OUR BLOG-GARDEN
I was wondering yesterday about the style, meaning and the right to moments of silence in our blog. The comments made by Alauddin and Malik made a clearer path for me through the jungle of thoughts, leading closer to the idea what kind of garden we can make out of it.
Maybe we can use the metaphore of the landscape architecture for our blog mind landscape. There are two main types of gardens: French garden (geometrical, neet, tidy) and English garden (free-nature, wild-looking style). We can decide which one is better for us, always having in mind the significant quotation of the French writer and philosopher Voltaire: „Il faut cultiver notre jardin“ (We should cultivate our garden). Browsing for English translations of the quote, the serendipity lead me to the blog Of Life, Laughter and Liturgy that you may like.
The best thing for me is that we are free to make a CHOICE in our blogging. And in this matter I think we are all pro-choice 
Tales of “our soldiers” and “their dictators”
Meet P. Sainath! 
If I were ever given a chance to become somebody else, I would surely want to become this outstanding 53-year old South Asian journalist. Having clinched over 35 national and global awards, Sainath, the author of Everybody loves a Good Drought, spends an average 300 days a year in rural India to cover farmers’ suicides. He has unearthed hundreds of suicides by starving Indian farmers.
Watch this video to get introduced (please do!!!)
I thought of P. Sainath, whose lectures I had attended at the Asian College of Journalism, India, as I listen to Aaron Brown today at the First Amendment Forum.
Both Aaron and Sainath have one message for the aspiring journalists: Be a story-teller not a stenographer.
I loved Aaron when he said this but his CNN video about the Smiths eventually turned me off . Was this not stenography again, Mr. Aaron! It was a painful art of storytelling without uttering a word about the 95,888- 104,595 Iraqi civilians killed in the war. When the story tells me about “successful elections’ in Iraq were engineered by an invading force, I am reminded of what the Man Booker Prize winning novelist Arundhati Roy once wrote:
So now we know. Pigs are horses. Girls are boys. War is Peace.
Aaron’s report was full of ‘our men’, ‘our soldiers’, ‘our security’ versus ‘their elections’, ‘their dictator’, ‘their victory’ etc.
Aron’s art of storytelling fails to attract me because it does include ‘our men’ and excludes ‘their civilians’. I wish Mr. Brown narrated the stories in P. Sainth- style by giving voice to the voiceless. Otherwise, you are teaching these kids the art of stenographic storytelling.
Management and it’s difficulties
I recently took on the role as General Manager for State Press Television- a part of Student Media at ASU. With it came the challenges of management, some of which I did not expect.
Today, Leonard Downie Jr. said “Praise in print, but scold, correct and instruct in person.” He said in context of how to dialogue with your staff in a newsroom. These words resonated in my mind for a few moments as I thought back to the yelling I had done not only verbally, but through email as well. Yet, the praising I did came mostly in the form of emails. I realized that in order to convey my thoughts and express how pleased I was with their progress I needed to find a way to do so that would catch their attention, even after the fact.
I decided today that I would take this advice, that I would only praise in my digital correspondence with my staff-the scolding, criticisms and instruction can all be just as effective in person.
Rebirth or fade out of journalism? by Aleksandra Dukovska
Collect, check and organize your information. That was the sincere message given to us by the former CNN anchor Aaron Brown. Those are the simple rules we should follow to tell great journalism stories. Storytellers will help journalism to survive the constant flow of information that voraciously attacks each second of our dynamic life. Good storytellers always have good insight. They can reach their audience and viewers by telling human emotions, sharing the different angles of a story, searching for numbers and statistics that will supports their narrative. Although, the question is who brings the information to the public. Do the storytellers in fact bring the information? I am not sure anymore. The journalism is changing its shape constantly. The layers, graphics and design are becoming more important than the story itself. Reading the newspapers is no more desired ritual. Receiving the news from various platforms is a new globe phenomenon that we can’t diminish. It was something very honest in these words of Len Downie, a former executive editor of Washington Post, when he spoke on Newsweek magazine uncertain future destiny. “Newsmagazines are fading away. They are going to hit the wall at some point”, Downie said. To summarize this short reflection of today, I would like to underline that some new kids on the block will shape and help the rebirth of journalism. It will be something new and maybe completely different from the old kind of journalism we knew. The journalism we knew maybe is fading out, but new kind of storytelling is coming to share as many stories as possible. Can we follow that tempo should be our very personal choice.
P.S. After all, we are in Phoenix, metaphorically a place for great rebirth for each of us.
Narrowly, Well-Informed
“If a nation expects to be ignorant and free, in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be.” – Thomas Jefferson
Leonard Downie Jr. said that contemporary society has the capacity to be better informed than any previous population. However, more often people are choosing to be well informed with sources confirming their personal beliefs. I find this to be extremely true with today’s society.
When we are approached with a massive set of media, we don’t look for things that will counter our state of mind. We are generally looking for things that confirm our own opinions. Online readership is quick to judge, has a short attention span, reads fast and doesn’t look back. Speed is the name of the game and it is a ruthless animal. We are looking for something to catch our interest, and if it’s not there then good luck at holding our attention.
I believe this is why, as journalists, we have to hold to our values of truth and independence more than ever. We have to write without any slant or spin. We cannot contribute to the problem. Outspoken journalism will get us clicks, but it hurts society as a whole. As the quote above states, an ignorant society cannot be free.
On World Humanitarian Day : Caritas calls for more investment to help people prepare for disasters.
From www.caritas.org
Celebrated on 19 August, World Humanitarian Day is when the humanitarian community renews its commitment to helping vulnerable and suffering people all over the world. It is also a day on which to pay tribute to all humanitarian aid workers.
Caritas says that while aid workers provide valuable assistance, it is communities themselves who are the first to respond in a disaster.
“The main humanitarian response in disasters is from the grassroots. People across the world who are dealing with these catastrophes need more support and resources to become less vulnerable,” says Alistair Dutton, humanitarian director at Caritas Internationalis. This support can come in many forms – from ensuring houses are made more earthquake-proof in at risk areas to encouraging people to store grain for lean times in countries where drought is common.”
Caritas says that while massive progress has been made over the past 20 years in getting aid to communities in difficulty more rapidly, disasters still have a major impact on people’s lives.
“In some countries, floods and droughts are an almost annual event, and yet people still lose their homes, sometimes because they are built in risky places; they still sell their animals because they run out of food. More work needs to be done at empowering communities so they are less vulnerable and less reliant on outside help,” says Mr Dutton.
Many Caritas members across the world engage in Disaster Risk Reduction (DDR) and help empower communities in the face of difficulties.
Examples of this work include cyclone shelters in Bangladesh, encouraging communities to build drought resistance crops in Uganda and programmes to prevent deforestation in Peru.
The benefits of projects which reduce the risk of disasters can be enormous to communities. In Bangladesh, 150,000 people died when a cyclone hit in 1991. Better warning and evacuation systems and the construction of shelters meant that only 3,500 people died in 2007 when a similar cyclone hit.
For more information, please contact Michelle Hough on +39 06 69879721/+39 334 2344136 +39 334 2344136 or hough@caritas.va
Alauddin
How much are you willing to sacrifice?
I truly enjoyed listening to Leonard Downie Jr. today as he shared with us about his life-long career in the Washington Post.
He is clearly passionate about journalism and very inspiring to someone like me who is just getting started. His stories encouraged me to think about what kind of career I envision for myself in the future.
What impacted me the most out of everything he said today was, “I’ve gone through three marriages and three sets of children without ever being home for dinner.” He said that while talking about leadership and how hard they to work at the Post.
His statement made me question myself about how much is too much to give up for a successful career. What is success anyway? How do I define success for my life?
I surely want to be a successful visual journalist that makes a difference in this world, even if in a small way. I want to be really good at what I do by telling stories that make people think, cry, laugh and hopefully take positive action when needed.
Most of all, I want to be a good father and husband. My family is more important to me than any successful career. I would rather be successful in their eyes than in the eyes of a million strangers.
The challenge for me then is how to be successful both as a family man and as a journalist.
Insights anyone?
Learning More About Our Cultures and Becoming a Global Leader
On 29th of August I participated in a great event with some of other Humphrey Fellows: The Dance Performance by “Yellow Bird Productions”. Yellow Bird Productions, a family company, has been performing their authentic music and dance, and hence, contribute to the understanding of Indian culture around the world for more than 25 years (http://www.yellowbirdproductions.com). It was a great event and I would like to thank both Dr. Ben Beresford and Dr. Ara Barsam from the Melikian Center for inviting us, on behalf of all Humphrey fellows joining the event.
During their performance we also learnt about Indian cultures, because the Mother and the Manager of the group, Doreen Duncan, and the father and the director of the company, Ken Duncan, explained the meanings of their dances before we watched them. I have been quite affected especially by Ken Duncan’s speech. At the end of his speech he explained the purpose of their shows. They try to protect their culture and try to teach future generations what they have learnt from their ancestors. I think, this is crucial for becoming a global leader. Both Ken Duncan and Doreen Duncan speak perfect English. However, they also perfectly know their own language and teach their children. They are in close relationship with the rest of the world without losing their identities. To be a global leader one should follow what’s going on in the world. Besides, he/she should have something to share with the rest of the world, that is his/her culture and history. I am in USA and I am here to learn about this country and culture as well as improving my professional skills. However every day, I deeply feel the necessity of reading more about my own country, culture and history. I think this is a big challenge of becoming a good leader.
The Freedom of Silence in Blogging?
I am digesting and redigesting all that has been said and seen in our little HHH community during this past month. And I wanted so badly to post anything on Friday till midnight as we had agreed, but… Just couldn’t pull one clear thread from the patchwork of so many thoughts in my head.
Maybe it is a part of the same “too many passwords syndrom” that Yang mentionned and others mostly agreed. Maybe it is simply a moment when it is simply too much information poured simultaneously from so many different sides into one simple human head. And the head that comes from a different system of thinking patterns and needs more effort to not only think in a foreign language, but also to follow the meta-language of local people’s communication habits.
There is also a question of the content of this blog. It looks to me that it started looking like a combination of a professional group blog and several personal blogs. What in fact do we want? What can possibly want from us a potential reader who doesn’t share the “pleasure” part that follows our “business” purpose of being here?
Is blog a “genre” that imposes us deadlines in terms of hours or can we be free to spread the freedom of a silent moment until we have a clear mind next morning after some serious thinking? I am not saying weeks, just a longer moment of relaxed thinking when we feel like needing one to write a better piece of reading.
Can a blogger afford that? What do you all think?
Women and Servant Leadership
I thought that the ideas expressed in the Servant Leadership hand out were very interesting. I especially liked the idea that working on the personal development of yourself and others was the way to be a successful leader. However, I wonder how effectively this applies to women. I think in many ways, the leadership style of women has to be different from the leadership style of men in order to be successful. If those who have been working in the professional world would like to correct me, I welcome it, but this is my perception from my limited experience in the working world.
I see people reacting negatively to female leaders who take on an agressive and traditionally male leadership styles. People reacted to Hilary Clinton as cold and to Margaret Thatcher as heartless. I think in many ways, the servant leadership style would be more suitable for women because it hits closer to the personal lives of employees.
I also think that servant leadership would be very successful for male bosses. The point I’m trying to make is that when it comes to analyzing leadership styles, gender plays a role in deciding how effective that style will be, whether it is fair or not.
Hospitality and Personal Space
When I learned about personal space I thought about how that affected my own perceptions abroad of the people.
In Africa, I found the people so amazingly warm and hospitable. People would immediately treat you like a close friend. I didn’t have to wait any obligatory amount of time to get close to someone. People would immediately be open about their personal lives and confide in you like a close friend. It was so different from my experience in France where people had been very polite and there was firm rituals to observe in order not to offend anyone. The people I met had been very kind but I felt that I had to be very careful when talking to people.
In the US I feel that there’s a careful line to observe as well. It makes people uncomfortable to talk about things that are too personal right away or ask too probing of questions. It makes me very sad that people have to hide the best and the worst of themselves until someone takes the time to get to know them.
I think there’s an international difference in personal space, one that is not just physical but emotional.
Children in a village in rural Ghana loving the camera
Thank you, Chev
I wish to thank Chev for introducing us with his ‘new friends’ by the pool. I know everyone was irked by the inordinate delay. That an apology was tendered by the hosts, we all should accept it unconditionally.
It was a great pleasure meeting some new people and making more friendships on Saturday evening. I thank Chev for serving as a bridge between the Humphrey fellows and the cousins at Taylor’s place. We need to interact more frequently with the students and faculty at the Cronkite School and elsewhere at ASU in order to expand our circle of contacts. This is what Dr. G bills as “social capital”.
Why Americans have a Geography Problem
When a few of the Humphrey fellows asked me why the American high school students didn’t know their geography very well, I felt that it was such a hard thing to explain.
I said that “we just don’t learn it here” and “they don’t look at maps very often in their classes.” I knew exactly why they didn’t know the location of those nations. They didn’t learn it and they were probably never taught it. But I couldn’t figure out how to explain why they weren’t being taught this subject.
I googled the problem and finally found an explanation that sheds some light in a much more eloquent manner.
The analysts, in summary, blame a lack of public education funding in social studies, geography and foreign language for the problem.
In addition, No Child Left Behind, our federal education program empathizes math, science, and english as subjects which measure progress. How well students learn those subjects determines how well they will do on the standardized tests. The standardized tests determine how much money each public school gets.
It’s a systemic problem where the American education system has been providing the wrong incentives.
To read an article in Harvard Ed. Magazine about the problem:
http://www.gse.harvard.edu/news_events/ed/2007/winter/features/geography.html
Leadership style and culture
After our Monday meeting I spent some time thinking about leadership styles and how much of it is influenced by our culture.
Maybe it would be interesting for us to hear from each other what kind of leadership is the norm back in our home countries. We could look at the different leadership styles and see what works and what doesn’t and why.
My personal perspective about the common Brazilian leadership style can be summarized in a saying that we have “Manda quem pode, obedece quem tem juizo,” or in English “Those who can, give orders and those who are smart obey them.” This idea is quite the opposite from the servant leader idea or from the idea of a leader who has his/her door open. I acknowledge that these are broad statements and that there are always plenty of exceptions. But in my perspective Brazilian leadership style in the business world is not very democratic and it is based on a person with a strong personality . It is also more about two groups, those who give orders and those who obey them, with not much room left for questioning authority. Especially if someone is not a highly skilled worker; there is always the idea that any worker could easily be replaced by one of the many unemployed people that would love to have a job.
The charismatic style is another type of leadership commonly seen in politics and other organizations in Brazil where people need to feel important in order to contribute. In these groups leaders are often very charismatic and can basically get people to do anything for them. Lula, our current president is probably a good example of a charismatic figure that people love because they feel he is one of them and he is for them. I think this second style of leadership works well, but I wonder if there is a place for a more forceful style of leadership in this world. Is there even a style of leadership that would work well in all cultures? I don’t know, but I would love to become a leader with a multicultural perspective and with sensitivity. Someone able to develop people and help them achieve their full potential no matter how diverse they are.
Space- some sort of frontier
I was intrigued by our discussion of space earlier this week, and how different cultures interpret personal space. I thought about what space meant to me and what came to mind was how space applies on stage.
As an improviser, when I’m on stage there are no limits to how I use the space around me. However, I still become overwhelmingly concerned with how much space I’m taking up on stage. Am I taking up too much? Too little? What’s the rule of thumb? Luckily, on stage, fellow actors don’t feel like you’re invading their space. How do people in day-to-day interactions feel about their personal space?
We leave a decent amount of space in between ourselves and others in different social situations. Waiting in line warrants a rule of comfortable space- so does sitting in a theater/classroom. Chances are we pick the seat where someone is NOT next to us. I’m curious as to how this compares to other cultures around the world.
Comment on My three weeks in Tucson
Dear Mukesh, I don’t know about the a terrible thing happened to you. All of us should take care, don’t we? But don’t worry in Phoenix. We live together.
Too many passwords
From Tucson I found this problem. So many accounts, on line or off line, need me to set passwords. Although I have good memory, but I cannot memorize all the figures. How can I do? Who will give me instructions on organizing or memorizing the passwords? I appreciate that.
Prayers as wellas Aid required for Flood effectees inPakistan
I have been praying here to God to stop flood water destroying more Northren area . According to National Disaster Department of Pakistan ,one fourth population means more then 20 million people are effected and flood water is still swraming many areas and wramping t while going its destinationin North .We need prayers so that we could face the situation and it is alapable for inetrnational community taking immediate steps provide the donations/aid open heartdely just seeing the heavy destructions of infrastructure and people displacement .Pakistan has been always in frontline whenever the difficult time came to any country either it is U S A or to anyone palyed its important role helping whatsoever possible.Now it is duty of the international Community to help the Pakistan for constructing destroyed infrastruture and palcement and settling the effected people through diferent means and international NGO,s should come forward as Caritus has appeared there with fund of the 5 million dollars to provide every possible assistance. After the worst flood now the deadly diseaseslike water burn and other dnager diseases have been created and dozens of children and women are dying on daily basis.I hope that the Pakistani people would recieve both Prayers and Financail Assistance by the World Soon.
My three weeks in Tucson.
My three weeks in Tucson city of Arizona State of America were really memorible for whole life ,started with some fearness and finished in a so joyful moments that made history in my life .Fear for what that it is my first time that I am out of own homelend and that is U S A ,very strange .I arrived at Tucson airport at 4.30 pm on date 7/13/2010 but due to miscommunication with Ms.connei ,I could not be recieved by the Peer councilor of CESL and after two hours wait at airport , it was very hot day andthe sun was just hitching my body and head and reminded me my home town , Jacobabad which is the hottest city in South Asia ,meanwhile suddenly the weather changed and sky became whole black ,sky lighting ,roaring and thundering started so I was already afraid and alone completely ,decided to go to Sahara Apartment through taxi just to save myself and my stuff /laguage and raeched there while rain was started during my jourey from airport to Sahara Apartment at 7.00 pm .I met with Mr.Ted ,the manager of the apartment who,carrying my laguage in support took me to my room no.5107 locatd at ground floar and showed me how to start Airconditioned /light system .Anyway after fresh and keping my stuff in th eroom , I went to room of Mr.Alauddin ,a Bangladeshi Humphrey Fellow as I had read his biography sent by Ms.Ivy ,Program Manager and met with him and asked how to contect with family and He advised me to buy the Skype creit card which is cheap just 24 cents per minute call to my country while I didnot know before that what is skype as I never used it in my country but I always used Yahoo as well as hotmail ,this was completely new website for me .we went to K shop that was located near to Sahara just on walking distance and bought card and other grocery items .however we returned sahara in some time and sit at Alaudding room ,I talked with my family while Alouddin perpared dinner for me .we chated till 1.00 pm togather .He told me about the Pre -Academic Training Course and atmosphere .This was first night that I could not sleep in my room .In the next morning ,All humphrey colleagues gathered at sahara gate for van to go to CESL in University there Aloudding introduced me with all others then we left for Cesl in van there I met with Ms.Connei , the Program Manager .she took me to immegration Advisor and while going there , she in very clver professional manner ,apologised of miscommunication about picking up from airport and told me in detail that in the rest of the days as I was one month late , what I have to do and which are the assignments have been given to all fellows ,means Presenation on Pakistan and Group Project ,that was also Presenation but it was somewhat different in that I had to talk about my any leader .Anyway after completion of the all formulities , I went to attend the Oral writting class of Mr.Peter Burns ,writting class of Janae Schuffer and then in the noon there was presenation of the our colleague from Amul of Iraq.though I had never presented any presenation in my country but I as a challenge , started perparation after meeting with Peer Councelor ,Mecheal who assigned me the topic , Sharp Leader ,my country Father of the Nuclear Program ,Zulifiqar Ali Bhutto .Now I am very anxious here to recieve my two Presenations as My computer was not working and I donot know how to ues PowerPointTwo days passed and I could not make any research .though I had not any knowledge how to do these .I mentioned this problem with Alauddin who assured me to help and to use his laptop .On 22July ,I started collecting all the infromation about Pakistan history ,culture,population,poverity and education ratio,lifeline ,agriculture,issues ,national rythem,songs .and all required infromation through Google and I succeeded to make more then 50 slides presenation .Earlier the day of the Presenation ,25th July night I gave the final touch and made practice presenation before Alaudding considering him as a audience however, on 26th July Morning 8.30 am ,I Presented my country presenation and on the end there was a lot clapping and then manny questions were asked by colleaques ,Till I donot believe that How I could do that so confidently …..oh Thank God .This time , I was very happy and just no words to say thanks to my friend Mr.Alaudding and this time I believed that God helps those who help themselves.Now exact after three days there was scheduled Group Project Presenations ,the Sharp Leader .on the 30th July , I also presenated my sharp leader Zulifiqar Ali Bhutto with such a confidence that my colleaques gave me congratulations .During the Tucson stay , Our Group was also taken on tour of the Biospjere 2,Creative Photogarphy Centre ,edward Mirrior centre,Karithchan Caves ,Really after visiting these , my mind concept clear ,why Evrey person of the World wants to get education in America because Americans are very creative mind and so systematical ,civilised .Thank God as well as IIE that I got opportunity to develop at least my skills being a limited American English listening power before arriving and attending the UA in Tucson .I have come to know this that Nothing is impossible in the World . It was again an moment of seperating from my Tucson colleagues on 1st August that made me and my other four colleagues very sad as this was just a time that we had adjusted ourselves away from families. Well This was entire story of passing three weeks that provided me a big experience of life.Earlier There was fair well party arranged by all Humphreys in the hall of Sahara attende by teachers and guests .oh it was really full of fun and different kinds of food,dancing on mostly every country music .i forgot to mention of my first innncident happened with me that It was first morning about 5.30 am ,Though I could not sleep as it happens with everybody days are always crucial to adjust in the new atmosphere ,I went to nearby public Park of my apartment as I started running that three guys on the bikes ,reached there started threatening demanding monsy from me ,Thank God I had forgot money,They said give us money ,mobile
I replied I have nothing ,
They again said abusing me ,give us money
I replied same ,
they checked my whole body and pockets run away while shoutings ,
I was very afraid that time and I backed immediately to my apartment .I told the story to my friend Alauddin and my class teacher as well as my coordnator but they had same answer that Why I alone went there ,as Homeless people and crimminals are whole day roaming commiting of crime and ,you should have been with somebody ……..they advised me not to go any public park alone cus these are occupied by the homeless people. I said ok.I was then thinking that what is diffrenec between my country and America but I tried to forget it considering the crime can be happened everywhere in the World as criminal has identification
Two Americas
I am an exuberant man at the end of this weekend. It took me only three weeks to get my first contribution published in a US newspaper. The Arizona Republic published my letter to the editor which I had jotted down in response to a news report published in the paper about the current floods in Pakistan.
What actually enticed me to dash off the letter were the condescending views expressed by some of the readers vis-à-vis American assistance to Pakistan in the wake of the catastrophic floods. They argued that the US government should not assist the flood victims in Pakistan and this task, they ridiculously insinuated, should be given to bin Landin to fulfill.
In response I, while acknowledging the corrupt nature of the government of Pakistan, pleaded that the innocent women and children must not be “punished” only because of the sins of the politicians.
“ It is not time to play politics,” I wrote.
My letter to the editor did not end the controversy but, on the contrary, further flared the entire issue up to a great extent. More readers commented and expressed their points of view. A thumping majority of people were deadly opposed to any kind of assistance provided to Pakistani flood survivors.
For a moment, I was utterly flabbergasted over the unanticipated indifferent behavior of some of the American readers. I wondered how they gathered the spunk to publicly say that the flood victims should die of starvation because their politicians sinned regularly.
It was end of imagination.
It was the inception of hope.
I immediately saw a bacon of long-term hope the next day. The State Press, a newspaper brought out by ASU students, did not only editorialize Pakistan’s worst floods but also passionately enjoined all the ASU students and faculty members to “Help a nation out”.
This was indeed the younger America speaking. I was deeply touched by State Press editorial which dramatically changed my perceptions about the American youth. I am ecstatic to assume that the younger Americans are more interested in knowing about the rest of the world and bridging gaps between different cultures. Previously, I had assumed the American youth perhaps took no interest at all in the developments, either positive or negative, taking place across the world.
Thus, the next day I sat before Indra ekmanis, the young Managing Editor of the State Press, at their newsroom in the basement of the Matthews Center in Tempe Campus. Along with another colleague of hers, the American editor of a campus newspaper seemed very jubilant to have a foreign journalist among them.
They said they were “very very interested” to know about my county and culture. They were so different from the hateful commentators I had encountered on the website of the Arizona Republic.
“ Is it possible for you to share your knowledge and experiences with our team of journalists and editors?” asked Indra, “ We are in fact a team of young and inexperienced people. Your willingness to speak about your country’s media system will remarkably help us understand the system there.”
I gleefully replied and assured that I would always be pleased to meet their team members to share my knowledge about the media, history, culture and government of Pakistan and its neighboring countries.
On my way back to the Cronkite School of Journalism, I kept on thinking and whispered to myself , “ boy, first impression (which I had from the Arizona Republic commentators) is not always the last impression.”
Is the fear reasonable? by Aleksandra Dukovska
The “Capital Conversation” event with US Congressman John Shaddegg is my choice to wrap up this working week. The reason for is because he answered sincerely to the question on SB 1070. In fact, the immigration law is a controversial issue and it has warmed the political stage in the USA much more than August sun in Arizona.
Having visceral thinking, I did not expect to hear from a Republican Congressman that the SB 1070 is the sign of frustration and that the America economy needs the labor force coming from Mexico and other countries. According to him, the fear of American citizens, who live in the border region with Mexico, is reasonable. I latched myself with SB 1070 for the fall semester and, therefore, any information is more than valuable and welcome.
Meeting Congressman Shaddegg sharpened my knowledge of the immigration issue. Even though he will not run for this year midterm election, he was eager to comment on President Obama’s health reform and Nancy Pelosi, Speaker for the United States House of Representatives, as well.
Social media
The world is changing. If you view carefully around you, you can notice that everything has drammatically changed just a few moments ago. Why?
“Society does not change when people adopt tools.
It changes when people adopt new behaviours.” Clay Shirky, Here comes Everybody.
When I heard that words first time, I was thinking a lot.
I totally agree with it. A shining example of it is social media. Facebook, twitter, foursquarre…. Now people, especially young people prefer to communicate each other by using social media, rather than meeting face by face. Social media has brought challenges to media environment as well not only himan communications. People can get any information about eveyrthing what they wanted to know, easily just by using it. Amazing of course, news spread through the whole world so quickly ….Is it what media outlets wants to reach, isn’t it? Is it good or bad? What would happen in the future? Have you got enough time to check and reply to your facebook, twitter, email, messenger, skype… in this changing world? …There are a lot of question just following Social Media.
We will see.
Chinkhand.
Bangladesh: Right to Information Act -2009
I am writing to inform you that government has enacted the Right to Information Act (RTI Act) 2009 for ensuring people’s access to information, transparency and accountability. According to the act, the government and other institutions using public and donors funds will have to provide people with necessary information within 20 days of applying for it. If any official refuses to provide information, anybody can file appeals with the information commission. Utilization of RTI law as a development tool can make sure that people know all information about the development projects. They should know about the funds and how the money is being spent during project implementation.
Alauddin
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