Media News - Thursday, August 07, 2008

Politicians allege official ‘trivialized’ Chinese Internet censorship

The head of the German Olympic Committee has come under fire for comments many say trivialize China's moves in recent days to block reporters' access to websites. Former Green Party politician and sports minister for the western German state of North Rhine-Westphalia Michael Vesper told public broadcaster ARD on Sunday night that websites are blocked in every country, including Germany. "Here in Germany we block the websites of right-wing radicals," 56-year-old Vesper said. "And it's natural that China would also block some sites. But they have to provide access to the important information that journalists need in order to be able to do their jobs." The chairman of the sports committee in Germany's federal parliament, Peter Danckert, called Vesper's choice of words "odd." He said Vesper's remarks had been inappropriate. "We're not talking about Internet sites with prosecutable content," he told the Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger newspaper. "We're talking about Amnesty International." Officials at the German branch of Reporters without Borders also expressed their outrage over Vesper. "The comparison is unacceptable," Executive Director Elke Schäfer told public radio station Deutschlandfunk. But on Wednesday, Vesper said he had not tried to place Chinese Internet censorship on the same level as the blocking of right-wing extremists sites in Germany. (Spiegel)

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Flemish institute predicts Beijing air quality

In order to help Belgian and Dutch athletes, the Flemish Institute for Technological Research, VITO, has developed a special computer model to forecast the air pollution during the upcoming hours and days. The system allows forecasts up to 72 hours ahead, using data from local Chinese weather stations and satellite data. Everyone has free access to the site, including athletes who will be able to adapt their training schedule to expected pollution levels. "We developed the system at the request of the Dutch Olympic Committee", says Karen Van De Vel of VITO. "We hope that Belgian - and, of course, Dutch - athletes will perform better now.” VITO has developed the computer model in cooperation with the Dutch Met Office. The initiative is part of the European AMFIC project, which stands for Air Quality Monitoring and Forecasting in China. (VRT Flanders News)

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New Google box for offices can search 10 million files

Google Inc. said on Tuesday it is an offering an upgraded version of the hardware appliance its sells to companies and government organizations for Google-style web search of office documents. The web search leader said the latest version of the Google Search Appliance, a pizza-sized box that holds a self-contained search system for managing an organization's electronic files, can store up to 10 million documents in a single box. The appliances contain Google software to power the search services, running on storage hardware from Dell Inc. New features in the latest model include greater encryption powers and the ability for Google Alerts to notify users when new documents are stored on the network by colleagues. Network administrators will be able to manage Google Search Appliances in 27 languages, adding Turkish, Czech, Vietnamese and Portuguese. The boxes can, in turn, deliver search results to office workers in 40 different languages. (Reuters)

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Pakistan: Journalists adopt plan to strengthen media ethics

A national summit of journalists in Lahore, organised by the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ) and the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), adopted a plan of action to strengthen journalism and media ethics in Pakistan. In what the IFJ describes as "a breakthrough moment" for journalism, the summit involving more than 120 journalists from throughout Pakistan endorsed a programme to establish a national code of journalistic ethics; develop a proposal for an independent media complaints commission; and ensure that journalists across the country receive long-overdue wage increases. Editors and publishers present at the meeting agreed to implement immediate increases in staff salaries and endorsed the programme for strengthening professional ethics and self-regulation of Pakistan's media. The summit adopted a 26-point draft code of ethics and agreed to a work programme that would investigate setting up an independent media complaints commission, to be adopted in collaboration with associations of publishers, editors and broadcasters. (Asia Media)

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Demonstrations to be held outside Chinese embassies

Reporters Without Borders is calling for demonstrations outside China’s embassies in London, Madrid, Berlin, Paris, Washington and Stockholm on Friday, when the Olympic Games opening ceremony will be taking place in Beijing. Two demonstrations will be organised for today in Rome and Ottawa. A rally is also planned outside the Olympic Museum in the Swiss city of Lausanne. Reporters without Borders says the aim of these demonstrations is to call for the release of Chinese journalists and human rights activists who have been imprisoned, and for an end to the harassment of those who been placed under surveillance or forced to leave Beijing. The Chinese government has not kept the promises to improve respect for human rights that it made in 2001, it adds, when Beijing was chosen to host the 2008 Olympics. Reporters Without Borders is also organising a cyber-demonstration on 8 August here. Internet users all over the world will be able to come and protest outside a virtual version of Beijing’s Olympic Stadium, waving a placard with the slogan of their choice. (Reporters Without Borders)

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Cartier teams up with MySpace

The company has a page on the website dedicated to its 'Love' collection where visitors can watch romantic videos, listen to specially commissioned songs with the theme of love and leave messages on the site. The collection includes 124 pieces. The page also has more than 3,800 "friends", including high profile stars such as the band Good Charlotte, Sting and Lou Reed, the former Velvet Underground singer who has a long-running association with Cartier. Owned by Richemont of France, Cartier is one of the first luxury brands to advertise on a social networking site. Corinne Delattre, Cartier's director of communication, said that the brand had taken a risk. The French owner of other luxury goods companies including Louis Vuitton and Christian Dior took online auctioneer eBay to court in June for allowing fake copies of their products to be sold via its website. (The Telegraph)

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