Should whistleblowers, such as the American intelligence analyst Edward Snowden and US Army Private Bradley Manning, be treated as heroes or traitors?
The debate on Government secrecy and the public’s ‘right to know’ is given an airing in the latest edition of AMIC’s quality, quarterly journal, Media Asia. In an article on recent global controversies which have placed the spotlight on the power of individuals to expose high-level corruption and other activities, Suruchi Mazumdar examines the rationale for protecting whistleblowers and also questions Asia’s ‘patchy record’ in this field.
Also in Media Asia Volume 40, No. 3, Editor-in-Chief, Professor Cherian George, interviews Asian-American scholar Dr. Kyu Ho Youm on the influence of America’s First Amendment values and the issue of free speech in Asia. Media Asia also features insights on Media and Gender by Universiti Sains Malaysia Deputy Dean, Dr. Azwan Azmawati, while Amartya Sen’s value to media scholars is a topic explored by Professor Shakuntala Rao of the State University of New York.
Research papers included in this issue examine a wide range of mass communication fields. Among these, Dr. Theodore Fernando, of the Open University of Sri Lanka, looks at the influence of editorial cartoons on that country’s recent national elections, while Dr. Khairiah Rahman, of the Auckland University of Technology, discusses crisis communication and media reportage in light of issues surrounding a disruption to Singapore’s Mass Rapid Transit system. Japan’s nuclear accident woes are examined by Dr. Muneo Kaigo and Ms. Dragana Lazic as they take a closer look in their research paper at US press coverage of the Fukushima nuclear power plant accident.
Media Asia Vol. 40, No. 3, alsooffers readers case files on health communication, a comparative analysis on advertising in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia, and book reviews of recent noteworthy publications. Media Asia is available for purchase on-line at www.amic.org.sg