldid nol work ihot wov

in irre 19605.

Ihe Kemer Conrmisston. sei up by presideni Lyndon lohnson in 1967 io nlr.ly lhe riols, recommended lncreosed olleniion lothe probtems of poverty. job oni houttng d scrimln.rlion on.i unequol educolion oltention thoi wos fotlhcoming oncl thol

o.o .ol-. I r', po^ ..1- oo of o - '.

Irigger vs luel

IHE commission recognisecl lhe difference belween whoi l ggers on uproor {how police hondle o lrolfic siop in Wotis) ondwhot fuek it {disctiminotion, poveriy, ond so fodh). This recogniiion hos been spo6e omid the corloon uproor, os Americonsfixoie on lhe queslion oi how o drowing could inflome millions.

Answer: li depends on which million you ore lolking oboli.ln Gozo, much oflhe ociuolfuel come fio.n lensions with tsroetis;in lron. some fundomentolisls nursed long slanding onli-Americonism j in Pobsfon. opposilion lo ihe pro Western ru1ingregime ployed o role; ond so on.

Ihis diversity of rage ond undedying grievonce complicoies ihe cholenge. Refroining lrom obvious offence to retiqious'ar 'orlf,a. w lro oe FnoLg..

Siill. lhe offence in queslion is o cryslolline symbol of the overoll chollenge, becouse so rncrny o f lhe gne vonc es c oo e rce no 5ense lhol Musims ore nol respecied by the ofluenl. powedu West fiusl os ioiing Americon btocks feti ihey were notrespecled by offluenl, powerfuL whites). A cortoon ihot disrespech hlom by ridiculing Prophei Muhommod is boih jiggerond exlremely high octone iue.

None of this is io soy ihot there ore nol big differences between Americon culture ond culture in mony Musim ports of ihewond. ln o woy, thol is the poinl: Sonie diilerences ore so big, ond the job of shrinking them so dcrunting. thot we connotofford 10 be uncleor on whoi the biggesi differences ore.

whol is nol o big difference is lhe Muslim demond tor lell-censorship by mojor medio oullets. Thot kind ol setf- censorship isnot just on Ame con trodition, bul o lrodillon lhoi hos helped moke Ameico one ol the mosi hormonious multi,ethnic ondmulti-religious socielie! in the history olthe world.

5o why nottokethe modelthot hosworked in Americo ond oppty it gtoboly? Nomety: yes, you ore tego yfiee to pub shjust oboui onylhing, bul il you publish thlngsthol srotuilously onend elhnic or religious groupr, you wil eoln the scorn otenlighlened people everywhere. wilh freedom comes responsibitity.

Of course. it is o lwo woy slreel. A! Wesierners lry lo oJiune ihemselves Jo the sensi vilies of Musims. Mu5 ims need iorespeci the sensilivilies oi, ior exomple, Jews.

Bul ii i5 goi.g lo be hord for Weslerners lo sel Murlims lhis symmeiricol prif cip e whie flogronlty viototing il ihemsetves. ThotDonish newspoper eclilor, olong wiih his Americon defendefi, is cornpticoiing the fighl ogatnst onji-Semilkm.

Some westerners soy ihere is no symmelry here thoi codoons obout lhe Hotocousi ore nrore offensive ihon codoonsoboui Prophel Muhommod. And, indeed.lo Lrs secuorisls ii moy seem clear thoijoking oboLri the mLrrder of millions oipeope is worse lhon mocking o cod whose ex-tence is dispuled.

Bul one kevlo the Americon formulo lor peoceful coexisience isto ovoid such orgumenh - to tet eoch group decide whot jtfincls most offensive, so long os ihe implied toboo is not loo onerour. we osk onlylhoithe oftended group in iurn respectsthe verdicls of olher groups oboul whotlhey lind most offensive.

Obviouny, onti 5erniiic ond oiher hotefulcorloons wilnol be eliminqied overnighl. {h the oge of the lniernet, no form ofhole speech wil be elirninoled; lhe orgumenl is oboul whoi ofrpeors in moinslreom oLri els lhol ore grontect legiiirnocy bynoiions ond peopes.)

Bul the Americon expetience suggets lhot sleodfosl sell-resiroinl con bring progress. ln the lt6os, ihe Notion ol tstom wqsgoining momenium os ils leoder Elijoh Muhommod colled whiles bloe-eyed devils who were obout to be exterminofed inkeeping with Allohs will.

The Nolion ol lslom hos since dropped in prominence ond, onywoy, hos dropped lhot doctrine. peoce prevoits in Americo,ond one lhing thol keeps il

's skict self-censorship.

And noi j'J5i by media oulleh. Mo5i Americons ireod ighlly in disclssing eihniciiv ond ielqion. we do ii so hobtn,o[v ihot it is'o on-,1 ctl ol 1' o.t oa.t o^dno,o-rtr b ritoso.oto "o",,,' " ,o,o/-^ot.-o,

lhe 5hoe5 of olher people, you connoi reoly grosp lheir frusiroiionr ond reseniments. ond you connoi reo v know whcrtwo! d ond would nol offend you if you were pod ol their crowd.

Roberl Wrtght, ollhor ol Ihe Marol Animol, is d seniat fetto|| a! the New Ametico rouhdotion_

Queslions lo consider: (Common iense lo seJlcensori

l. Whol is the 'chosm' menlioned by the witer ln the second porogroph? Give two exomples of this 'chosm'menlioned in lhe odicle.

2. Why does lhe oulhor believe thol the 'chosm is being exoggeroied'? (porogroph 3)3. Whol is ihe ouihor's ottitude lowords the Muslim demond for sellcensorship by mojor medio ouilels?

Exploin your reoson.4. Whol is lhe ouihor's view on press freedom?5. Exploin lhe irony thoi exisls when lhe Donish newspoper published lhe Prophel Muhommod ond not lhe

Chrislion - cenlric ones.6. Whot possible problems do you think will oise when every cullure respech ond prevents the publicotion of

whol the other culirrre fin.l\ "mo\t offen\ive"?

Who soys newspopers ore dying? They con feed hunger for focls

NEWSPAPERS ore in o iunk. The migrolion of reodeB ond odvedisers to ihe Net is huriing iheir finonciol well-being ond cousing iheir stock prices lo ioll. Singopores English,longuoge newspopers hove been lorgelyspored lhis poin so for, oi leosl - bul mony in the resi of the Fnglish speoking world, including some of lhe moslfomous nomes in the industry, hove noi.

Polilicions oncl inlelleciuols ore olso in o funk. Wilhoul the common plollorm lhol brood cosling medio provide,how is o communily lo conducl o conveEotion with itself?

Democrocies requile on engogecl cilizenry lo funclion. Bui how ore cilizens lo engoge wiih one onolher if lheyore froclured inio lens of lhousonds of muiuolly exclusive, delerminedly norrow cost groups on ihe Nel?

Pro-g ol)olisen meel in one corner; onli globolisers jn onother. Experls worning of lhe congequences ol globolworming pul iorword lheir orgumenls in podiculor websiles; the sceplics disploy lheir wores in olhers. The pro-Xcrowd whips ilsel{ inlo o lother in one hole; lhe onli X crowd does so in onolher. I believe ond engoge onlywilh lhose who believe os I do - lh-6refore I om

Ihe Stro',i tmes:sep 16, 2006 By Senid WileL Jonodos Deron

These ore oli very reol problems ond we should not minimise lhem. But itwould be helpful loo if we tried to puilhings in perspeclive.

Secondly, il is nol lrue lhol oll newspopers ore osing lo lhe Nel. Some. like Norwoys Schibsled group ofnewspopers, hove ocquired drong online presences. Schibslecl online operoiions coniribuied 35 per ceni oi ihoperoiing profih lost yeor.

Becouse Deoniocs lolked on y lo fellow Deoniaics oi Deonioc websiies ond iolked pos I everyone e se. Thelnlernel reoly is o nofiow-cosling medium when ii comes lo po i1ics. il con be cr powerful omplifier. bui ii tenclsto shriek. i con convince ihe olrecrdy convinced, bui polillcs clemonds o wider medlum io engoge ihe whole.

Adniittedly, wiih online reoders genero ly looking ol lewer poges lhon prinl reoders ond lending to look oithem, furihermore, in o hophozord ond frogmenied woy , occording lo The Economisl il is nol eosy io ollroclodveltisers io on ine pub icolions. According to one onolysl. newspopeB need belween 20 ond lO0 reodersonline lo moke up for losing jusi one prini reoder'. Accorcjing lo onolher, ihey need l0lo moke up for one-

Slill, lrodilionol medio componies ore nol doing loo bodly on the Ne1. According io o sludy releosed this weekby Veronis Suhler Slevenson. o privole equily group, troditionol US medio componies will goin 37 per cenl of theU5$22 billion (S$35 billion) expecled lo be spenl on online ond mobile odvertising in the US this yeor, up trom 23per cenl in 2000. Trodiliono medio's on ine odvedising revenue is in focl growing fosler lhon even Google s qnd

Ihild y. il is nol o foregone conclusion ihot the Nel will lroclure polilics irredeemobly. ll is undoubledly lrue ihoilhe Nel hos mode ii eosier for oll monner oi ling e-issue groups lo orgonise. Bul il is olso uncloubledly lrLre ihotwinning elecilons remoins o moller of potienl coolllion bujlcling, someihing nol eosily occomplished on lhe Nei.

Consider whot hoppened lo Dr Howord Deon s compoign for lhe 2004 US presidenliol nominoiion. He wosqulnlessenlio ly lhe lnlernei condidole. There were more ihon 200 pro Deon websiies. He roised olmosl oll hisfunds ihrough ihe Nel. And yet, ot his Iirst electoroliesi in lhe lowo coucus, he implodecl. Now come?

Firstly, the difiicullies newspopers foce connol be orcribed wholly lo reoclers migroling io ihe Nei. Surveys in iheUniied Sioies show thot only l8 per ceni ot Ame cons use the Nel os o primory news source. An engogecJminorily of ihe young cerloin y clo exploil ii for news ond opinion, bui ihe vosi rnojorily use il primorily lor emoiling, gomes ond olher diversions.

The problem here is nol lhoi lhe young ore irolling the Nei Ior ollernolive or dubious sources of news. Theproblem is ihey ore simply nol inieresled in ihe news.

Finolly, is it reolly the cose lhot the Nel is on inherenlly onli-rolionol medium? People ront ond rove in lhe

blogosphere, lroditionolisls comploin. People ore enlilled to lheir own opinions, but lhey ore nol eniitled to their

owi focts. os lhe lote Doniel polrick Moynihon put it once- On lhe Nei, one finds nol only opinions, bul 060

unsified focloids mosquerodinq os obsolule lrLrihs

I hove io confess lhol I loo somelimes feel lhe wo d is coming lo on end when I ioke o peek ol lhe goings-on

in cholrooms ond in the blogosphere. sometimes, ihe online fringe does oppeor like lhe fringe of o sponish

showl ihere seems lo be olormingly more fringe lhon showl. And lhen, someihing like wikipedio, the onlinefree encyclopoedio, comes olong, ond one's foilh in humonily is restored

Wikipedio hos over 1.3 million odicles in English olone, compored to Encyclopoedio Brilonnico's 120,000. ll is olso,

for o produclion dependenl wholly on obout 200,000 volunleer contribuiors oncl freelonce edito6, omozinglyoccu;ole. A receni Noture exqminotion of 42 enlries on science iopics found ihot Wikipedio hod four errols forevery three oJ Bilonnico s.

Wikipeclio, though, is not utopio. Some enlries hove been libellous- Poliiicions hove been known iosurepliiiousjy chonge orticles on themselves 1o moke ihernselves look belter. wikipedio hos hod lo oppoinlodminislrotors lo check on conliblriors obusing their editoriol privileges Online commiliees hove beenesloblished lo mediole dispules. some enlries, like lhe ones on us Presidenl George w. Bush ond lhe lsroeli

Poleslinion conflicl, hove been lhe subieci of such inlense ediiing won, lhey hove hod lo be closedtempororily.

siill, despiie oll its shorlcomings oncl djificuliies, il is osionishing how ofien Wikipedio gels it right- Mony of its

eniries, like lhe recenlly feolured enlry on Tylonnosourus or lhe oriicle on globol worming, ote excellenl.Exchonges omong ih conlribuiors ore more oflen thon noi polite ond produclive

The pimory reoson for ihis is Wikipedio s insisience ihoi ih enlries musi reflecl o neulrol poini oi vlew ond lheirconienl mult be verifioble. As Nonyong Technologicol Universiiy Assislonl Professor Cherion George poinlecloul in o recenl lolk, ihe only woy conlribulors con ensure lheir eniries ore noi chcrnged by oihers is lo be os

iocluol os possible. To hove lhe losl word, you hove to oJfer iocls, not prejudice. Wikipedio s success reflects ohunger for focls.

ll is lhe some hunger lhol newspopers hove troditionolly filled. Becouse of lechnologicol chonges, ihey will

foce consicleroble finonciol pressure in lhe coming yeors. Bul os long os people desire verifioble iocls onclinformed opinion ond os ong os societies need o common spoce io meef on the imporionl issues of lhe doynewspopers will turvive oncl, wiih sorne luck ond consideroble skill, lhrive.

Queslions lo consider: (Who sovs newsDopers ore dvinq? Thev con ieed hunqer for foclsl

ldentity ihe orgumenls sLrpporling lhe slcrnd ihol ihe iniernel is loking over lhe newspcrpers Whol ore the

oulhor's rebutlals tor ihose orgumenis?

Whol is ihe moin reoson lhol newspopers sllllconiinLre io serye our hunger for inlormqiion? How does the

oulhor bock ihis up?)l

r)

posl - spork o revolulion?film-oroblog

queslion on the minds oi some PAP polilicions, even os Aims releosed ils recommendolions foron Singopore poliiics-on how to rnonogc lhe r ew medro \ ir iluenL^

ond ll-ol .onlenl ho\l' <hoLlo be 5pored lrom defornojion suir5.

forlh: lhol lhe Governmenl should be more octive in engoginglhol children should be beiler proiecled ogoinsi cyber dongers;

While Aims hos rightly emphosised thoi ecluccltion rolher ihon censorship should be the long term solulion whenil comes io consuming new medio, lhis nofion cu(enily opplies only 10 prolecling chilclren ogoinsl the likes ofpornog ophy or Clbar bullyir q.

One cruciolelemenl hos been leil oui: the implemenioiion of medio educolion in schools ond in pubLic. Pod oflhe requiremenis of o functioning clernocrocy is o well educoled populoce ihol is medio liierole ond well-equipped io discern belween bolonced oncl follocious conient-

When ciiizens become medio literole, 1eor5 ihol unsovoury iilms ond dissenting blogs will couse unresl omonglhe poprrloce con be minimised.

While it is highly unlikeiy we will see o revoli onylime soon in peoce loving Singopore, ihere is no doubl lhotpowerful films con be o medium of influence. Mosl medio reseorchers ogree lhol lhere is o correloiionbeiween violence os ployecl oul in lilm ond the oggression disployed by ils viewers.

The governmenl recognises ihol whot is porlroyed on iilm con hove powerful repercussions in sociely. Thol is

why we siill see o cerlcrin omoLrnl ol ienloliveness wilhin ihe ihree recornmendoiions put forth by Aims tolock e Secllon 33 of lhe Filrns Acl.

Consider lhe mosl liberol recommendoiion lhol wos expounded in ihe reporl: in#eod ot on imme.liole oncliolol removol of Seclion 33j o groduol repeolwos preferred, ond wilh consiont moniloring from onindependenl oclvisory council. Liberolisoiion is indeed unchorled terrilory ior the government ond os PM Leesold during ihe Nolionol Doy Rollyi "We ore feeling our woy forword slep by slep... looking lor one slone oi olime os [we] cross ihe river."

The Medio Deve opment Authoriiy (MDAI does recognise the imporlonl ot meciio literocy here, ond it hos o seiof guidelines for educolors leoching lhem on how 1() implemenl medio liierocy inlo lhe school curriculum.While medio lilerocy is lought in cerloin lerliory insliluiions here like Singopore Polyiechnic, ii is siill not enough.

The lniernei hos mode il eosy for ony kind of conlenl lo reoch lhe mosses. while mony of lhese ore no doubigem5, olong wiih ihe wide open f oodgoles of informolion comes lhe flolsom ond jeisom os we L Wilh YouTube,onyone con moke o poliiicolfilm oll the person needs is o video co mero ond some poliiicol views. This

creoles o 'long ioil'of polilicol fllrrs. which meons lhoi olong wilh on increose in lhe quoniily of conleniovoiloble onlinewillcome o drop in quality- ollreodily occessible wilh no quoliiy conirol wholsoever.

Thereiore. ihe Minisiry oi Educolion shoulcl consider working wilh lhe MDA lo inlroduce medio lilerocy coulsesinio oll secondory schoois. jLrnior co leges. ond ieriiory inrlilulions. This is imporlonl os youlhs ore lhe mosl prolilicusers oi ihe lnlernei. Also, iree public seminors on medio lilerocy shoulcl be conducled crs well, in ordel io colerto ociu ls who ore inieresled in becoming more meclio sovvy.

Singclpore will not be the iirri nolion io implemenl such o poiicy. ln severol developed counides. meclioeducrriion hos o rolher long hislory, even before ihe odvenl of lhe Inlernel. For exomple. Finlond hos beeniniroducing medlo ecluccrlion inlo lls schools since lhe 1950s. ln Conodo, medio ecJucolion is mondolory fromGrode I onwords. riqhi up io ihe end of seconclcrry school.

with Singopore being one of the mosl wired nolions on lhe plonel qnd possessing on excellenl educotion

;;;;,; i";;;J""gly sironge tnol meoio literocy is nol somelhing thot is tought much here while this surelv

nos to ao wirn me foit lhol lhe covernment hos long eliminoled the need fot medio literocy wiih its cullure of

lJni"Jp, rne riu"rorisoiion of the Films Aci will bring medio educolion lo lhe fore once oqoin'

While the Aims Council hos done well in recommending o slew of meosures lhot hove been long overdue it will

^ngoge onty lhe porilcipolion oi o r"]inorily gloupllhe polilicolly oc live lhe vo( ol one\' lhe bureoucrocy' ond

ii,Jg6".in;""1. in" *ojoriiy ot us those tho onty hove o possing interesi in lhis issue - con only hope for lhe

oPsl.

with medio educolion, cilizens con leet more confidenl being pod of ihe polilicol process without being

overwhelmedbynewmedio.Furihermore,ifmediolilerocyistoughlinoninleresiingmo,nnerinschoo]s,i

"ting ;r.

"f o"tuof potiticol films ond even btogs, il could generole o greoler inleresl in public offoirs omong

studenk.

li is hoped thot os ihey become more discerning in inlerpreling medio messoges' they will be oble io provide

b;ter'feedbock lo the covernmenl in the tuture. And when iheir lurn linolly comes io vole in the Generol

Eleciions, ihey will be reody-

Medio lilerocy empowers lhe overoge cilizen ond thol is o hollmork of o lrue democrocy