links for 2007-08-01

• » The pedia phenomenon | Open Source | ZDNet.com
  "The point of the pedia phenomenon is that self-organizing groups create their own collective wisdom, and the rest of us then get to see into the minds of those writers and editors."
  (tags: wikipedia web2.0)
• Foreign Journalists in China Voice Concerns on Reporting Conditions - WSJ.com
  "Ninety-five percent of foreign journalists in China think reporting conditions in the country don't meet international standards..."
  (tags: china journalism foreigncorrespondence freespeech censorship)
• Approval For Chinese Internet Charity Foundation - ChinaCSR.com - Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) News and Information for China’s New Millennium
  "Tencent Charity Foundation, the first of its kind in the Chinese Internet industry, has been approved and Tencent has donated RMB20 million as initial funds to the Foundation."
  (tags: china internet business tencent philanthropy)
• Sun Bin: 萬惡的GFW
  Sun Bin has some traffic analysis showing how Chinese internet censorship has decreased his traffic.
  (tags: china chineseinternetresearch gfw censorship freespeech internet)

Comments

[Charles Liu]

Reporting conditions in China doesn't meet international standards?

Wait 'till they go to Iraq or Afghanistan...

[Rebecca MacKinnon]

So Charles, you think China ought to be measured against failed states?

[charles liu]

How about Guantanamo Bay? It's run by us the shining beacon of freedom, democracy, justice.

What's the reporting conditions there?

BTW, very elegant on the "failed states", what a nice way to say "countries we've ruined".

[Rebecca MacKinnon]

Guantanamo should be dismantled. It is an abomination. Many Americans feel that way. As do many including myself who think the Iraq war was a really bad idea. Afghanistan on the other hand was ruined quite some time ago... who deserves greatest responsibility (Russians? Pakistanis? British? Americans? Others?) for its ruin is an open question. But I think this is rather beside the point. My research focus happens to be related to media issues in China. So I link to articles that relate to the media environment in China. If you would like recommendations for blogs that focus heavily on the Bush administration's appalling behavior on all fronts, I'm happy to recommend some, though I'm sure you're aware of those already.

[Charles Liu]

I'm not aware of any "Foreign Journalists in Iraq/Afghanistan/Guantanamo" voicing concern about reporting starndards, please enlighten me.

I'm glad to see even you are not so disillusional to say we didn't ruin Iraq.

As to who ruined Afghanistan, try to remember what happened in the 80's.

Like after Hamid Karzai, then Unocal exec, lost the Afghan oil concession to Russia, and how CIA promptly put Osama Bin Ladin and his Mujihadeem "freeom fighters" in Afghanistan to stop the Russians from building the pipeline.

The Taliban had poppy wiped out, and today it's back - and what Karzai is doing now - building the pipeline.

[Rebecca MacKinnon]

"I'm not aware of any "Foreign Journalists in Iraq/Afghanistan/Guantanamo" voicing concern about reporting starndards, please enlighten me."

For starters see here, here and here. Oh and also this, this, and this.

You may want to browse IFEX.org, which is a repository of complaints against media restrictions, including those in the U.S. CPJ.org , the Committee to Protect Journalists, also frequently criticizes the U.S. government, in addition to criticizing the Chinese government. Also check out niemanwatchdog.org. And have you never seen Newsdissector.org?

[Charles Liu]

So now the truth comes out - media restriction ain't unique to China.

When it is in our own preceived self-interest, us the self-appointed "shinning beacon of freedom, democracy, justice" does the same thing.

Thank you.

[Rebecca MacKinnon]

Um, its not like that truth was ever hidden. It's all over the internet and over the media as well.

I don't recall ever writing or saying anywhere that the U.S. should be considered a "shinning beacon of freedom, democracy, justice".

[mahathir_fan]

I don't know much about the media situation in China. What I read about is what they "package" for the international audience.

But based on those "packaged" news like CCTV or People Daily, I think it is definitely restrictive, no question about that.

Take for example the latest case of toys recall that started in the US due to excessive lead in paint.

I could not find any story on this on Chinese news site.

Of course, I don't have access to other rebelistic publication from China, and if they are any, it is possible that I am wrong about this.

Why do I care? Because I really do like to see a trade war between the US and China. I think China is being too dependent on an export market, if only some of those export are diverted for domestic consumption, the standard of living in China would rise and hopefully more people can benefit from it. Also, I hate to see Chinese workers making razor thin salary.

Besides, why do Chinese exporters care so much about exporting goods to a nation that whose currency is anticipated to devalue greatly in the future? You'll be left holding worth - less papers then.

I think a trade war would force producers to look for a domestic market for their goods. And Yuan should rise.

[Charles Liu]

MF:

"I could not find any story on this on Chinese news site."

Here you go:

http://news.baidu.com/ns?word=%C3%C0%CC%A9+%CD%E6%BE%DF+%B0%B2%C8%AB&tn=news&from=news&ie=gb2312&bs=%CD%E6%BE%DF+%B0%B2%C8%AB&sr=0&cl=2&rn=20&ct=0

The keywords you search is "美泰 玩具 安全" (Mattel toy Safety).

I'd like to point out the Baidu search shows a wide spectrum of sentiments on this subject, contrary to the "restricted" characterization.