| Media Search: |
Censorship on China #39;s Sina Weibo: VICE Podcast 28
This week on the VICE podcast Reihan Salam sits down with Jason Q. Ng, author of Blocked on Weibo, a book which examines the keywords blocked on China #39;s most...
By: VICE
Read the original here:
Censorship on China's Sina Weibo: VICE Podcast 28 - Video
Beijing OK's Lady Gaga but may want to tone album down
It's been a mixed week for freedom of expression in China, for two recording artists who could hardly be less similar.
Lady Gaga had her new set ARTPOP greenlit for sale in the mainland after she was banned for vulgarity in 2011. Meanwhile, similarly banned rock icon Cui Jian, who has been in and out of official favor in recent years since he supported the crushed democracy movement in China in 1989, has declined a major public appearance over censorship concerns.
Cui Jian was due to appear on the Spring Festival Gala of China Central Television (CCTV), a marathon variety show that airs on the eve of Chinese Lunar New Year, which this year falls on Jan. 31. The show watched by hundreds of millions of Chinese on the eve of what is China's biggest holiday.
However, China's "Godfather of Rock" seems to have changed his mind as he did not think the all-powerful State General Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television would let him sing "Nothing to My Name," the anthem of the democracy movement of 1989, which was crushed in Tiananmen Square in Beijing.
STORY: Will China Piracy Ruling Boost U.S. TV?
After her unbanning in China, the words on Lady Gaga's Twitter feed were breathless: "I'm so excited!!!! The Chinese Government Approved ARTPOP to be released in China with all 15 songs! Next I hope I can come to perform!"
It's hard to imagine Lady Gaga on stage in Beijing but stranger things have happened. When she was banned in 2011, another singer was also ruled out of contention, Katy Perry, and she made her Beijing debut earlier this month at the Beijing National Indoor Stadium.
It seems that Lady Gaga's album cover, designed by Jeff Koons and showing her straddling a big shiny blue ball while cupping her breasts, will have to be toned down for the censors.
When the authorities banned her for vulgarity in 2011, the list of songs included "Hair," "Marry The Night," "Americano," "Judas" and "Bloody Mary." The Back Street Boys were also among 100 songs banned, some 10 years after they released"I Like It That Way."
Read the original post:
China Censorship: Lady Gaga Unbanned, Rock Legend Cui Jian Shuns Official Favor
Reuters
Turkish police detain a protester during an anti-government protest in central Istanbul.
Turkish riot police have fired tear gas and water cannon at hundreds of protesters in Istanbul and Ankara. The protesters were demonstrating against a controversial new internet censorship bill.
Police forcefully dispersed protesters chanting anti-government slogans in Istanbul's central Taksim Square on Saturday, with demonstrators attempting to escape into side streets.
Around 300 protesters gathered in the capital Ankara, with smaller demonstrations also taking place in the coastal city of Izmir.
One protester told Euronews: "I'm here to defend my internet right. It's wrong to be banned by somebody while you pay for the internet. I'm protesting about that. And censorship is a crime."
The draft bill is due to be debated in Turkey's parliament and would enable the mass surveillance of internet users.
I'm here to defend my internet right. Censorship is a crime
Turkish protester
The proposed law would increase controls on internet usage and give the government the authority to order web hosts to keep records of users' web activity for up to two years.
View post:
Turkish Riot Police Disperse Protesters With Tear Gas
By Barbara Bronson Gray HealthDay Reporter
THURSDAY, Jan. 16, 2014 (HealthDay News) -- Feeling a little fat after the holidays? Beware. Reading a news story that seems to devalue people who are overweight might make you more likely to reach for snacks to soothe your anxiety.
Media stories that focus on topics such as the financial impact of obesity on society or the importance of better self-control for weight loss could spur weight gain among women, a small new study of college students contends.
When women who considered themselves overweight read news articles that appeared to put down overweight people, they seemed less able to control their eating than women who didn't feel they needed to shed pounds, the study found.
The study was designed to determine if people who felt stigmatized for being overweight were likely to eat more, due to resulting anxiety or frustration, said study author Brenda Major. She is a professor in the department of psychological and brain sciences at the University of California, Santa Barbara.
"We know that stress and feeling out of control or overwhelmed can make you less able to inhibit behaviors," Major said. "So we wondered if the same things that increase feelings of stigma actually cause you to eat more.
"People assume those who are obese are weak-willed, have no self-control or are lazy," she added.
Seeing media stories covering the so-called "obesity epidemic" and its potential impact on health care costs triggered Major's interest in doing this study, she said. "There's a frenzy about obesity in the media and there's a negative, moralistic tone to the coverage," she said.
Major's questions about the impact of stigmatization on weight gain are related to the work of other researchers. A previous study showed that when overweight women were put in a situation where they felt they would be devalued because of their weight, their blood pressure went up and a test showed they scored worse in measures of self-control.
Other research, published last July in the journal PLoS One, showed that discriminating against people because of their weight could increase the chances they become obese.
Meeting with Seagulls about Social Networking Strategy 2014
description.
By: Jay Versluis
More:
Meeting with Seagulls about Social Networking Strategy 2014 - Video