Olympic whitewash
CHINA
While China has 31 journalists in jail – more than any other country – the Chinese Government has ‘pledged to temporarily relax limits on foreign journalists’ reporting on the 2008 Olympics, according to PR Watch. It has declined to extend the new freedoms to its domestic journalists, however. For a gentler approach to media control, the Beijing Olympics Organizing Committee has put global PR firm Hill & Knowlton on retainer to help present a good image of China to the rest of the world, while Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide has been conducting training sessions on media relations for local government. ‘I think it is a part of the process of reform for them,’ said the president of Ogilvy’s China office. Sun Weide is the Beijing Olympics Committee’s ‘message man’ who works extensively with Hill & Knowlton. He stresses that: ‘The Olympic charter says very clearly that the Games are about sports, not politics.’ In other words, keep the reporting to what happens on the playing field.
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Voices from the margins:
Multimedia: video, podcasts, and more.
- Poetry Slam in Zimbabwe
- The House of Hunger poetry slam held in Zimbabwe in 2006, and organised by the Pamberi Trust, showcased young artists performing inspirational work on issues from corporate power to child soldiers. The video features four of the poets.
Published by Pambazuka News.
- Iranian women speak out
- 3 March 2007, London. Women's rights activists marched through the English capital last week to celebrate International Women's Day with a protest against the misogyny of the Islamic regime in Iran and the threat of invasion by the US. Hear the voices of Iranian feminists Azar and Leila Parnian and the sounds of the demonstration as it passed through the heart of the city. Click here to learn more about the campaign.
Produced by Heidi Bachram.
- Raised Voices audio:
- Benny from West Papua on Corporate Power
- Vinayan from India on agriculture
