December 12, 2003

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World Media Watch

by Gloria R. Lalumia

BUZZFLASH NOTE: Once again, these are the views and perspectives of the individual papers, not of BuzzFlash or Gloria. They offer BuzzFlash readers a way of reading what other nations are saying about the crisis, whether we like it or not. We repeat: This is not an endorsement of their viewpoints.

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WORLD MEDIA WATCH FOR DECEMBER 12, 2003

1//The Moscow Times, Russia--WASHINGTON TELLS MOSCOW IT'S MOVING EAST (In the first meeting of its kind, a senior U.S. official briefed Russian diplomats Wednesday on Washington's plans to move troops closer to Russia's borders, stressing that the realignment should not be taken as aggression. While U.S. Undersecretary of State Marc Grossman spoke with Deputy Foreign Minister Vladimir Chizhov, President Vladimir Putin courted the defense ministers of 10 former Soviet republics with promises of continued military training and discounted weapons. Moscow and Washington could find themselves set on a collision course should the United States decide to open bases in former Soviet republics, which Russia considers a zone of its strategic interests.)

2//The Japan Times, Japan--MIXED SIGNALS SENT ON SDF IRAQ DUTIES (Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi made a clear statement Tuesday that troops will not transport weapons and ammunition for other coalition forces. But on Wednesday, Fukuda said the SDF may provide transport for armed coalition troops. The SDF could transport soldiers "if (the weapons) are the ones they usually carry," he said. The government has emphasized that SDF troops will engage in noncombat duties. The Defense Agency made a point of saying soldiers carrying arms count as "people" and not weapons, making it OK to transport them.)

3//The Globe and Mail, Canada--BAFFLED BEIJING VOTERS CAST THEIR BALLOTS (Millions of Beijing residents cast ballots yesterday to elect their representatives for "people's congresses" in city district levels at which elections are permitted. For the first time in 23 years, a handful of independent candidates -- including two lawyers and two property-rights activists -- were permitted on the ballots. The new younger generation of Communist leaders is calling for greater democracy at the grassroots level, and the emergence of the independents is a tentative experiment in democratic reform...To boost turnout, each voter was permitted to vote up to three times, including twice on behalf of friends or relatives. Voters were required to obtain a formal authorization if they voted by proxy for others, but some acknowledged casting extra ballots for family members without obtaining any written permission.)

4//The Guardian, UK--'BRITISH PEOPLE TO DECIDE FUTURE OF BBC' (The government today launched its biggest ever public consultation about the future of the BBC, appealing to the millions of licence fee payers to air their views on the corporation's funding, structure and obligations...A consultation leaflet published by the culture department today called Your BBC, Your Say asks members of the public whether they think the licence fee is the best way of paying for the BBC and, if not, for suggestions of alternative ways of funding the corporation - a potentially explosive question...Commercial rivals of the BBC are also certain to use the consultation to voice their opinions about how the corporation should be funded and run in future, which are likely to include calls for its commercial activities to be restricted.)

5//Inter Press Service, Italy--JOURNALISTS FACE INCREASING THREATS (Reporters are facing increasing violence in the Balkans for writing critical reports on political leaders... Journalists who investigate the business activities of officials receive frequent death threats...
" Surprisingly enough, the EU fever has become a pretext for all manner of control," said a journalist who did not want to be named. "Politicians are less accepting of press criticism now because they want to enter the EU in 2007. Everyone is being told to shut up until we get into the European Union.")

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1//The Moscow Times Thursday, Dec. 11, 2003. Page 1
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2003/12/11/003.html

WASHINGTON TELLS MOSCOW IT'S MOVING EAST

By Simon Saradzhyan
Staff Writer

In the first meeting of its kind, a senior U.S. official briefed Russian diplomats Wednesday on Washington's plans to move troops closer to Russia's borders, stressing that the realignment should not be taken as aggression

While U.S. Undersecretary of State Marc Grossman spoke with Deputy Foreign Minister Vladimir Chizhov, President Vladimir Putin courted the defense ministers of 10 former Soviet republics with promises of continued military training and discounted weapons.

Moscow and Washington could find themselves set on a collision course should the United States decide to open bases in former Soviet republics, which Russia considers a zone of its strategic interests.

Grossman, who oversees political affairs at the State Department, emerged from his 90-minute meeting with few details about what had been discussed.

"I tried to emphasize ... that the Cold War is over and that the positions of American forces around the world sometimes reflect the Cold War and not the threats that we face today," he said at a news conference.

" As NATO expands south and east, obviously our military forces have the opportunity to follow that expansion," he said.

(SNIP)

Speculation that U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld might have discussed the possibility of opening military bases during recent visits to Azerbaijan and Georgia has been swirling in the Russian press. The press also has been quick to point out that a consortium of Western companies plans to build a pipeline through Azerbaijan and Georgia to deliver Caspian oil to Turkey and beyond.

Rumsfeld made no public statements about opening U.S. bases, but he did urge Russia to withdraw from its bases in Georgia.

A Defense Ministry official said Wednesday that Grossman's visit along with Rumsfeld's call for Russia to withdraw from Georgia are part of a campaign to "push Russia out" of its zone of vital interests.

"It is an attempt to create a momentary vacuum that could be instantly filled by the U.S.," the official said on condition of anonymity.

(MORE)

2//The Japan Times December 11, 2003
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/getarticle.pl5?nn20031211a1.htm

MIXED SIGNALS SENT ON SDF IRAQ DUTIES
By Junko Takahashi
Staff writer

The government is giving unclear explanations about when Self-Defense Forces troops will be sent to Iraq and whether they will transport arms and ammunition for other forces in the U.S.-led coalition.

"I believe we have a situation where we can send" both aircraft and ground troops, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda said Wednesday.

But the security situation in Iraq does not seem to have improved since November, when Fukuda said "it is not a situation that allows SDF units to work in a sufficiently" safe environment.

(SNIP)

Defense Agency chief Shigeru Ishiba remained mum on the timing of the dispatch. He told a news conference Tuesday night that he would issue the order only when he felt the safety of SDF personnel had been ensured in light of the "local situation and the (troops') level of training."

Uncertainties are not limited to the dispatch timing.

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi made a clear statement Tuesday that troops will not transport weapons and ammunition for other coalition forces.

But on Wednesday, Fukuda said the SDF may provide transport for armed coalition troops. The SDF could transport soldiers "if (the weapons) are the ones they usually carry," he said.

The government has emphasized that SDF troops will engage in noncombat duties.

The Defense Agency made a point of saying soldiers carrying arms count as "people" and not weapons, making it OK to transport them.

3//The Globe and Mail Thursday, December 11, 2003 - Page A25
Globe and Mail

BAFFLED BEIJING VOTERS CAST THEIR BALLOTS
Candidates picked by some residents on basis of job held or aura of name

By Geoffrey York
Thursday, December 11, 2003 - Page A25

(SNIP)

Millions of Beijing residents cast ballots yesterday to elect their representatives for "people's congresses" in city district levels at which elections are permitted. For the first time in 23 years, a handful of independent candidates -- including two lawyers and two property-rights activists -- were permitted on the ballots. The new younger generation of Communist leaders is calling for greater democracy at the grassroots level, and the emergence of the independents is a tentative experiment in democratic reform.

But the obedient scene at voting stations showed that elections are still largely a carefully controlled propaganda exercise.

Foreign media were not permitted to visit the polling stations where independent candidates were running. They were allowed to visit only four showcase stations, where colourful flags, paper flowers and enthusiastic music conjured up a festive air -- in sharp contrast to regular voting stations, which were small and dark.

For ordinary voters, the range of choice was minimal. In most districts, four hand-picked candidates competed for three available positions.

To boost turnout, each voter was permitted to vote up to three times, including twice on behalf of friends or relatives. Voters were required to obtain a formal authorization if they voted by proxy for others, but some acknowledged casting extra ballots for family members without obtaining any written permission.

President Hu Jintao was anxious to portray the Beijing elections as a democratic process. "I am very happy to take part in the voting as an ordinary voter of Xicheng district," he told the television cameras after casting his ballot in the heavily guarded Beijing neighbourhood where top leaders live.

In reality, however, the elections were not a democratic competition of ideas or policies. Most ordinary voters saw no difference among the official candidates. They could not detect disagreements or debates over policies. "They will tell us their policies after the election," said Fu Guihua, 51. Asked whether it would be good to have disagreements among candidates, she seemed astonished. "I voted for three candidates on the basis of their occupations," she said.

Many Beijing residents didn't bother to vote at all. "I'm a poor man, how can I care about the elections?" said Li Maochun, 37.

4//The Guardian Thursday December 11, 2003 2:15 pm http://media.guardian.co.uk/bbc/story/0,7521,1104961,00.html
'BRITISH PEOPLE TO DECIDE FUTURE OF BBC'
Jason Deans

The government today launched its biggest ever public consultation about the future of the BBC, appealing to the millions of licence fee payers to air their views on the corporation's funding, structure and obligations.

The culture secretary, Tessa Jowell, launched the consultation as the first stage of a review of the BBC's 10-year charter, which runs to the end of 2006.

Ms Jowell said that for the first time the future of the BBC would be decided by the "British people", rather than the "great and the good".

A consultation leaflet published by the culture department today called Your BBC, Your Say asks members of the public whether they think the licence fee is the best way of paying for the BBC and, if not, for suggestions of alternative ways of funding the corporation - a potentially explosive question.

The document also invites licence fee payers to say whether they think the BBC governors should have responsibility both for how the corporation is run internally and its regulation in the public interest.

How the BBC should be regulated is another contentious issue, particularly in the light of the Iraq dossier row with the government, when critics accused governors of abandoning their role as independent guardians of the public interest in leaping to defend the BBC's journalism so quickly.

(SNIP)

Commercial rivals of the BBC are also certain to use the consultation to voice their opinions about how the corporation should be funded and run in future, which are likely to include calls for its commercial activities to be restricted.

(MORE)

5//Inter Press Service December 11, 2003
http://www.ipsnews.net/interna.asp?idnews=21495

JOURNALISTS FACE INCREASING THREATS
Marian Chiriac

BUCHAREST, Dec 11 (IPS) - Reporters are facing increasing violence in the Balkans for writing critical reports on political leaders.

Romanian reporter Ino Ardelean, 36, was attacked while returning home last week. He had to undergo surgery for a broken jaw and head injuries. The attackers escaped. Nothing was taken from him.

(SNIP)

International media watchdogs reacted swiftly to the attack. "The growing number of physical attacks on journalists who investigate corruption within the ruling political class, especially in the provinces, is extremely worrying," the Paris-based Reporters sans Frontieres (RSF) said in a letter to Romanian Prime Minister Adrian Nastase.

Ino Ardelean was the 14th journalist to be assaulted this year in Romania, according to local media organisations. The number of attacks is reported to be rising. None of the attackers has been identified, director of the Bucharest- based Centre for Independent Journalism Ioana Avadani told IPS.

This situation allows local officials to behave like feudal lords, he said. "They think they can do anything as they have all the power."

(SNIP)

Relations between authorities and journalists have often been tense since the overthrow of communism in 1989. Public officials are still unaccustomed to criticism, and are particularly sensitive to allegations of corruption.

Journalists who investigate the business activities of officials receive frequent death threats.

(SNIP)

" Surprisingly enough, the EU fever has become a pretext for all manner of control," said a journalist who did not want to be named. "Politicians are less accepting of press criticism now because they want to enter the EU in 2007. Everyone is being told to shut up until we get into the European Union."

(SNIP)

Journalists complain also of old libel laws that make it easy to sue reporters for libel. They want their governments to follow the Council of Europe's recommendation to remove libel and slander from the penal code.

In many former communist countries including Albania, Bulgaria, Croatia, Macedonia, and Serbia, journalists are often given stiff fines. This has led to a form of self-censorship. The Council of Europe has identified these as a major obstacle to the freedom of the media.