Kashmiris left out in the cold
The Listening Post looks at the worsening political crisis that fails to get the media attention it deserves.
On The Listening Post this week: Kashmiris frozen out by mainstream media coverage and the great new hope for independent press in Italy.
Following a summer of violence in Indian occupied Kashmir, there have been calls for India to grant Kashmiris independence. But if you have watched Indian news coverage of the unrest, this is not the story you would have seen.
Indian media outlets have stuck with the pro-government line and have distanced themselves from reporting the details of the military campaign being carried out by Indian troops. With 700,000 soldiers deployed to the disputed territory – a region known as the battleground between two nuclear-armed states – in our News Divide this week we look closely at a worsening political crisis that fails to get the media attention it deserves.
Quick hits from the world of newsbytes: Mexican journalists ask drug cartels for editorial guidelines on how to cover the drug war; Argentina’s president makes her next move in her battle with the country’s biggest media conglomerate; media coverage under scrutiny in the Philippines; and in Egypt, a lesson in photo-shopping from a newspaper editor.
When you think of Italian media, one name comes to mind: Silvio Berlusconi. The Italian prime minister controls a majority of the terrestrial channels and has a big say in what the channels air. Print media in the country is not without the same editorial restrictions, with many newspapers offering little in the way of diversity. But a newspaper experiment is hoping to challenge this ownership structure. We go to Italy this week to talk with the editorial team behind Il Fatto Quotidiano newspaper – the journalists who not only run the paper but own it too.
Our internet video of the week will please dog lovers. As the internet becomes the first choice for advertisers, the UK’s TV advertising agency is hoping to lure them back to the box with their latest campaign. They have employed the services of Harvey the dog, to demonstrate how powerful TV advertising still is. Not convinced? Facebook users seem to be – Harvey has 800 fans already.