Purpose of this blog

This blog is for the spring 2018 offering of International Studies 4850: Understanding the Global Information Society. Each member of the class will contribute posts to this blog sharing stories of the countries they are following.

Global News Post 6 – Puerto Rico

Is Puerto Rico Prepared For This Hurricane Season?

Morning after Hurricane Maria

“Morning After Hurricane Maria”. Roosevelt Skerrit. https://flic.kr/p/YFixXU. No copyright.

As hurricane season officially began on Friday, June 1 in the Atlantic, many are asking if Puerto Rico is prepared in the instance something like Maria happens again. A lot of the preparation has revolved around the death toll numbers that have been reported from the island’s government and other studies. Public safety officials claim that there they have no reason to lie about the death toll and the studies they are carrying out to figure out the actual numbers and that because it is so high they are preparing for the worst this hurricane season. When the journalist of this article went to Puerto Rico she visited the FEMA warehouse, where she said there used to only be one, now there are four. They are stocked with tarps, water and cots and were sending a message from FEMA that they will have a plan in the instance something like Maria happens again. However, despite the appearance of being prepared, the mayor of Humacao stated that he feels his municipality is unprepared and that there is a disconnect between the government and the people.
The dialogue from this interview was interesting to see, because as I have reported before, the island and their government officials claim to be transparent, but it seems that same transparency isn’t being reciprocated if the people of Puerto Rico still have not recovered and feel unprepared in this new, upcoming hurricane season. Even the journalists there reporting on the story was unsure of the preparedness of the people due to their concern. This disconnect goes to show that the national perspective is far more deceiving than that of the local people and that can’t happen going into another hurricane season.
https://www.npr.org/2018/06/01/616257726/is-puerto-rico-prepared-for-this-hurricane-season

Global News Post 4 – Puerto Rico

Puerto Rico’s governor says there will be ‘hell to pay’ if officials withheld mortality data

Other than relief funding being a major talking point in regard to the devastation that occurred due to Hurricane Maria, the death toll has been another issue that has been reported on. Puerto Rico’s governor, Ricardo Rossello, spoke with the news saying that he defends his government’s efforts in tryin to get accurate numbers for the death toll of the resulting hurricane. Researchers not from the island concluded that the actual number that died from the aftermath was 4,645, which is almost 70 times higher than the original, official tally of 64 reported by the Puerto Rican government. Rossello stated that George Washington College would carryout another official study to get an accurate number for the death toll, and that the study has been delayed due to difficulty of obtaining correct death certificate information. However, according to a researcher apart of the Harvard study that was carried out stated that they did not receive any data from the government they requested. Despite these allegations Rossello stated, “I really want this to be very transparent. I want the truth to come out. That’s the bottom line. And I want us to learn from this tragedy”.
In the interview done with Rossello it appeared that he was unaware about data being withheld from researchers by his government, but he insists that they are doing all they can to be transparent with the people. Transparency seems to be a common thing among officials, especially with Rossello, following the hurricane, after recently mentioning the massive amounts of debt the country is in and why it sought so much aid from the US.
https://www.cnn.com/2018/05/31/us/puerto-rico-governor-responds-to-study/index.html

Global News Post 3 – Puerto Rico

Chairman Pai Proposes $954 Million Plan For Puerto Rico and USVI

Ajit Pai

“FCC Chairman Ajit Pai speaking at the 2018 Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in National Harbor, Maryland.” Gage Skidmore. https://flic.kr/p/GBJEcW. Licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.

Following the devastation in Puerto Rico, Chairman of the FCC, has proposed a $954 million plan to help restore networks in Puerto Rico. After months of struggling to get the much needed assistance the island sought from federal relief aid, the chairman proposed the long awaited plan back in March. The plan will direct the funds toward short-term assistance to help get communications back to normal operating standards and long-term assistance to help rebuild and restructure the broadband networks of the island for better and efficient access across the island. Not only will the funds be used to help repair the communications on the island, but also to ensure processes are in place to prevent anything from this extent to happen again in this years upcoming hurricane season.

This news was released by the FCC in attempts to make the public more aware of the efforts being taken to help the neighboring island. Further analyzation of this article also led me to the discovery that Puerto Rico was a major proponent for the repeal of the net neutrality rules, that was recently carried out by the current presidential administration. One of the major reasons the island may have been in favor of the new legislation is because according to the chair of the Puerto Rican Chamber of Commerce, the same Verizon funded group that is helping to allocate funds for rebuilding on the island, is the same group that was in favor of putting the new legislation in place.

https://www.fcc.gov/document/chairman-pai-proposes-954-million-plan-puerto-rico-and-usvi (the actual article will have the option to be opened as a word document or pdf)

Brazil Information Network

  1. Folha de Sao Paulo. This choice just comes to me because many sources indicate that its is the number one read newsource for the brazilian public; example (Statista). It started publishing in 1921 which adds another great reason to follow it; its 97 year old history  adds some more legitimacy do this source. The newspaper folha which translates to “sheet” or “leaf” has even an english version online which I learned about later in the semester, as I was direct translating from the internet browser foolishly. Folha also has correspondents in many parts of the world including the united states Israel, Iran, the U.K and in China, it has a good balance of Brazil’s interests domestically and abroad, solid source a little right leaning from what I have encountered.  

          Folha.uol.com.br      

Traditional periodical

         Updated Daily   

         Country of origin Brazil

         Language: Portuguese

 

 

  1.  O Globo, Is another newspaper that publishes its content online, that also has been around for nearly a century. According to Statista its the second most read periodical in Brazil after Folha de Sao Paolo. They have a pretty normal website but a little heavy on the advertising side which makes the user  (me) not want to check it as much because of the clutter. After using the site for a little bit I have noticed some anti PT articles maybe the disproportionality is in my head after being told that this is a bit of a right leaning news source , much like Folha. Globo is a very big organization which dabbles in more than just news which I have not focused on.

Oglobo.globo.com

Traditional periodical

Updated Daily

         Country of origin Brazil

         Language: Portuguese

 

 

  1. I have followed the hashtag Brasil around different Social media platforms such as twitter and Instagram. It has been an enjoyable experience as a lot of it has been also non political but focused on landmarks and beauty which most of it would seem kind of useless given the context of the assignment, but I have discovered about the geography of the country and its many regions, regions  which I had never heard of or knew very little about. Also another positive for me has been the overwhelming amount of soccer news that this hashtag has brought to mix as Brasil seems to be synonymous with soccer on the internet. Unreliable sources as everyone can post, also unrelated material. People will hashtag Brasil for unrelated topics to get views likes.

Updated every minute/second

Social Media

        Country of origin Brazil

        Language: Portuguese

 

  1. Catraca livre is a newer source of news that does not have a physical paper in Brazil its online and it is noted to be a little left leaning one, so with the two of the aforementioned sources being the opposite I thought it would bring about balance. I have been seeing very little politics on their main website but more of an educational agenda and a focus on the arts. In addition they also have a whole section dedicated to fake news, which as an American was interesting to see that a foreign country has adopted the term so rapidly. I  have actually enjoyed the diverse range topics this website has had to offer.

Catracalivre.br

New Media

Updated daily

        Country of origin Brazil

        Language: Portuguese

 

  1. I have followed President Lula’s tweets on twitter to keep up with him, Lula was the ex-president of Brazil from 2001 to 2009 serving two consecutive terms for the PT in brazil ( workers party). Lula is an avid twitter user at the age of 72 and is going to run for election once again and is projected to win if not interrupted by authorities who are investigating him for corruption charges.This will be one of  the most biased source I follow as it’s not really news in the traditional sense. He has been very vocal about his views as expected referring to opposition as fascists (and more) and calling out news sources like O globo; one of my other sources as a hate stimulator (translation). As the campaign has heated up I have suspicions that his campaign tweets most of his tweets and pictures but I can’t know for sure. Finding out he will not be able to run for president feels really odd as he has been campaigning and putting a lot of effort to get re-elected, its weird to see something like this happen to the one person you decided to follow.He was dubbed as the world’s most popular politician by Barack Obama.

       https://twitter.com/LulapeloBrasil

Updated at random

Social Media

     Country of origin Brazil

     Language: Portuguese

 

  1. The Rio times online has been a source for me that I have used most to look at a lot of soccer news. As the 2018 world cup approaches the people of Brazil are happy and very nervous at the same time and what the website has shown me is the apprehension of many to get fully invested in Brazil’s chances even though they were the first to qualify for the tournament after the automatic qualifications of the hosts (which does not truly count). During the worldcup businesses shut down and the country comes to a halt to witness their heroes play in a manner that not many other countries do, if any. Even for the superbowl or the olympics I don’t see half the  amount of enthusiasm in our own country in my opinion, so I thought it would be fitting to follow up on Brazil’s passion which I share with them. In passing I have seen its other content but I have not focused on it for other reason but their sports commentary and news, which I learned Brazil are also giants in the sport of volleyball as well.

riotimesonline.com

          Updated daily         

          Country of origin Brazil 

          Language: Portuguese

 

7. I used Statista as a point of reference and double checking news stories and numbers I saw in news stories and the website seemed to be a great reliable source for all things Brazil. Although its infographics were not the most exciting, like the ones we saw our guest speaker use and show us, it more than did the job. I didn’t really find any notable weakness other than the boring designs and more importantly its need for membership if one wanted to check “premium Statistics” which I did not want to do and also not being able to check its sources, which now to think of it are both kind of big problems as it needs membership for a more detailed look.  Statista is a source that I have cross checked with The world fact book to ensure they match, and the margin of error seems to be extremely low thus I believe they are both reliable sources.

https://www.statista.com/

Data Source

Updated: update rate unknown

    Country of Origin: Germany

    Language: English

 

  1. CIA World Factbook is another source that was useful for statistics about the country of Brazil and it is one that I used to cross check with Statista as I previously mentioned. The websites strengths are that it does not ask for money to view specific information like statista but it also provides less specific statistics, but the fact that its public domain is a great truly . It too suffers from not being aesthetically pleasing and looks outdated, to make make sure it wasn’t I double checked to see how often it was being updated as the interface looked like something from the AOL days, and unlike statista with there was no way of checking its sources. DIdn’t look at it too much, a couple looks and you get a general understanding of your country, I prefered to check the sheet that we were given earlier in the semester where in a quick view one could see one’s country ranking and it was categorized neatly.

https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/

Data Source

Updated Bi weekly according to the site

Country of Origin: The United States

   Language: English

 

9.The BBC was also a site I frequented when things seemed confusing or the translator was not doing it for me, I have looked at the BBC prior to the country news report. BBC is one of the most widely known news organizations around the world, The British Broadcasting Companiess news covered a surprising range of news from Brazil, sure some of the small town news were not available or covered but major political events and even events at city level were covered. I was not able to notice much of a bias while watching their videos or reporting which seemed like a good thing, I decided to use it as my video news source mainly because spoken portuguese is too difficult to understand even for a spanish speaker in my opinion. The site is really  easy to use and even had a country profile, I sometimes would look at videos on their Youtube channel as well which has over 2.2 million followers.

http://www.bbc.com/

Traditional Periodical + Video/Audio source

Updated Daily

 Country of Origin:England

 Language: English

 

  1. The Guardian is another source I used for videos and it was mainly do to the fact that videos in Portuguese were not working for me, the reporting was good and it often had subtitles when politicians were speaking in portuguese unlike other video sources. It even has a culture center in which I often got lost in and sidetracked, which is not a weakness of the site but a weakness of mine. Overall it was an enjoyable experience, did not notice left or right leaning and from searching online they seem like a pretty reliable source. Did not find any outlandish clickbait or over sensationalist titles. The website has different settings, when you join it has you in the U.S section by default I switched to international most of the time and when I saw nothign Brazil related I just searched for Brazil or a keyword to find what I wanted.

https://www.theguardian.com/us

Traditional Periodical+ Video/Audio Source

Updated daily

   Country of Origin: England

    Language: English

 

  1. fourfourtwo.com was one of my sources for all things soccer, this site has a really extensive list of interviews  and knowledgeable staff on the subject of soccer. And not only premier league soccer but world soccer. Its interviews were fun and enjoyable were it asked legends of their dream team and their thoughts about the current state of teams and soccer. I tried to follow the Brazilian team but they had qualified already for the worldcup and their performances were not really telling of what’s to come for them, even though they did well including in their most recent friendly against Russia. No noticeable problem other than overly talking about English team, which is understandable as it is an English Magazine, the “loophole” can be found in that that many Brazilian soccer players play abroad in England, much like our central american Baseball stars play in the United states. Really good site for all things soccer and no sensationalist transfer rumor headlines which can be seen in other websites. Gives you statics and many new perspectives on the managerial aspect of soccer too not only on the players.

https://www.fourfourtwo.com/us

Traditional Periodical

Updated:bi weekly

         Country of Origin: England

         Language: English

 

  1. Reuters is always one of the first news sources that popped up when I searched for keywords online so I decided to just check it from time to time as it too was english and when I needed a quick and well summarized news story it would not let me down, Reuters too is a U.K based news org which made me realize I had too many of them in my list but it was too late to change, as I already had my brazilian source Reuter was too a crutch for my lack of portuguese understanding, no real faults I was able to notice. They have a knack for summarizing things and getting to the point which can be useful when when you really need to absorb information fast. Brazil showed up surprisingly a lot on the main page too.

https://www.reuters.com/

Traditional Periodical + Video/Audio Source

Updated Daily

         Country of Origin: England

         Language: English

 

Country Report: Turkey Information Network

Country Report: Information Network

Turkey – Jules Albat

 

 

For my previous searches of sources I mainly used google searches. I also used websites like qora.com and reddit.com and search sources because people recommended them.

 

Hürriyet Daily News is a Turkish newspaper who publishes articles in English. This newspaper is owned by the Doğan Media Group which is the media group of a huge conglomerate created by billionaire Aydın Doğan. This could be a problem because this financial group has political, financial and societal interests which are defended by the media group. Consequently, the newspaper’s view reflects the views of one of the richest man in Turkey.

However, the newspaper reports on extremely different subjects from economy, political opinions to local problems. This daily newspaper’s website is updated constantly with articles.

I will subscribe to their RSS feed (http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/rss.aspx) and I will integrate it to my daily news feed which I read every morning.

In my opinion, this newspaper is often categorized by its left and secular views which are nowadays in opposition to the views of Turkey’s main party (https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/hurriyet-daily-news/).

 

 

 

Daily Sabah is the website of a daily Turkish newspaper who also publishes in English. It is a very recent newspaper (founded in 2014) and it was labelled as a propaganda tool of the Turkish government by many observers. This might be strange to follow a newspaper which can’t be appraised for its objectivity. However, let’s not forget that Erdogan’s party is the biggest political force in Turkey and that they got 40.87% of the popular vote[1]. We can’t disregard the opinions of this Party. In my opinion, this is why Daily Sabah is an excellent choice since it is labelled as pro-AKP.

The newspaper is updated daily and reports on approximately the same subjects as the previous source of information. Again, I will subscribe to their RSS feed  and I hope I can see both views of an event (the Pro-government view and the leftist view).

 

aujourd’hui la turquie is a French Turkish-based newspaper. It is the only Turkish newspaper published in the French language (This sort of publications where popular during the Ottoman Empire). I chose this newspaper because it publishes a lot of its article in their website. Moreover, the fact that it is the only French Turkish-based newspaper might provide a point of view which I can’t have with my other sources. I think people writing in this newspaper are French people with an affinity to Turkey or Turkish people with an affinity with France and their point of view is valuable. The newspaper has daily article from culture to politics. They even have a web-tv where they have little reports. However, the website has only 6000 likes on Facebook and doesn’t seem to be popular but I still think that it can provide interesting insights. I will again subsribe to the RSS feed.

 

 

https://www.lorientlejour.com/  is a Lebanese daily newspaper in French language that has a clear focus on the middle east. Even if l’Orient le jour specializes in Lebanese news it also reports on Turkish affairs. The newspaper has a clear bias that is tied to the recent history of Lebanese politics. They defend the ideas of the murdered previous prime minister Rafiq Hariri who befriended western countries and Saudi Arabia. In my opinion, this newspaper gives insights from the point of view of the moderate Muslims of the Middle-east, especially Lebanese moderate, on Turkish news. They often critic Erdogan for his tight control of the press. The importance of the newspaper in Lebanon makes it the spokesperson of our Arab friends.  Moreover, the newspaper takes culture very seriously which for me is something that should be appreciated. They have an rss feed which I will subscribe to.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Turquie News is a French independent internet-only media about Turkey. It specializes in forum and opinion columns of various members of the civil society. Its written in French and the organization is located in France (which means they have more freedom of the speech than if they were in Turkey). This is why I chose this new “media” because it seems freer than the two previous sources, and it has various opinions from different members of the society. The website isn’t updated daily, but there is a new article at least two to three times per week. It also has many press packs on diverse topics. As always I will add their RSS feed to my daily news consumption (RSS link)

 

My other new media source is “The Centre for Eastern Studies”. It describes itself as “an independent public research institution monitoring the events and analysing the socio-political and economic processes taking place in […] Turkey.” Unfortunately (for me) the center for Easter Studies focuses on a large spectrum of countries and Turkey isn’t in the spotlight often. However, the few analyses I have read were quality insights and thoughtful commentaries on Turkey’s actions. It really helped me understand some specific situations such as the delicate situation in Afrin, Syria where Turkish troops entered Syrian soil. This sole analysis justified its inclusion in my Information Network. The source seems unbiased (or have an polish/European point of view because the Center is in Warsaw).I will again use the RSS link. I found this website thanks to the Global Newspaper Sources in English.

 

 

 

Finding my social media source has been difficult because most social medias in Turkey are under attack. YouTube was banned for a long time and when riots begin social media access is impossible. Moreover, most Turkish people write their Tweets or their social media posts in Turkish which I can’t read. This is why I decided to look at French people who lived in Turkey and who tweet about Turkish matters. Fatih Karakaya is a freelance journalist who specializes on Turkish matter. He posts daily in French and in Turkish (which I am learning so it will also make me practice Turkish).  He is a left leaning ecologist journalist. I will follow him on Tweeter.

I wanted to find another dissident point of view for my social media sources for the following reason. Since Erdogan’s ideology is controlling most of the press and everything that is thought, written or discussed publicly in Turkey is monitored it Is difficult to find an open dissident source with traditional medias. However, twitter allows people to express their views of Turkey (as long as the person is not in Turkey) and some journalist have good insights. I chose this source thanks to this clickbaity article : Erdogan Banned Turkish Reporter From Twitter Because He Doesn’t Care What You Think. This article just says tht twitter was asked by Turkey to ban this journalist account. Mahir Zeynalov is Chief Editor of The Globe Post, he was deported from Turkey for his views. He tweets a lot and he provides insight on Turkey and shares articles from his newspaper.

 

 

 

While looking at my sources, I found that I didn’t have an American source which is I think more than needed because of the importane of the United States in world politics. I chose the New York times for the abundance of articles it produces. I will use this link: https://www.nytimes.com/search/Turkey/newest which will give me the latest news on Turkey from the New York Times. This source produces daily articles on Turkish politics (Often on its foreign policies) and it will gave me the point of view of a democrat American Newspaper. The source will often just report news without giving really new insights (because it is not its focus) but every now and then it will give me a point of view or a comment which would not be possible from the other sources. This is in my opinion my weakest source because the New York Times, as good as the journal is, does not specializes on the Middle-East, and if they have journalist who does, they have to write a lot of article from many Middle-Eastern countries. But I still think it is very important to have an American newspaper.

 

 

 

 

My data source is turkstat, a government-based website which provides statistics on many subjects such as the economy, the demography, etc. Even if the website is from the government, statistics are numbers which can’t be changed.  It compiles data on Turkey. I chose this website as my data source because it seems to have an exhaustive number of statistics. The website only has raw data and is updated when it has new stats to publish.

My new data source is the worldbank which provides international statistics. This website will help me double check some statistics. It is not publicly owned by Turkey like turkstat which is why it is in my opinion more reliable.

 

My last source is the Turkey Radio Television (TRT) which is a radio from the government of Turkey. It has programs in 26 languages including English and French. It has daily news on international and Turkish matters. According to Wikipedia TRT aims to “enhance the understanding of the possibilities Turkey and Turkic republics may possess or take advantage of in various fields through the programs aiming at the Caucasus and central Asia.”[2] It gives the government opinions on it different program. I think I chose this news because after hearing different radio programs this one was the best radio in English language that was based in Turkey. (I think this radio is also aimed at all the Turkish emigrants which I think gives an interesting perspective – How should a Turkish emigrant think about Turkish foreign policies.)

 

I chose a German daily show (news show) for my visual source. Tagesschau is a publicly funded TV program produced by the German public TV channel. Tagesschau often include stories about Turkey because of the many Turkish people living in Germany. The source is pro-eu but the program is highly respected in Germany. I already watch this show every other day, so it won’t be really difficult to catch stories on Turkey. I think it will provide an interesting contrast between TRT, the Turkish-public radio and Tagesschau because they are both public but represent different countries. If I miss a Tagesschau program I can go on their website to see each story on Turkey thanks to this link :https://www.tagesschau.de/thema/t%C3%BCrkei/

 

 

 

 

 

 

When I look at all my sources I feel that Turkey is really becoming an autocracy. Every dissident newspaper in Turkey is closing or is bought by the regime without much opposition and the only way to get information which is not APK-biased is to read exiled journalist or dissident newspapers. This is really sad as I learned in school that Turkey was one of the only long lasting (but not stable) democracy in the Middle-east which didn’t succumb to the extremism of Islam.

 

 

 

 

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turkish_general_election,_June_2015

[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TRT_T%C3%BCrk

El Salvador: Final Information Network

Traditional Periodicals:

The Guardian: El Salvador is an international newspaper that covers stories about politics, society, sports, etc. from around the world and I am using it as one of my Traditional Newpapers. The founder of the Guardian newspaper was C. P. Scott who was a British journalist, publisher and politician who pursued a liberal agenda in his newspaper. This news source is updated fairly frequently (about once a week) depending on what major events are happening within El Salvador.
This website is accessed at https://www.theguardian.com/world/el-salvador , on Facebook: The Guardian and on Twitter: @guardian
I chose this news source because it is a world-renowned source of news covering a plethora of issues in El Salvador but the country of origin for this news source is London, United Kingdom. This is a primary news source written in English which relays information to the rest of the world on what major events that are taking place in El Salvador. The Guardian: El Salvador website is organized so one can easily visit the different features of culture, sports, politics etc. and displays the most recent news about El Salvador at the top of the website with a left margin that shows when a particular news story was published. The perspective of this source was originally a liberal perspective but now it is more unbiased while displaying information on both sides of the issues discussed. The strength of this source is that it is in English which is one of the most used languages around the world, it has an unbiased view in it’s articles which will receive a bigger audience from all standpoints. The Weaknesses of the Guardian is that it only releases articles on major issues happening within El Salvador, so it doesn’t update every day and is therefore inconsistent and unreliable to depend on for daily information in El Salvador. Another weakness for this article is that because it is based out of London, it has a first world perspective on third world issues taking place in El Salvador and may display an unknowingly biased view. I feel that this source is valuable for people wanting to learn more about El Salvador because it displays an unbiased view from a first world perspective on the important events taking place in El Salvador and the articles are written in English so a broader audience can read them.

TIME: El Salvador is an online magazine source in English which I am using for my Magazine (second Traditional) source. The organization behind TIME wanted to create brief article on true events which is how this magazine began. TIME magazine doesn’t update as recently as my other sources, although it does display the most crucial news weekly.
This online magazine is located at http://time.com/tag/el-salvador/ as well as their social media pages on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Pinterest.
TIME originated in the United States in 1923 and is written in English. This magazine has several articles on the front of the page with the most popular featured on the right side including any category you can think of. The perspective of TIME is just to release the important stories which will get readers to buy their magazine. The strength of this source is that it is in English and has several topics. The weaknesses of this source is that it doesn’t release information straight from El Salvador. I chose this source because TIME magazine is a well-known magazine which features all the top stories in the world weekly.

El Mundo is what I will be using for my Traditional Newspaper source. The organization behind El Mundo has a center-right and liberal view while writing their articles. This source is updated daily with news from all over Spain and the Spanish speaking world. One can find information for national and international news such as entertainment, politics, and sports on this website. El Mundo is written in Spanish, so although I do not speak Spanish, I could easily put these articles through an online translator to receive information from the area of the world surrounding my country of El Salvador.
This source is accessed at http://elmundo.sv/ and also on social media such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube and Instagram under the name El Mundo.
The country of origin is Spain and the language is Spanish. One can find information for national and international news such as entertainment, politics, and sports on this website. This source has a liberal perspective. The strength of this source is that it is from another Spanish speaking country so the information can be understood by the Salvadorans. The weakness of this source is that Spain is far away from El Salvador so it probably won’t have the most accurate or updated information. I chose this source because it is very credible with an international point of view of El Salvador and although the target audience are a Spanish speaking audience, I am more than able to translate these articles to make them usable for myself.

CountryWatch is the source I will be using as my final traditional periodical. The organization behind this source has members with strong academic backgrounds and extensive international business experience which allows CountryWatch to provide critical country-specific information and data to public and private audiences/organizations. This source is updated frequently with GDP information and other recent data for 2018 already available.
This source is accessed at http://countrywatch.com/Intelligence/CountryReviews?CountryID=53 and on Facebook and Twitter as Country Watch.
CountryWatch doesn’t necessarily have a country of origin although most of the people in charge of the organization are from the United States. The language of this source is English so most of the world which has internet should be able to read this source. This source displays current data and important issues taking place within countries. The perspective of this source is an international perspective with no bias to any particular country, just data. The strengths of this source are that it is in English so a lot of the internet world can read it and it includes important data for every country so it is extremely useful if you want to use a single website for multiple country statistics. The weaknesses of this website is that it doesn’t have a local perspective so it may not have the most recent or accurate data. I think this source is valuable for those wishing to learn more about El Salvador because it is in English and includes recent data and statistics pertaining to El Salvador, as well as all other countries, from a international perspective.

New Media Sources:

DiarioLatino.net is a Spanish language newspaper which derives from San Salvador, El Salvador’s capital. I am using this as my New Media source since the online Diario Latino was just founded in 2008. The organization behind DiarioLatino promotes a leftist view since 1989 when the employees stopped receiving pay, they switched from from a right-wing to the most prominent left-wing newspaper. This newspaper includes national, international, economic, sports, politics, etc. news with daily updates and articles. This news source is updated daily so it will be one of my best sources to use for current events.
This website can be accessed at http://diariolatino.net/ It can also be found on Facebook as Diario Latino and on Twitter @DiarioLatino.
The country of origin for this source is El Salvador and the language is Spanish. Even though I do not speak Spanish, I do speak French so maybe there are some cognitive words that will help me to understand this newspaper. Also, I can always try to translate the article online which would help me to better understand the material. Entertainment, Politics, Sports, etc. can be found on this source. The perspective of this source if a leftist perspective. The strengths of this source is that it covers several topics while deriving from San Salvador the nation’s capital, so it will have the most recent and accurate news. The weaknesses of this source is that it is in Spanish so there is a language barrier for many internet users and it is a biased site since it comes from a Leftist background so they may choose to eliminate or highlight certain political details depending on what makes them look good. I chose this news source and believe it is important since it is coming from within the countries capital, therefore it should have more information on what is happening in El Salvador and it covers a wide variety of topics.

Latin America Working Group (LAWG) is the Blog website I will be using as my New Media source. The organization behind LAWG is meant to amplify activists’ voices in Washington DC and offer them tools to expand their ability to influence U.S. foreign policy. This source receives new blogs spontaneously so it could be daily or weekly depending on what is going on in the world and who decides to blog on it.
LAWG is accessed at http://lawg.org/component/taxonomy/term/summary/223/68 and also on Facebook and Twitter by the same name.
LAWG is originated in the U.S. and has the blog posts in English. One can find information over several subjects including politics, social movements and government actions including those of the U.S. This organization has a Leftist view since it wants to help create policies for Latin Americans abroad and in the U.S. The strength of this blog cite is they are free to discuss important issues on foreign policy without being forced to have a filter by the government and it’s in English. The weakness of this blog is they are a non-profit, so they must self-sustain in order to continue their organization. I chose this source because it is extremely credible including information such as the address, phone number and email as to where one can easily contact this organization. It also allows the possibility to hear various points-of-view from several people. Although the target audience is mostly a Spanish speaking audience, this blog site allows you to translate the page if you wish, which is extremely helpful.

Social Media Sources:

Salvador Sanchez is the Twitter account name for the President of El Salvador, Salvador Sanchez Ceren. I am using the Twitter account of President Sanchez as my Social Media source. The organization behind Twitter has no political views, Twitter is just used to share thoughts and pictures, although Ceren is from the Leftist party. This source is constantly updated and President Sanchez tweets approximately every day, usually several times a day which will make this source very handy in keeping up with the most current events happening within El Salvador.
This source is accessed at https://twitter.com/sanchezceren?lang=en
Twitter is based out of the United States but is used worldwide, and the original language if English but it now includes most languages. Although Ceren’s Twitter account is written in Spanish, I am able to translate the page to English so I can understand it better. I chose this source because the President of El Salvador tweets about all the social, political, economic, and entertaining events that happen in El Salvador. In addition, he seems to be a part of most of these events as well, so he will have an insider view which is also inclusive. This source’s strengths are that it will be one of my most useful sources since I will be getting a direct insider view of events in El Salvador and am able to read it in my native language. The negatives of this source is his tweets are probably super biased with a Leftist perspective. This source is valuable for El Salvador because it is interesting to see what information the president wants to promote on his personal account. While President Sanchez posts about the current events taking place in El Salvador, this also has helped me find other twitter accounts and websites to use as future sources and to find more in depth information. In addition, he seems to be a part of most of these events as well, so he will have an insider view which is also inclusive.

Oscar Ortiz is the Facebook account I will use for my Social Media source. The organization behind Facebook does not have a political view but Ortiz is currently the Vice President for El Salvador for the Leftist party, although he will be running for President in the upcoming elections as an independent. This source is constantly updated and Ortiz posts on Facebook almost every day.
This source can be accessed at https://www.facebook.com/
The country of origin is the United States and it is in English. This source displays any type of information but I will receive the political views that Ortiz wants to promote on his page. The perspective of this source is currently left-wing but will change soon when Ortiz runs for president. The strengths of this source is that it updates constantly and I enjoy this source because you can receive information from individuals as they want to display it rather than how the media wants everyone to receive the information. The weaknesses of this source are it is very biased and the information can be inconsistent. I chose this source because it is updated daily, one can find news about any part of the world from any part of the world depending on who you follow, and the target audience is anyone with a Facebook.

Audio/Video Sources:

wwiTV.com is an online Television source that broadcasts straight from San Salvador, the capital of El Salvador. The organization behind this source has no political leverage, they just display television for entertainment. This source shows the most recent broadcasts from Canal 33. This source updates constantly showing the most recent broadcasts and live streams of the most important events happening in El Salvador, so it will be a great source for me to keep up with.
This online television source can be found at https://wwitv.com/tv_channels/b4523.htm. Also on Facebook as wwiTV and on Twitter @wwiTV.
This source originates from El Salvador and is in Spanish and does not include English subtitles, but I am sure once I see a video of importance to El Salvador, I can look up the translation and use the information from there. I chose this as my television source because although wwiTV isn’t completely about El Salvador, Canal 33 comes directly from the nation’s capital. I chose this as my Television website because it includes content of national programs committed to the Salvadorian society, opinion, and entertainment. There is no certain perspective of this source but the strength is that it is from the nation’s capital with visuals to go with the information and the weakness is that it is in Spanish which many people don’t understand.

Radio Cadena YSKL is a radio station on Streema.com and is the Radio/Audio source that I will be using. The organization behind this radio station is from San Salvador and updates constantly so it will include the most recent, non-biased, and intriguing information for a broad audience. 5/5 stars and most listened to.
This source can be accessed at https://streema.com/radios/Radio_YSKL_Corporacion , also on Facebook and Twitter at Radio Cadena YSKL
This source is originated from El Salvador and is in Spanish. Although most of the radio stations on Streema are targeted to Spanish speakers, at the bottom of the page, the website allows you to choose the language English, Dutch, French, Portuguese or Spanish so it is accessible to nearly everyone. This source gives information such as News, Sports, Entertainment and Community information straight from San Salvador, the nation’s capital. Radio Cadena YSKL has a national, local perspective and is reliable with all the information you need to determine so at the bottom of the page. The strengths of this source is that it has all the information one needs to determine that it is reliable and includes non-biased information to a broad, all-inclusive audience within El Salvador. Another strength of this source is that although the original language is Spanish, it can be translated into English and other commonly used languages. The weakness of this source is that it is in Spanish so that limits the listening audience unless you want to go through the work to translate. I chose this source because I feel it includes information that is currently taking place in El Salvador with an un-biased view so it will include all details that are available for a broad audience since it gives information of several subjects. This station is rated 5/5 stars and it one of the most listened to stations on Streema so I believe it is a great source to get the general ideals of Salvadorans on these subjects.

Radio Progreso 90.5 is another radio station on Streema which is the third Radio/Audio source that I will be using. This source is updated constantly and is backed by a group with a religious, family-oriented incentive from San Salvador.
This source is accessed at https://streema.com/radios/Radio_Progreso_2 as well as on Facebook and Twitter under Radio Progreso 90.5.
The country of origin for this source is El Salvador with the language being Spanish. This station broadcasts straight from San Salvador, the nation’s capital, providing Christian Religious Teachings, Music and programs as a family friendly, educational, and religious station. The perspective of this source is national and religious, so it may not be as accepting of other religious groups but it will display the most current Christian events in San Salvador as well as family friendly news. The strength of this source is that it comes straight from El Salvador’s capital so it has the most current and likely the most accurate information on the subjects that this station covers. The weakness of this radio station is that it only covers family friendly and Christian issues so it will be extremely biased with the information it displays and it doesn’t attract a broad audience. I find this source valuable for those wishing to learn more about El Salvador because it gives a religious perspective while still broadcasting important issues in El Salvador and keeping a family-friendly discussion. This is a useful source because I have no other sources with this perspective and since it is constructed from within San Salvador, I assume the information to be updated frequently and accurate.

Data Sources:

Global Stats: Stat Counter is an online social media data base which I am using for my data source. The organization behind Global Stats is based in Dublin and counts the stats based on hits. This information is free until one uses advanced services, then it costs a small amount. Global Stats is an international website which displays the most up to date social media stats from all over the world. This page uploads once a month so it doesn’t display information too often, although while using over 15 billion page views per month to get their statistics, I understand why they must only update once per month to get a correct analysis of the world’s current social media stats.
One can reach this source at http://gs.statcounter.com/social-media-stats/all/el-salvador on Facebook as StatCounter and on Twitter @statcountergs
This source is originated from Ireland and is in English. The stats include those of Facebook, YouTube, Pinterest, Twitter, Instagram, and Tumblr. There is an international perspective form this source which doesn’t affect the data since it is all based on statistics. The strength of this website is it uses concise data and a smart strategy to get it. The weakness is this site has only updates once a month. I chose this source because although it is run out of Dublin, Ireland, the stats from around the globe are based on over 15 billion page views per month. Therefore, I believe that these stats are very precise. Even though they will only update once a month, they may release other interesting information about the stats in El Salvador on their social media pages.

Development Initiatives is the Data source that I will be using. The organization behind Development Initiatives is working towards ending extreme poverty by 2030 by making data and information on poverty and resource flows transparent, accessible and useable. Data such as government spending, revenue, wages, GDP and other important national data can be found on this source. One can find domestic and international government spending on this website. This source is not updated very frequently, the last time was in 2017, although it includes some descriptive data on government financing.
This source can be found at http://data.devinit.org/country/el-salvador and also on Facebook, YouTube and Twitter under the same name.
I chose this source because it is a reliable international source based out of England and Wales, giving an alternative perspective of the events happening within El Salvador. The target audience includes anyone who can read English or is able to translate the page. All financial data including wages, taxes, revenues, etc. can be found through this source. This source has an international perspective since it is based in England and Wales, but is unbiased since it is displaying publicly available data. The strengths of this source are that it has lots of financial data and information of each country and can be used for finding data world-wide. The weaknesses of this source are that it is not updated frequently and with an international perspective it may not have the most accurate information. I feel this source is valuable because the organization behind the source is working toward a great global goal and there is useful information on this website when it is updated.

El Salvador: Final Information Network


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Chile: Final Information Network

Chile Final Network Report

 

  1. Traditional Periodicals
    1. National newspaper (Spanish, Chile)
      1. El Mercurio
      2. El Mercurio S.A.P. (Sociedad Anónima Periodística)
      3. Traditional newspaper, national news spanning a variety of topics (politics, sports, arts, culture, etc). Right wing and conservative.
      4. Updated everyday, daily newspaper
      5. I selected this source because it is the oldest and biggest Chilean newspaper
      6. Strengths: major newspaper, legitimate, longstanding
      7. http://impresa.elmercurio.com/pages/LUNHomepage.aspx?BodyID=1&dtB=2018-02-01

 

    1. Regional newspaper (Spanish, Chile)
      1. El Austral Osorno
      2. El Austral
      3. Traditional newspaper, regional news spanning a variety of topics (politics, sports, arts, culture, etc)
      4. Updated everyday, daily newspaper
      5. I selected this source because it covers a Southern region of Chile with a more localized perspective
      6. Strengths: major newspaper, legitimate, longstanding
      7. http://www.australosorno.cl/impresa/2018/01/31/papel/

 

    1. National newspaper (Spanish, Chile)
      1. La Tercera
      2. Copesa (Consorcio Periodístico de Chile)
      3. Traditional newspaper, national news spanning a variety of topics (politics, sports, arts, culture, etc)
      4. Updated everyday, daily newspaper
      5. I selected this source because it covers Chilean news with a more radical and liberalized perspective. My other two newspaper sources are more right leaning so I wanted to get a different perspective regarding national news. In addition, Chile recently swore in a new right wing president after 4 years of a central left government. It will be interesting to see how this newspaper covers the new right wing administration.
      6. Strengths: major newspaper, legitimate, longstanding
      7. http://www.latercera.com/

 

 

  • Local newspaper (Spanish, Chile)

 

      1. El Divisadero
      2. Compañía Periodística e Imprenta Tamango S.A.
      3. Traditional newspaper, local news spanning a variety of topics (politics, sports, arts, culture, etc)
      4. Updated everyday, daily newspaper
      5. I selected this source because it provides local news to a very specific part of Chile. The source is very grassroots and offers a very authentic and localized style of news pertaining to Chile, only offering news in the region. The source has a small Facebook and Twitter following as well.
      6. Strengths: local, authentic, relevant to specific region of Chile
      7. http://www.eldivisadero.cl/home

 

  1. New Media
    1. Digital newspaper (Spanish, Chile)
      1. El Mostrador
      2. La Plaza S.A.
      3. First exclusively digital Chilean newspaper. Takes a generalist approach and covers a wide variety of subjects (political, health, social, sports, etc)
      4. Daily digital newspaper, updated daily
      5. I selected this source because it is the first digitized Chilean newspaper. With a diverse coverage, I feel this source will be a great tool for learning about more underground and less covered Chilean issues. In addition, the source categorizes itself as pluralist, which I find to be very interesting and will look into as I read articles from this source.
      6. Strengths: digital, easy to access, relevant
      7. http://www.elmostrador.cl/

 

 

  • Digital news coverage (English, United States)

 

      1. The New York Times
      2. The New York Times Company
      3. Digital news coverage focusing specifically on Chile from an international perspective, covers a wide variety of subjects (political, health, social, sports, etc)
      4. Updated weekly
      5. I selected this source because it provides a neutral and international perspective regarding Chilean affairs.
      6. Strengths: internationally recognized, legitimate
      7. https://www.nytimes.com/topic/destination/chile

 

  1. Social Media
    1. Twitter Account (Spanish, Chile)
      1. Fabián Parraguez, Editor at VozCiudadanaCL
      2. Social media source, tweets about major Chilean news developments, such as earthquakes, national politics, international politics
      3. Updated daily, multiple tweets per day.
      4. I chose this source because the twitter account is from a real Chilean’s perspective and is verified. The source shines light on what a Chilean is paying attention to from a localized perspective commenting on international affairs.
      5. Strengths: real Chilean
      6. https://twitter.com/FabiParraguezM?lang=en

 

 

  • Twitter Account (Spanish, Chile)

 

      1. Pablo Bello, Economist at the University of Chile. Ex Vice Minister of Chile Telecom
      2. Social media source, tweets about Chile and Latin American developments, how Chile works into the larger scope of the world. References human rights and international politics
      3. Updated multiple times a day
      4. I chose this source because the twitter account is from a real Chilean’s perspective and is verified. The source shines light on what a Chilean is paying attention to at home and abroad.
      5. Strengths: real Chilean
      6. https://twitter.com/pablobello

 

 

  • Data
  • OECD Data, Chile (English, France)

 

      1. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
      2. Data source, updated annually. This source offers a very detailed analysis of Chile’s foundation
      3. I chose this source because it gives a detailed review about the foundation of Chile as a country, including infrastructure, population, debt, energy use, etc. A collection of accurate and relevant data.
      4. Strengths: detailed, legitimate, relevant data, pertinent, graphical
      5. https://data.oecd.org/chile.htm

 

 

  • Migration Policy Institute, Chilean Profile (English, United States)

 

      1. Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
      2. Data source, updated annually.
      3. I chose this source because it succinctly highlights Chilean immigration patterns and offers a vast amount of relevant information that helps my overall understanding of Chile.
      4. Strengths: detailed, legitimate, relevant data, pertinent, graphical
      5. https://www.migrationpolicy.org/article/chile-growing-destination-country-search-coherent-approach-migration

 

 

  • Visual/Audio
  • Local News Television Station (Spanish, Chile)

 

      1. CANAL VTV-Los Andes
      2. Holding Salto del Soldado Ltda.
      3. Visual source, updated daily. This source is a local Chilean news channel that provides coverage for the Los Andes area. This source is great for getting the most sincere local perspective regarding Chilean regional, national, and international developments. It will be especially interesting to see how the ring winged federal administration is assessed.
      4. Strengths: local, legitimate, detailed, authentic
      5. http://canalvtv.cl/2017/category/los-andes/

 

 

  • National News Television Station (Spanish, Chile)

 

      1. Televisión Nacional de Chile
      2. State of Chile
      3. Visual source updated daily. This source is Chile’s national state run news channel that provides news coverage nationwide as well as worldwide. Known to be pluralistic and independent. This source is great for getting a sense of state run Chilean media in contrast to local independent run Chilean media. It is also interesting to note that this source broadcasts worldwide, bringing in an international perspective as well.
      4. Strengths: local, legitimate, detailed, authentic
      5. http://www.tvn.cl/

 

Japan – Final Information Network

Name: The Japan Times

Author: Multiple

Update rate: Daily

Source Type: Traditional

Description: The Japan Times is the largest English newspaper in Japan. It hosts a variety of content for users to explore from News and opinions to culture and city guides. The information available is updated daily as they edit and add new content. This source is as a means to develop a conservative view of the many events that unfold in and relating to Japan.

The site can be access at https://www.japantimes.co.jp/

 

Name: The Asahi Shimbun

Author: Multiple

Update rate: Daily

Source Type: Traditional

Description: The Asahi Shimbun has offices located in multiple different cities around Japan. Each office provides a different perspective on national news and also a variety of local news sources that might not be available elsewhere. The Asahi Shimbun covers topics related to politics, business, travel, sports, and information on a few other Asian countries.

The site can be access at http://www.asahi.com/ajw/

 

Name: The Akahata Shimbun

Author: Multiple

Update rate: Daily

Source Type:Traditional

Description: The Akahata Shimbun is owned by the Japanese Communist Party. The website is entirely in Japanese which makes it hard to read. However,  by searching keywords (in Japanese) related to the communist parties intentions stating by opposing media outlets or political opposition names I can find articles relating to the subject.http://www.jcp.or.jp/akahata/

 

Name: The Mainichi Shimbun

Author: Multiple

Update rate: Daily

Source Type: Traditional

Description: Like the Asahi Shimbun has offices located in multiple different cities around Japan.However, The Mainichi Shimbun also covers topics related to politics, business, travel, sports, and information on a few other Asian countries from a more liberal point of view.

The site can be access at http://www.asahi.com/ajw/

 

Name: Loco in Yokohama

Author: Multiple

Update rate: Periodically

Source Type:New Media

Description:This blog is written by an American named Baye McNeil is currently living in Japan. His blogs have covered topics from language translations to controversial topics about race. Baye McNeil’s blogs to show how some foreigners within Japan view events in Japan as the unfold whether it be News related or anything else. Loco in Yokohama helped me shape a more complete thought by combining information gathered from Japanese media, Japanese social media, and foreigner input.

Baye McNeil’s site can be access at http://www.locoinyokohama.com/

 

Name: Twitter Advanced Search Engine

Author: Multiple

Update rate:

Source Type:Social Media

Description: Twitter is an amazing social media platform because of how instantaneous information can be uploaded and shared via tweeting. By setting keywords and certain locations in the advanced search option I will be able to view tweets from Japanese nationals within the designated areas. This was a useful tool as I pieced together news articles and events with the information posted on twitter from Japanese twitter users that I followed. I’ve chose to follow were current Prime Minister Shinzo Abe of the LDP and also SNA (Shingetsu News Agency) which is an independent agency operated by former a university lecturer and journalist specializing in West Asian and Japanese History and Politics

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe: https://twitter.com/abeshinzo?lang=en

SNA:https://twitter.com/ShingetsuNews?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor

 

Name: Japan Today Facebook

Author: Multiple

Update rate: Daily

Source Type: Social Media

Description: The Japan Today Facebook page regularly post news articles from their website. Articles provide insight from Japanese nationals in both english and Japanese on current events.

The data can be accessed at https://www.facebook.com/pg/JapanToday/posts/?ref=page_internal

 

Name: NHK World

Author: Multiple

Update rate: Daily

Source Type:Audio / Visual

Description: NKH is a television broadcast provider in Japan that covers a wide variety of content. They provide broadcast from all over the country and I believe I can use this source to link together what Japanese media, social media, and a few other sources together in order to get a more complete picture. The site can access https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/

 

Name: ANN News

Author: Multiple

Update rate: Daily

Source Type:Audio / Visual

Description: ANN News is a television broadcast shown live on youtube that covers a wide variety of content. The ANN however is They provide broadcast from all over the country and I believe I can use this source to link together what Japanese media, social media, and a few other sources together in order to get a more complete picture. The site can access https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/

https://www.youtube.com/user/ANNnewsCH/featured

 

Name: News Bank Inc

Author: Multiple

Update rate: Daily

Source Type: Data Source

Description: NewsBankInc has a continuously updated news archive that retrieves daily entries from news sources around the world. News Bank Inc has four different Japanese news sources that they acquire their information from. The Japan Times, Japan News, and Kyodo News International which are mostly national news reporting agencies. http://infoweb.newsbank.com.proxy.lib.ohio-state.edu/apps/news/?p=WORLDNEWS

 

Name: Wikipedia

Author: Multiple

Update rate: Daily

Source Type: Data Source

Description: While this may not be a source in the traditional sense, wikipedia has a large database of local, regional, and national newspapers. Many of the websites are in Japanese without any english translations however, with a dictionary they become easier to navigate and provides local focused information in different regions.

This data can be accessed at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_newspapers_in_Japan

Hong Kong Information Network

Editor’s Note: All sources provided are in English or provide English translations.

Traditional

  1. The Standard – Sing Tao News Cooperation

http://www.thestandard.com.hk/

Print format, published Monday-Friday. Accessed online, updated daily. Very wide variety of news available through this source as it is one of the top two circulated English newspapers in Hong Kong. Includes local, China, and world news as well as sports, and editorial information. Selected for its large circulation numbers and Hong Kong based ownership versus Beijing owned SCMP.

  1. South China Morning Post – Alibaba Group

http://www.scmp.com/frontpage/international

Print format, broadsheet, published daily with weekday specific additional inserts relating to property, racing, technology, education and style. Accessed online. The other of the top two English newspapers in Hong Kong. SCMP has a long history and has circulated almost continuously since 1903. SCMP has been chosen as its source for its high credibility rating among locals. In a 2016 public survey completed by Chinese University of Hong Kong students, it ranked the highest for paid newspapers in the country. Notably they have been acquired by a China based company and have potential for mainland slant.

  1. Hong Kong Tattler – Conde Naste

https://hk.asiatatler.com/society

Hong Kong version of the British lifestyle magazine. Updated daily. This source was selected for it’s greater connection to pop culture and lifestyle than others included. Writers are majority Hong Kongers appealing to luxury lifestyles in Hong Kong. Credibility is highly likely as the Tatler is a Conde Naste owned magazine. As Hong Kong has an extremely high GDP/capita and international business hub this source is useful to learn more about current society trends and culture to compliment the larger collection of traditional new, political and economic information included in other sources.

  1. Time Out Hong Kong

https://www.timeout.com/hong-kong/news

Lifestyle magazine online. Also selected for its pop culture and human interest pieces. Small writing staff with majority HK natives. Updated daily. Credibility is likely a non-issue because the magazine mostly features non-political, non-controversial subjects. Useful for gaining the cultural vibe of Hong Kong with a less “rich” perspective than Tattler.

 

 

New Media

  1. Yue Chim Richard Wong on the Political Economy of HK and China- Dr. Richard Wong

http://wangyujian.hku.hk/?lang=en

Ph.D. holder from the University of Chicago, Richard Wong currently works at Hong Kong University and runs a blog detailing political economy relations between Hong Kong and the PRC. Updated at the beginning of every month, all his newspaper published posts are compiled on the site and sometimes site-specific ones are included as well. This blog was selected for the author’s strong educational background in political economics and impressive CV.

  1. Fintech – Christian König

http://fintechnews.hk/

Online website and financial news source with 3 websites focusing on different areas of the world. Updated a few times a week. Owner is a global financial consultant with a history working at many Swiss locations before launching a series of website related to financial news. A brief look at writers involved revels a mixture of Hong Kong authors and international ones. News does not appear to have a specific slant with target audience being those searching for technical financial news.

  1. Big Lychee

www.biglychee.com

The most candid of all sources provided. Updated a few times a week. Author provides no personal information or background that is easily accessible but they have been blogging since 2002. Blogging about political and news issues from Hong Kong with extreme bias against free speech and Beijing governmental control. It’s a fascinating read if you’re truly looking for raw opinions about the nation and not for academic sources. See the links page for additional similar content if interested in this type of blogging.

 

Social Media

  1. Hong Kong Free Press Twitter

https://twitter.com/HongKongFP

Daily, independent, non-profit news website twitter account. Original news website created as an alternative to allegedly self-censoring SCMP. Chosen for it’s extremely independent journalists and desire for truth. Related sites are currently blocked in China.

  1. Demosisto Twitter – Demosisto

https://twitter.com/demosisto

Controversial political party in Hong Kong twitter account. Demosisto (further information in news posts) developed the Umbrella Movement in 2014, a crucial political moment for Hong Kong. Selected for having very independence aimed ideals and interesting young leaders. Demosisto related content is blocked in the mainland. Targeted audience are members of Hong Kong interested in their political ideals as well as the international audience who wants a view of the more radical political views of Hong Kong.

Data Sources

  1. Freedom House – U.S. Government Funded/Non-Governmental

https://freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-world/2015/hong-kong

Non-Hong Kong based. NGO. Freedom House is updated yearly with information about the state of freedom and democracy in every country. Very useful for finding statistics as well as curated non-biased data about the state of the SAR.

  1. CIA World Factbook

https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/resources/the-world-factbook/geos/hk.html

U.S. governmental agency, extremely through in background information and credibility. Useful for filling in data gaps and more in-depth data Freedom House does not provide. No target audience but users are more likely to be scholars or professionals using data for education or research purposes.

Visual/Audio

  1. RTHK – Radio Talk Hong Kong – Government of Hong Kong

http://news.rthk.hk/rthk/en/news-programmes/this-episode.htm?cmsid=110

Public, government funded news provider. Both video as well as a variety of audio programs can be found here, mostly pertaining to weekly news and public interest. Some shows are updated daily while others are on a weekly basis such as the weekly roundup, done every Sunday, which I plan on listening to. Chosen for its government direct influence as well as wide breadth of content.

  1. Hong Kong Free Press YouTube – HKFP

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC36umLEHbPUS-lpucrXPcGQ

Note: While their Twitter is already a source used on this information network, it is extremely difficult to find audio/video news content not in Cantonese.

Different from their Twitter or written articles, we can visually see interviews and first-person recounts of life and news in Hong Kong, an experience entirely different from print. Non-profit, independent. Targets those who are looking for non-mainstream but reputable news.

Kazakhstan: Final Information Network

Aruzhan Sain’s facebook (Local/National)

Author: Aruzhan Sain and activist accounts that she reposts.
Type of Source: Facebook page, social media source.
Access: https://m.facebook.com/aruzhan.sain?ref=content_filter
Updated: Daily to say the least, Sain regularly publishes and does updates on ongoing social issues in Kazakhstan.
The country of origin is Kazakhstan and written in Kazakh, though many of her posts are translated through Facebook into English. She has a very activist perspective, governmental issues other than social injustices that government has failed to acknowledge. The plus side of this facebook account is that the government can not attack Sain’s publishings as easily as journalists and it is critical of the social standards in Kazakhstan without forcing Western ideals. The downside is the language barrier and reliance on google translate that may not be accurate in portraying the tone. Sain is also not a trained journalist or unbiased, so this faces issues with credibility but she can be used as a jumping point. This was the only activist source I was able to find so I thought it was very interesting to have something that has been suppressed by Kazakh government.

 

The Astana Times Twitter (Local/National)

Author: Published by Svezhaya Pressa LLP
Type of Source: Twitter account, social media source.
Access: https://mobile.twitter.com/TheAstanaTimes
Updated: Biweekly print version, and daily twitter/website posts.
The country of origin is Kazakhstan/US, twitter page is in English. It is a group of Americans that moved to Astana, Kazakhstan. The paper is meant for American and English speakers. This source produces articles pertaining to all sectors of Kazakhstan: business, government, sports, etc. The source is from a western perspective, but is still subject to censorship in Kazakhstan. This is a bit more critical of Kazakhstan than Kazinform, but not by much. The source makes it very easy for English speakers to read about events going on in Kazakhstan without any language barrier or translation issues. The downfall, yet again is the censorship. This source always has very interesting articles that other sources, like Kazinform and Radio Free Europe does not address.

 

Kazinform (National)

Author(s): Kasim S Haripov and Kazimzhan Kazybayev
Type of Source: Traditional media, website along with printed paper in Kazakhstan.
Access: http://www.inform.kz/en
Updated: Daily on the website, I was unable to find how frequently the printed version was published.
The country of origin is Kazakhstan, it is published in English, Kazakh, Russian, Arabic, and Chinese. Kazinform is the first international news source of Kazakhstan, so local news, governmental news, international news, along with business and health categories are published. The perspective is nationalistic, due to government funding of the news source and the strict media regulation. The source is written by Kazakhs in Kazakhstan along with South Korea, China, Germany, and more. This means that there is no Western mentality in the writing, the downfall to this website is closely linked. The downfall is that since it is not an independent news source and is published in Kazakhstan, there is a lot of censorship and the articles can not be anti-government. This source will give you a Kazakh’s perspective on the issues addressed in each article.

 

Kazakh TV (National)

Author: Part of the “Khabar Agency” with Sandugash Rakhimzhanova as acting director.
Type of Source: TV channel, YouTube account, and written news source.
Access: http://kazakh-tv.kz/en/mainpage/index
Updated: Daily news articles are published and a live stream of the channel is found on the website. The YouTube channel is updated, but less frequently.
The country of origin is Kazakhstan, with the website available in Kazakh, Russian, and English. The portion of the YouTube that I was fascinated with was the Digital Kazakhstan series, but everything from weather, news, culture, cooking is on the site. The perspective is very nationalistic, again due to media censorship. A strength of this source is the connection with citizens, TV can be a much more viable source for people to get news information due to its reach and low cost. But, it can be hard to find relevant information on this site and almost impossible to watch anything of great importance on the website when it come to political or social events. This source is valuable for those wishing to learn more about my country because it is the most common television source in Kazakhstan, and therefore has had the most impact on the spread of media.

BNews (National)

Author: It is a collection of many Kazakh journalists, ran by Kazcontent Corp.                                                                                          Type of Source: Traditional Media website                                                                                                   Access: https://bnews.kz/en                                                                                                                         Updated: Daily on the website, no printed source                                                                                             The country of origin is Kazakhstan, and it is available in Kazakh, English, and Russian. Other than being a news source, it also hosts interviews and allows for journalists to make opinion-based articles that are titled as such. The source perspective is again: nationalistic, most likely due to active censorship. All the journalists publish with their names which makes it impossible to get away with anything unlike independent, anonymous sources (RFE). The strength of this source is the opinion column and there also appears to be a discussion column, though not recently posted. It allows the journalists to more freely convey objections to current even and allows for expert input. A weakness is that some of the articles (‘the expert’) are very quote heavy and do not give much background or analysis on events. This source is valuable in that it performs as a standard news source as well as adding in a level of individuality for the journalists that we haven’t seen in the other sources. None of the other Kazakh news sites allowed for opinion pieces or relied heavily on an expert’s input.

 

Daily Sabah (Regional)

Author: Edited by Begüm Tunakan
Type of Source: Traditional media, printed and online source.
Access: This source is also printed in Turkey, here is the link to Kazakhstan searches: https://www.dailysabah.com/search?key=kazakhstan
Updated: Daily. Daily website additions and daily printing in Turkey.
The country of origin is Turkey, it is posted in English, Dutch, Arabic, and Russian. This source is the Turkish version of Kazinform, international along with sector articles are written. The perspective is a bit more critical of Kazakhstan’s government than Kazakhstan’s sources but less critical than Western sources. This source is available in many languages which makes it very accessible along with the constant updates. The downfalls of this source is that it is not published in Kazakh, so access to Kazakhs is unavailable, and the focus is not on Kazakhstan. Some of the articles published to the Kazakhstan tab are due to regional issues, not necessarily pertaining to Kazakhstan. This will give a perspective somewhere between national-loyalist and Western anti-Kazakh government, which will be the least biased of these news sources.

 

Majlis (Regional)

Author:Radio Free Europe, Mohammad Tahil(?) as curator.
Type of Source: podcast, published in apple’s podcast app as well on RFE.
Access: https://www.rferl.org/z/19887
Updated: Weekly, a podcast is added every Friday.
The country of origin is unclear, just like Radio Free Europe. I am assuming that it is an American company due to a grant they receive from the US. The language is English. This source discusses current events in the Central Asia, though it does not always have a focus on Kazakhstan. The perspective is similar to that of Radio Free Europe’s, fairly western and critical of these governments in Central Asia, but often speakers are brought in to shed some light on the events and testimonials generally make the overall podcast less biased. The upsides of this source is that you can listen anywhere and its easy to access, it provides more context to the relations between Kazakhstan and some of its neighbors, and it includes testimonials that are missing from Radio Free Europe’s articles. The downside is that not every podcast focuses on Kazakhstan. This source is valuable in that it shows that many of the other Central Asian countries are facing similar issues as Kazakhstan, and rather than viewing stuff as isolated to one country, it may be regional issue.

 

Window on Eurasia (Regional/Foreigner Perspective)

Author: Paul Goble, Radio Free Europe journalist and CIA agent.
Type of Source: blog/ new media website
Access: http://windowoneurasia2.blogspot.com
Updated: Daily, at Goble’s discression
The country of origin is the United States, the language is English. Rather than a focus on Kazakhstan, solely, this source is based on Eurasia. Eurasia technically accounts for about 12 nations in the region, Russia included. Many of these nations are in similar economic, social, and diplomatic situations as Kazakhstan so parallels may be easily found. After reading Radio Free Europe, I expect to see similar analysis on similar articles, but since Goble is an American with vast foreign involvement, his perspective may be slightly different and less biased due to his background. Goble has been involved in Eurasian affairs for a very long time, so he can see how things like Turkey’s alphabet change could influence how Kazakhstan moves on with their alphabet change. A weakness of this source is that not all of the articles are based on Kazakhstan and Goble can be very biased against these Eurasian governments at times. This source is valuable because Goble intends his blog to be a grounds for conversation and greater understanding of the region not just a one-sided conversation.

 

Radio Free Europe (International)

Author: anonymous posts by journalists in Kazakhstan. Radio Free Europe is an organization that allows journalists in media-censored countries post articles without facing government punishment.
Type of Source: this is a website, with no printed version. Traditional Media.
Access: https://www.rferl.org/p/5567.html
Updated: The site is updated daily, the Kazakhstan category is regularly updated.
The country of origin is unclear, the Headquarters are in Washington, US and Prague, Czech Republic. It is published in 25 languages with journalists in 20 different countries. This is all international news that would not be published within certain countries due to free media regulations. This perspective is generally liberal, the Kazakhstan articles are written by Kazakhs that are able to write without censorship. Therefore, it is more like an independent news source. That is a strength, unlike Kazinform, the journalists do not practice active censorship at all times. A weakness is that the journalists can be at risk for publishing anti-Kazakh articles. This source lets Kazakh journalists post whatever they feel is vital for the rest of the world, but I do not know how accessible this source is for Kazakhs.

 

The World Bank Data Catalog (International)

Author: World Bank
Type of Source: Database, website
Access: https://data.worldbank.org/country/kazakhstan
And http://databank.worldbank.org/data/home.aspx
Updated: At least once a year, but not regularly updated.
The county of origin is the World Bank Group, it is available in English, Spanish, French, Arabic, and Chinese. Raw data and graphs analyzing said data is available, information from GDP to amount of cell phones used to gender specific education rates are all available. The source is unbiased, it is merely numbers and graphs created by these numbers. This source can help give factual information along with show a comparison to other nations around the world. The weakness of this source is the lack of updates, a lot can change during a year and many of the statistics have holes or missing years. This source is valuable in understanding where Kazakhstan exists in respect to economic significance or childhood education, etc.

 

World Factbook (International)

Author: US CIA
Type of source: Database, website
Access: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/kz.html
Updated: At least once a year, but not regularly updated.
The country of origin is the United States, it is available in English, French, Korean, Chinese, Turkish, Arabic, and Russian. This source is again a database, but this database gives a lot more information into the government type, geography, and culture of Kazakhstan. This source is unbiased, again it is basing the information on static data rather than dynamic data. The strength of this source is that it is great for background information on the country. The weakness of this source is that it is hard to compare multiple countries at the same time, and some of the stats are from 2015. This source is valuable in understanding why some political or social issue is happening in Kazakhstan.

 

Freedom on the Net (International)

Author: Freedom House
Type of Source: Website / Database
Access: https://freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-world/2018/kazakhstan
Updated: Articles added regularly, statistics edited yearly
The country of origin is America again, the language is in English. This source posts news articles, and is similar to the databases in the analytical sense, but it is formatted much more like a website and goes into analysis of the data. This source tries to be unbiased with data representation by creating a full methodology that is available for the reader. Rather than taking numbers from my databases and hoping I can fully understand what is being collected and what it represents, this source aids in taking the raw numbers and analyzing to understand especially why finding these sources are so hard. The strength of this source is the analysis of data, the downfall is that the analysis is based on a scoring system they created. But the scoring system is thoroughly explained. The Key Findings on the Freedom House page was also fascinating in relating Kazakhstan to the rest of the world. It connects a global analysis of issues Kazakhstan is facing with freedom, which will relate to other articles I read but will also show how common all of these issues are.

 

US Embassy in Kazakhstan (Official/Government)                                                                        Author:US Consulate Assembly in Almaty.                                                                                                        Type of Source: acts as a traditional media source or new media website, posts news articles about the government but acts as an embassy database with information on US/Kazakhstan relations.         Access: https://kz.usembassy.gov/news-events/                                                                    Updated:Regularly, semi-weekly. No clear schedule on updates.                                                                 The country of origin is the United States/Kazakhstan (in that it’s an US service found in Kazakhstan), the languages are English, Kazakh, and Russian. Information on American citizens working in Kazakhstan is available, as well as current news articles, and Kazakh-American relations. This source is diplomatic, therefore it is fairly unbiased – except when it comes to Russia. Though, it does not cite who writes the news articles, so there might be some variance. The source is great for finding out about what US intervention is occurring in Kazakhstan. The weakness is again the lack of information about who is posting these articles and sometimes does not give full insight on an issue, rather just states the issue. It is interesting to see what is posted on the US Embassy in Kazakhstan in comparison to Kazakhstan Embassy in the US, it emphasizes the westernization that Kazakhstan is trying to accustom itself to.

Kazakhstan Embassy in US (Official/Government)                                                                          Author: Kazakhstan Embassy                                                                                                                              Type of Source: acts as a traditional media source or new media website, posts news articles about the government but acts as an embassy database with information on US/Kazakhstan relations.         Access: https://www.kazakhembus.com/tags/news                                                                                  Updated: Regularly, semi-weekly. No clear schedule on updates.                                                                  The country of origin is Kazakhstan/US (in that it is a Kazakh service found in the US), it is available in English only. Again, this source acts as a website for US relations and gives an overview on the Kazakhstan’s economy and foreign policy. The prospective is Kazakh, diplomatic, and the news articles are based primarily on Kazakhstan’s growth in international affairs – it is very nationalistic and follows the active censorship that many of the other news sources faced. The strength of this source is that it is very eclectic and can give you a lot of understanding on Kazakhstan’s ‘modernization’ goals. It also uses articles from different platforms. The weakness is that it is very nationalistic still, so any government corruption or economic problems have been ignored in the posts. I like this source because it is a collection of other Kazakh source’s articles and it’s a representation of what Kazakhstan wants the world – or the US – to see. It is different from the US embassy from the articles posted, the Kazakh embassy wants to show how great Kazakhstan has been adjusting to modernity.