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By FOSTER KLUG Associated Press

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) - When a South Korean ferry sank with hundreds trapped inside last month, the whole world knew about it. But in North Korea, there was utter silence about the collapse of a 23-story apartment building for five days, until state media issued a rare apology.

The North is not a black hole for information. More than 2 million people have cellphones. Hundreds of foreigners live in Pyongyang, the showcase capital where the collapse occurred a week ago Tuesday. A handful of international news bureaus, including The Associated Press, operate there, and the city sees a steady procession of visiting tourists, academics and diplomats.

But with no Internet for most citizens, a local press that operates as the government's propaganda wing and a security apparatus that severely curbs foreigners and citizens alike, if North Koreans get news about something, it is almost always because the nation's young leader, Kim Jong Un, wants them to get it.

Kim may not have meant for his people to know anything about the collapse at first. Three days after it happened, a North Korean state-run newspaper carried a photo of the beaming leader watching a soccer match. The date shown on a screen display of a telephone beside Kim was a day after the collapse, according to a South Korean official who spoke on condition of anonymity because the official was not authorized to speak to media about the matter.

Chang Yong Seok, an analyst at Seoul National University, said North Korea may have finally publicized the building collapse because news was likely spreading among citizens in Pyongyang via the domestic cellphone service.

In any case, the delay in reporting gave North Korea's propaganda mavens more time to spin the narrative in a way that glorified the ruling Kim family.

The North Korean story highlighted a grieving Kim Jong Un, who one official told state media "sat up all night, feeling painful after being told about the accident."

The state-run Korean Central News Agency said there were casualties but released no specifics on deaths or injuries. Most of the few details to emerge - things that people in democracies would likely consider newsworthy - have come from South Korean officials, who said they believe many people died because nearly 100 families had likely moved into the building, even while it was under construction.

The North Korean report includes apologies from five officials who accepted responsibility for the collapse. It is in keeping with a consistent propaganda message framed to show Kim as a man of the people with no patience for his officials' failures. Kim's late father and predecessor, Kim Jong Il, was seen as more aloof than his son.

Link:
N. Korea building collapse study in media control - NBC40.net

By FOSTER KLUG Associated Press

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) - When a South Korean ferry sank with hundreds trapped inside last month, the whole world knew about it. But in North Korea, there was utter silence about the collapse of a 23-story apartment building for five days, until state media issued a rare apology.

The North is not a black hole for information. More than 2 million people have cellphones. Hundreds of foreigners live in Pyongyang, the showcase capital where the collapse occurred a week ago Tuesday. A handful of international news bureaus, including The Associated Press, operate there, and the city sees a steady procession of visiting tourists, academics and diplomats.

But with no Internet for most citizens, a local press that operates as the government's propaganda wing and a security apparatus that severely curbs foreigners and citizens alike, if North Koreans get news about something, it is almost always because the nation's young leader, Kim Jong Un, wants them to get it.

Kim may not have meant for his people to know anything about the collapse at first. Three days after it happened, a North Korean state-run newspaper carried a photo of the beaming leader watching a soccer match. The date shown on a screen display of a telephone beside Kim was a day after the collapse, according to a South Korean official who spoke on condition of anonymity because the official was not authorized to speak to media about the matter.

Chang Yong Seok, an analyst at Seoul National University, said North Korea may have finally publicized the building collapse because news was likely spreading among citizens in Pyongyang via the domestic cellphone service.

In any case, the delay in reporting gave North Korea's propaganda mavens more time to spin the narrative in a way that glorified the ruling Kim family.

The North Korean story highlighted a grieving Kim Jong Un, who one official told state media "sat up all night, feeling painful after being told about the accident."

The state-run Korean Central News Agency said there were casualties but released no specifics on deaths or injuries. Most of the few details to emerge - things that people in democracies would likely consider newsworthy - have come from South Korean officials, who said they believe many people died because nearly 100 families had likely moved into the building, even while it was under construction.

The North Korean report includes apologies from five officials who accepted responsibility for the collapse. It is in keeping with a consistent propaganda message framed to show Kim as a man of the people with no patience for his officials' failures. Kim's late father and predecessor, Kim Jong Il, was seen as more aloof than his son.

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N. Korea building collapse study in media control - Quincy Herald-Whig | Illinois & Missouri News, Sports

After the George Zimmerman Verdict Talking About the Politics of Black Masculinity

By: Margaretta Fesler

Originally posted here:
After the George Zimmerman Verdict Talking About the Politics of Black Masculinity - Video

5th position holder in HSSLC (Arts) exams, Aadrita Chakravorty.

SHILLONG: With the social networking sites gaining popularity, especially among student, the toppers of the Higher Secondary school leaving certificate (HSSLC) examination feel that excessive usage of the same may hamper students.

Banmankhraw Lyngdoh, the 6th position holder from St Anthonys Higher Secondary School said, Social networking site like Facebook has both pros and cons, it helps to reduce stress but at the same time it should be avoided during exam.

Today, the social networking sites and such as Facebook, Twitter and messaging platforms like Whatsapp and BBM have become a part and parcel of everyones life especially teens. Kritika Goenka, 3rd position holder in this HSSLC from St Marys College also says that she kept herself aloof from all these social sites during her preparations.

Another topper Keith Tennyson Nongsteng from St. Anthonys Higher Secondary School believes that it all depends on the user if he or she want to make social websites productive or not.

Pupils ranked social networking sites, blogs, general websites and magazines above books and this is one of the reason for the low pass percentage as claimed by some parents and teachers.

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Excessive use of social networking sites may hamper preparation

The terrible murder last Monday of the head of the Len Provincial Council, Isabel Carrasco, has given rise to a clear situation of abuse and excess on social networking sites. In the immediate wake of the shooting, messages were posted online that were in many cases insulting and denigrating to the victim, and in others, clearly in favor of the use of violence against politicians in particular, those of the ruling Popular Party

These excesses have led the interior minister, Jorge Fernndez Daz, to defend the need to go after those who justify crimes or incite hatred via the internet. He proposes that this be done through the use of additional legal instruments that allow for the compatibility of freedom of expression and the right to information, with a citizens right to honor and safety.

Thus far he has only issued a declaration of intentions, but it is regrettable that a minister should react to a situation that has caused legitimate unease with a proposal to toughen the law that has not been properly thought through, and comes in the heat of the moment. Legislation should never be created in the immediate wake of a scandal.

Legislation should never be created in the immediate wake of a scandal

But whats more, in this case, current laws provide sufficient instruments for the authorities to tackle behavior that is harmful to third parties or violates fundamental rights. All that is needed is for them to be applied. Spains penal code covers offenses such as slander, libel, threatening behavior, coercion, incitement to commit a crime, and justifying terrorism and violence. Whats more, these offenses carry punishments that are sufficiently dissuasive. The recent arrests of two youngsters for inciting violence via the social networking sites proves this to be true. The fact that such behavior has not, until now, been the target of the authorities, apart from on a few rare occasions, has created a perception of impunity, which, in large part, has contributed to the spiral of deterioration in which we find ourselves.

It is likely that the application of the law will have the effect of providing a warning to internet users, given that many of them are insufficiently aware that their online actions can have criminal consequences. In any case, the social networks should not be treated differently from any other form of media.

Aside from criminal proceedings, in the case that they are justified, there are other ways of fighting these excesses. In the first place, via the raising of civic awareness, in the form of moral reproaches. But there is also room for political reproaches when these excesses are carried out by those with public responsibilities. It would be welcomed if Spains political forces were to adopt a self-regulatory code aimed at ending insults and threats over the internet, with offenders forced to resign.

There is, then, no need to change the law, and an approach that leans toward criminalizing the use of the internet, or that threatens freedom of expression, should be avoided.

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The law is sufficient