Articles

Journalism Education and Children's Rights: New Approaches to Media Development in CEE/CIS Countries

Michael Foley et al. — Fri, 24 May 2013 04:40:51 PDT

This article gives the background to a project entitled Children's Rights and Journalism Practice, which was carried out for UNICEF in university journalism faculties in CEE/CIS countries

By focusing on journalism in the context of the academy and raising awareness of children’s rights from a journalistic perspective, the project seeks to provide a relatively safe space for critical engagement with journalistic ethics and values. Children are targets of, or are implicated in, nearly all aspects of public policy, yet are largely invisible in news-media coverage, and rarely have their voices heard in matters affecting them. By using the UNCRC as both a lens for critically reflecting on media coverage and representation of children, and as a platform for developing a civic journalism that might otherwise be difficult, the project promotes improved media standards and a greater awareness among students, educators and media professionals of human-rights

Nothing can Replace our Son

Ian Kilroy — Thu, 02 May 2013 02:01:14 PDT

‘Nothing Can Replace Our Son’ is about US casualties in the war in Iraq that began in March 2003. It features parents who have lost children fighting for the US side.

The Evolution of Media Development: the Media Development model in a Changing World

Daire Higgins — Wed, 31 Oct 2012 11:36:23 PDT

The origins of Media Development can be found in Post WW2 Europe and the industry grew as a more significant aspect of international aid work in the 1980s and the 1990s, following the end of the Cold War and the collapse of the former Soviet Union. It was hoped that exporting the concept of a free and independent press would foster democracy in post-communist and transitional countries. While it is debated on how successful these projects were, questions are now being asked about the relevance of media development model itself, the liberal press ideology behind the training projects and what place these now have in the new media landscape.

A Question of Sources

Michael Foley — Tue, 30 Oct 2012 02:25:56 PDT

A project designed to record the experiences of participants in the 30-ynears of political unheavel in Northern Ireland has led to debates over academic and jouralistic sources and the right to maintain source anoymity. The interviews with former IRA and Loyalist paramilitaries for the Boston College project has led to a debate about academic freedoms as the PSNi is demanding through the United States Courts access to the confidential material. The legal actin in both the US and the Northern Ireland Courts has raised questions about journalism, academia, the First Amendmet to the US Constitution and relationships between the UK and the USA.

The Reflective Practitioner: Critical Theory and the Professionalisation of PR

Tom Clonan — Tue, 30 Oct 2012 02:25:55 PDT

The Reflective Practitioner: Critical Theory and the Professionalisation of PR Abstract The purpose of this article is to outline the relevance that critical theory has for the practice of public relations and the professional formation of its practitioners. The article provides an overview of one of the key theoretical perspectives articulated in the political economy approach to communication - that of the relationship between powerful elites in society and media professionals. The author seeks to explore the hypothesised relationships said to exist between power brokers in society and the 'organs of cultural production' - with particular emphasis on media relations. The author examines this dynamic as articulated in the literature and explores its relevance to public relations practitioners. Arising from some of the issues raised by the political economy analysis of public communication, the author will reflect on some of the ethical challenges that face the Public Relations industry with specific reference to media relations. In this context, the author will propose a professional orientation for public relations practice that is informed by theory and characterised by research and reflective practice. In summary, the author seeks to describe a model for the professionalisation of public relations practice consistent with a research process leading to credentialism and formal professional accreditation.

The Discourses of Higher Education in Ireland: Religion, Nationalism and Economic Development

Nora French — Wed, 13 Apr 2011 08:32:34 PDT

Higher education is shaped and changed by the context in which it operates. For the past several decades, it has been shaped in Ireland by plans for economic development and the focus has been on education as an enabler of wealth creation. It is claimed to have been an important factor in the rise of the Celtic Tiger economy, and the government are again looking to education as a main contributor to recovery from the current recession. This focus marked a major change in Irish higher education. It was in sharp opposition to the deep-seated tradition of liberal education based on the ideals of Newman which had dominated the universities for more than a century, and to the discourses on politics and in particular religion which had determined the structure of higher education from the seventeenth to the early twentieth century.

This paper will trace the discourses used in university education in Ireland from the founding of Trinity College in the sixteenth century, to Newman’s Idea of the University (1996) in the nineteenth century, the impact of the independence and nationalist movement in the early part of the twentieth century and finally, from the late 1950s on, the gradual turn towards the economic dimension, where education has progressively been perceived as a vital component in developing the wealth of the country, in providing a well-educated workforce to allow for economic and industrial development.

The Power of High Explosives in a Confined Space

Tom Clonan — Thu, 17 Feb 2011 04:33:18 PST

ANALYSIS: When terrorists bomb packed trains, the injuries are horrific, reports Tom Clonan The bombs that ripped through three Spanish commuter trains yesterday were especially lethal when detonated in such a confined space. The type of explosives used would appear to have been high-explosive devices of a type used previously by terrorist groups such as Eta and the Provisional IRA. Indeed, Spanish police foiled an attempt to place a 25kg high-explosive device on the regional San Sebastian-Madrid train as recently as December of last year. Such devices are simply assembled and consist of three main components. The bulk explosive charge in such devices is normally a plastic explosive such as Semtex, or a western military explosive such as C4 or P4. All such explosives are nitrogen-based and contain nitroglycerine or nitrocellulose.

EU's Military Ambitions Clear: Lisbon Treaty Analysis

Tom Clonan — Thu, 17 Feb 2011 04:33:17 PST

Many of those who oppose the Lisbon Treaty cite its European Security and Defence Policy (ESDP) and Common Security and Foreign Policy (CSFP) provisions as cause for concern in terms of how they might impact on Irish neutrality or serve to create a pan-European army to rival NATO. Those clauses of the Lisbon Treaty which address security and defence issues are worthy of debate, and may cause concern in some quarters. They do not however impact directly on Irish neutrality. Nor do they amount to a charter for the creation of a standing European army. Much of what the Lisbon Treaty addresses in military terms – simply reiterates ESDP and CSFP aspirations that have already been stated in previous EU Treaties and Summits. In relation to the concept of a ‘Common European Defence’ – this issue was addressed eleven years ago at Article 17 of the Amsterdam Treaty 1997 wherein it stated ‘CSFP shall include all questions relating to the security of the Union, including the progressive framing of a common defence policy … which might lead to a Common Defence, should the European Council so decide’. Further reference to Common European Defence was made at the EU Summit of Cologne 1999 where it was intended ‘to give the EU the necessary means and capabilities to assume its responsibilities regarding a common ESDP’.

London's Suicide Bombers: Botched Operation

Tom Clonan — Thu, 17 Feb 2011 04:33:16 PST

Thursday’s attacks on London’s tube network and on a double-decker bus in Hackney bear the hallmarks of a botched operation. As more information emerges, the authorities in London have confirmed that at least three of the devices isolated on Thursday were of a similar size to those detonated by Islamic extremists during the 7/7 attack on London earlier this month. The fourth device appears to have been slightly smaller. These devices consist of three main components. The first is a battery powered timing power unit or TPU which initiates the detonation sequence electrically. In recent times, mobile phones have been adapted by terrorists to function as TPUs. When activated, the TPU heats a metal filament within the second component - the detonator. Detonators contain a small amount of highly sensitive and volatile high explosives such as lead styphnate or mercury fulminate. When triggered by the TPU, the detonator generates a small explosion which provides the shock wave necessary to ignite the third component of the bomb – the bulk charge. The bulk charge normally consists of a plastic explosive. The types of plastic explosive favoured by contemporary terrorist and resistance groups are sometimes of commercial origin but more often of military specification such as semtex, C4, P4, HDX or RDX. All of these explosives are nitrogen-based and contain nitro-glycerine or nitrocellulose. There is some suggestion that the bulk charge in the London attacks may have been home-made, or improvised in a terrorist bomb-making facility. Even a small amount of such nitrogen based explosives, between 2 to 5 kilos would be more than capable of causing the type of death and destruction as seen in the London attacks on the 7th of July.

Simulated Afghan Towns: US Military Training Grounds Germany

Tom Clonan — Thu, 17 Feb 2011 04:31:49 PST

Spin Boldoz is an Afghan town in Kandahar province close to the border with Pakistan. As we approach the town – with the US 2nd Cavalry Stryker Regiment – the town’s market square is teeming with Afghan civilians haggling over stalls of fruit and vegetables. Smoke from cooking fires and braziers mix with the diesel exhaust of the Stryker Brigade’s armoured vehicles. Donkeys, goats and sheep are tethered and ready for sale. The regiment’s radios are humming with chatter and overhead an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) buzzes lazily over the town. Lurching to a halt, the troops dismount from the armoured vehicles to take up defensive positions. Accompanied by Afghan National Police (ANP) and interpreters the ground commander moves into a building occupied by the village elder. Whilst a loose security perimeter is established outside, Lieutenant Colonel Andrew Green from Seattle informs the elder through an interpreter that they are here to detain a group of Taliban militants. Intelligence indicates they are located in a building on the outskirts of town. The village elder speaks urgently in Pashtun – his staccato punctuation indicating concern. Things move rapidly thereafter as US troops begin to fan out and move towards a building at the end of the street. They take up firing positions outside the house and indicate through hand signals that it is surrounded with interlocking arcs of fire. Following an instruction given in Pashtun, troops from the Afghan National Army (ANA) enter the house, calling on the occupants to come forward. As they do so, the market square is rapidly clearing of civilians running for cover. Gunfire suddenly erupts from a house across the street as a group of men make a run for a nearby tree-line. Their movements are disciplined and co-ordinated. The Taliban fighters use orderly fire and manoeuvre to escape the US perimeter. US troops return fire and two armoured Stryker vehicles move up to provide cover for the knot of ANA personnel exposed on the main street. The 50 Cal machine gun on one of the vehicles lays down suppressing fire as the US troops shout orders, organizing a hasty pursuit. Just then the heavy machine gun jams. As the gunner makes furious attempts to clear the weapon a soldier shouts ‘Why is that gun not firing? We’ve got enemy over here’. A laconic voice from an eighteen-year old soldier inside the vehicle replies, ‘Because the gun is jammed. Like we already told ya - dumb ass’. This breaks the tension and loud laughter breaks out. The ‘Taliban’ or ‘opposing force’ re-emerge from the tree-line and walk away for their briefing. For this is not the real Afghanistan, but a complex simulation located at a US military training area in Germany. Spin Boldoz – or Ubungsdorf translating literally as ‘training town’ – returns to normal. The Afghan ‘villagers ‘re-emerge to smoke cigarettes and drink coffee. The US troops re-organise themselves and prepare to re-enter the village and repeat the exercise one more time. Ubungsdorf is just one of several ‘Afghan’ towns and villages located at the US Joint Mission Readiness Centre, (JMRC) Hohenfels, Germany. Located just north of Munich, the JMRC covers an area of approximately 40 square kilometers.

IRA Arms Are Likely Stockpiled, Ready for Destruction

Tom Clonan — Thu, 17 Feb 2011 04:31:48 PST

The Provisional IRA in its statement yesterday pledges to ‘verifiably put its arms beyond use in a way which will further enhance public confidence and to conclude this as quickly as possible’. Given the size and dispersed nature of the IRA’s arsenal, this task will likely prove a logistical challenge that will take at least several weeks to complete. Over the last four decades, the IRA has taken delivery of a considerable number of consignments of weapons for its armed campaign. The main sources of IRA armament have traditionally been from republican sympathisers in the US and from other anti-establishment and terrorist sources in Eastern Europe, North Africa and the Middle East including Libya and Lebanon.

The Future of Ireland's Neutrality and Security

Tom Clonan — Thu, 17 Feb 2011 04:31:47 PST

The future for Ireland’s conventional defence forces and defence and security policy appears set to follow a peculiarly asymmetrical trajectory. On the one hand, Ireland’s skies, land mass and territorial waters lack even the most basic defensive military oversight or protection. On the other hand, in a process that has denied Irish citizens a healthy debate on military neutrality, Ireland’s Defence Forces are being integrated by stealth into the EU’s newly-created military structures. Ireland's defence forces are being integrated into an EU with grand military ambitions. According to the EU St. Malo Declaration of 1998, this grand design involves Europe acquiring the capability to launch 'autonomous' military operations with 'credible military forces' for actions within and without Europe's borders. Ireland's second Nice referendum in October of 2002 formalised Europe’s newly formed EU Military Committee and EU Military Staffs - reporting to the European Council in Brussels.

Images of US Troops Abusing Iraqis Constitute War Crimes

Tom Clonan — Thu, 17 Feb 2011 04:31:45 PST

Article three of the Geneva Convention in relation to the treatment of Prisoners of War is explicit and unequivocal. It prohibits ‘violence to life, in particular murder of all kinds, mutilation, cruel treatment and torture’. It also outlaws ‘outrages upon personal dignity, in particular, humiliating and degrading treatment’. Accordingly, photographs of bound and hooded Iraqi prisoners, recently published by the print and electronic media, if genuine, represent crime scenes. Article four of the Geneva Convention defines in detail those categories of individuals who qualify as Prisoners of War including ‘members of armed forces’, ‘members of organised resistance groups’ and ‘members of regular armed forces who profess allegiance to a government or an authority not recognised by the Detaining Power’. Many Iraqis detained in Abu Ghraib Prison would be categorised as such and would be protected by the Geneva Convention. Article Four of the Geneva Convention goes on to state that civilian detainees who fall outside these categories and who are interned by the Detaining Power are entitled to ‘humane treatment’. The growing numbers of images currently in circulation in the international media depicting the ritual abuse of Iraqi prisoners belie humane treatment and contain a disturbing sub-text. A significant proportion of the photographs include US female personnel deliberately posed to suggest the coercive and sexually loaded subordination of Iraqi male prisoners – all of whom are naked, hooded and bound. The connotations of sexual violence contained in these images along with themes of subordination and domination are calculated to cause maximum offence to Muslim sensibilities. Other disturbing images, of naked prisoners bound together and forced to engage in crude sex simulations further reinforce connotations of the objectification, humiliation and de-humanisation of Iraqi prisoners.

US Military and Civilian Surge in Afghanistan

Tom Clonan — Thu, 17 Feb 2011 04:31:44 PST

US and British casualty figures in Afghanistan experienced a dramatic surge in 2010. A total of 499 US troops and 103 British soldiers were killed by the Taliban last year with thousands more seriously injured by improvised explosive devices (IEDs). The casualty statistics for Afghanistan paint a grim picture of the US-led International Security Assistance Force’s (ISAF) campaign against the Taliban. ISAF’s war in Afghanistan deteriorated significantly in 2007 as the Taliban re-grouped, re-organised and finessed its counter-insurgency strategy against NATO. For example, the number of US and British troops killed in action by the Taliban on an annual basis trebled between 2007 and 2009. This spike in combat deaths prompted President Obama to announce an Iraq-style troop surge to be deployed in Afghanistan during 2010. The US troop surge in Iraq in 2007 is often cited as the primary causal factor in the reduction of US casualties there by up to 90% between 2007 and 2009. Whilst many observers dispute this claim, the Obama administration had hoped that there would be a similar reduction in US casualties in Afghanistan. General David Petraeus, architect of the Iraq surge, assumed command of ISAF in July of last year as NATO operations intensified in Afghanistan. Unfortunately however, increased troop levels – along with a genuine attempt to engage the civilian population with hundreds of civilian-led provincial reconstruction teams – has not led to a reduction in hostilities or casualties. The number of Afghan civilians killed in the war almost doubled during 2010. In addition, US casualties – from a peak in 2009 – doubled yet again in 2010.

In The Line of Fire: War Correspondents in Action

Tom Clonan — Tue, 15 Feb 2011 07:50:31 PST

As of the 1st of December of this year, 171 journalists and other media workers have been killed – most of them murdered – in 35 different countries across the world. Sixty four of this number were killed in Iraq. Many others were killed covering conflict in Afghanistan and elsewhere making 2007 the worst year on record for deaths among journalists and media workers worldwide. Most foreign, development and war correspondents believe that a sea-change has taken place in the opening decade of the 21st Century in the manner in which wars are being waged, with journalists being deliberately targeted by parties to conflicts from the Middle East to Asia and the African continent. This has fundamentally changed the way in which journalists are able to operate in conflict zones and has let to a tectonic shift in the manner in which we access information from these areas. This has led to a situation where many foreign correspondents believe that conflict zones have become ‘black holes’ with little or no real information making its way onto the western news agenda.

US Situation In Iraq: Comparison With Vietnam

Tom Clonan — Tue, 15 Feb 2011 07:50:29 PST

The acronym METTS is familiar to military commanders the world over. METTS consists of a problem solving approach to military scenarios under the following headings; Mission, Enemy, Troops, Terrain, Space and time. When applied to the situation facing US commanders in Iraq - as the June 30th deadline for transition to power expires - many challenges become apparent. In terms of mission, the situation is complex. The military are favourably predisposed to simple mission statements that contain clearly articulated aims and objectives within a definite time-frame. The invasion phase of the war in Iraq was a classic example of such a clearly defined mission. Simply stated, the mission consisted of a rapid armoured advance on Baghdad, the removal of Saddam’s regime and the destruction of his military infrastructure. These were clearly identifiable deliverables that were quantifiable and reasonably predictable in terms of operational planning and logistical support. The resulting campaign was an American Blitzkrieg that secured all three objectives. By April the 17th, D plus 30, Saddam’s statues were being toppled in central Baghdad. The occupation and nation-building phases of the war have proven far more complex. The first objective in this mission – to provide a secure environment with which to facilitate reconstruction projects, consensus building and democratic structures – has not been achieved. Nor is there a clearly defined time frame for the achievement of a stable democracy. There is no withdrawal date for US troops and no consensus between the White House and the Pentagon as to precisely how long American troops should stay in Iraq. Such an open ended arrangement inevitably leads to what the military term ‘mission creep’. In the absence of a clear exit strategy, US troops on the ground in Iraq will become involved in an increasingly complex and hostile environment, characterised by increasing casualty rates and few concrete successes on the battlefield.

Naomi Klein: The Shock Doctrine: Review

Tom Clonan — Tue, 15 Feb 2011 07:50:28 PST

Naomi Klein, the award-winning Guardian columnist and best-selling author of the seminal ‘No Logo: Taking Aim at the Brand Bullies’ (2000) has just completed her most ambitious project to date. With the publication of ‘Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism’, Klein may have achieved what many political leaders, economists and journalists the world over have failed to do during the tumultuous tenure of the current Bush Administration – namely to forensically prove that a ‘rolling coup’ has taken place within the United States that has subordinated its domestic and foreign policy imperatives to corporate interests and naked greed by way of the implementation of ruinous and violent strategies from the Bayou in Louisiana to the banks of the Tigris in Iraq. In the opening chapters of her work Klein introduces the reader to the deeply anti-democratic and laissez faire capitalist ideology of George W Bush’s neo-conservative clique as articulated by its intellectual architect Milton Friedman. Friedman’s philosophy of unfettered right-wing capitalism – characterised by wholesale asset stripping within states to include the totality of their natural resources and manufacturing capacity along with the privatisation of their respective education, health and security sectors – is explored by Klein in the first half of her book by way of a detailed account of the mayhem and misery caused by the neo-cons trademark ‘economic shock therapy’ as implemented in countries around the globe including Chile, Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay, South Africa, Poland, Russia and Iraq. Klein demonstrates quite clearly the manner in which Friedman’s ‘disciples’ – his powerful admirers and student graduates of the Chicago School of Economics – known as the ‘Chicago School’ or the ‘Berkeley Mafia’ were intimately involved in the dismantling of democratic structures across many continents from the ‘Southern Cone’ of Latin America to Central Europe, Russia, the Middle East and Asia. Among Friedman’s disciples Klein clearly identifies former US Secretary of Defence, Donald Rumsfeld – of whom President Richard Nixon said in 1971, ‘He’s a ruthless little bastard. You can be sure of that’ – former US Chief Envoy to Iraq, Paul Bremer along with a host of other conservative Washington Republican luminaries including US Vice President, Dick Cheney.

Negroponte: Legacy of Bush Administration for Obama

Tom Clonan — Tue, 15 Feb 2011 07:50:27 PST

Muntader al-Zaidi’s words as he threw his shoes at the outgoing US President in the Green Zone in Baghdad this week may well become the epitaph for George Bush’s disastrous invasion of Iraq. It was a hugely symbolic act and was reminiscent of the beating with shoes by angry Iraqis of Saddam’s statue – toppled by US troops as the Iraqi capital fell to US forces - on the 9th of April 2003. Hurling his shoes at President Bush, al-Zaidi declared his act a ‘gift’ from the Iraqis, ‘a farewell kiss you dog’. Al-Zaidi concluded his rebuke of President Bush with the comment ‘This is from the widows, the orphans and those who were killed in Iraq’. Al-Zaidi’s comments reflect the anger of many Iraqis at the arguably unnecessary loss of civilian lives during – and in the aftermath of – the US invasion of Iraq. It is estimated that up to a quarter of a million Iraqi men, women and children have lost their lives since the US invaded in March 2003. Many of the deaths have been attributed to a failure on the part of the US as occupying forces to properly secure and administer the country. Many reports, including one published by The Lancet cite the destruction of the country’s security, energy, health and food infrastructure by US forces and resistance groups during the invasion phase of the Iraq war and subsequent insurgency as central to the prolonged – and perhaps avoidable – suffering of the Iraqi people.

What If: Hitler's Invasion of Ireland

Tom Clonan — Tue, 15 Feb 2011 07:50:25 PST

Seventy years ago this summer, Hitler’s general staff drew up detailed plans to invade Ireland. In June of 1940, Germany’s 1st Panzer Division had just driven the British Expeditionary Force into the sea at Dunkirk. Churchill labeled Britain’s rout and the evacuation of approximately 330,000 British and allied troops a ‘miracle of deliverance’. The Nazis intoxicated with their victory in France considered themselves unstoppable and were determined to press their advance into Britain and Ireland. Germany’s invasion plans for Britain were codenamed ‘Operation Sealion’. Their invasion plans for Ireland were codenamed ‘Unternehmen Grun’ or ‘Operation Green’. Like Operation Sealion, Operation Green was never executed. The Nazis failed to achieve air superiority over the English Channel that summer. By the autumn of 1940 the ‘Battle of Britain’ had been won by the RAF and Hitler postponed his British and Irish invasion plans. Some military historians also believe that the plans for Operation Green, drawn up in minute detail, may have been a feint - part of a wider Wermacht deception plan to divert British resources away from Germany’s invasion of southern England. However, had the RAF been overwhelmed by the Luftwaffe that summer – Operation Green gives a sobering insight into what fate neutral Ireland would have suffered at the hands of the Nazis.

Irish Intelligence Staff Work From Kosovo To Kabul

Tom Clonan — Tue, 15 Feb 2011 07:50:23 PST

Normally associated with routine troop deployments and logistic support to UN peace keeping and peace enforcement missions worldwide, the Irish Defence Forces have recently dramatically expanded their international intelligence presence abroad. In the wake of 9/11, Ireland’s Military Intelligence Directorate was expanded in order to assess emerging threats to the state – both external and internal – posed by global terrorist networks such as Al Qaeda. As an independent state agency, Ireland’s military intelligence are focused on long term trends within the global security environment across a broad spectrum of threats, from nuclear, biological and chemical weapons proliferation to the activities, intentions and capabilities of extremist resistance groups and organised criminal gangs. Ireland’s transition to its new-found status as a formidable military intelligence ‘player’ on the international scene has been facilitated by decades of experience in intelligence operations gained during the troubles along with over forty years of UN service - predominantly to flashpoints in Africa and the Middle East. Currently, Ireland has Defence Forces personnel engaged in an intelligence capacity in countries as diverse as Liberia, Cote D’Ivoire and Sudan in Africa along with officers placed in key appointments in countries throughout the Middle East including Lebanon, Israel and Syria.