*Fireworks in homeland ahead of Dalai Lama's Obama meeting
*Ben Blanchard and Maxim Duncan
TONGREN, China
Wed Feb 17, 2010 11:43pm EST
TONGREN, China (Reuters) - Tibetans living near the birthplace of the Dalai Lama in northwest China welcomed Thursday's scheduled meeting between their exiled spiritual leader and Barack Obama with a defiant show of fireworks.
Buddhist monks in Tongren, an overwhelmingly ethnic Tibetan part of northwestern Qinghai province, said they were celebrating the meeting in Washington, which is going ahead despite warnings from Beijing that Obama's act will hurt Sino-U.S. ties.
Tensions with Washington have already risen over issues ranging from trade and currencies to a U.S. plan to sell $6.4 billion of weapons to self-ruled Taiwan, which China considers a renegade province.
The midnight display of fireworks along a valley dotted with Tibetan Buddhist monasteries was a bold and noisy reminder that, in spite of Chinese condemnation of the Dalai Lama, he remains a potent figure in his homeland, and his meeting with Obama will be noticed here by both supporters and opponents.
"My heart is filled with joy," said Johkang, showing off an enormous smile, standing at his monastery in this arid and mountainous part of the Qinghai province, which lies next to the official Tibet Autonomous Region.
"It is so important for us that this is happening, that the U.S. has not given in to threats and will meet our leader," added the monk, who like many ethnic Tibetans goes only by one name.
Qinghai, called Amdo by Tibetans, is where the Dalai Lama was born in 1935. He fled into exile from Tibet in 1959 after a failed uprising against Chinese rule, and since then has campaigned for self-rule for Tibetans. China brands him a separatist.
Tibetans set off fireworks at this time of year anyway to mark the start of their traditional lunar new year.
But many Tibetan monks in Tongren told Reuters that this year they were also marking the Dalai Lama's scheduled meeting in the White House.
"We do this whenever something big, and good happens," said Losan, swathed in the vermillion robes of a Buddhist holy man, standing on a hillside above a monastery where monks were lighting fireworks in the early hours of Thursday.
"He's really going to meet Obama?" interrupted a monk standing next to him, sounding somewhat incredulous.
*"I heard it on Voice Of America,*" Losan told him confidently.
The sound of conch shells being blown echoed around the valley as a group of monks burned an offering of flour and a ceremonial Tibetan scarf on a fire.
Veneration for the Dalai Lama transcends the Buddhist clergy and extends into broader Tibetan society where many resent Chinese rule and the relative wealth of Han Chinese.
"I'm very excited about who the Dalai Lama is going to meet," said one Tibetan woman, who declined to be identified citing the sensitive nature of the topic. "But I worry about what measures the government could take against us in retaliation."
Word of the Dalai Lama's meeting with Obama has filtered through to Qinghai through Tibetan-language foreign radio broadcasts, monks say, though news that the meeting was happening has been mentioned in passing in state media.
Some spoke proudly of the Dalai Lama's Nobel Peace Prize, awarded in 1989.
"That the 1.3 billion Han Chinese have never had one of their number win a Nobel prize and that we have, with just 6 million people, says something powerful," said a monk, Tedan. "Now you understand why we love him so much."
While technically Tibetan monasteries are not supposed to show pictures of the Dalai Lama, many in Qinghai do, the government generally having a more relaxed attitude outside of the Tibet Autonomous Region.
Still, a sense of wariness pervades Tongren.
A large new paramilitary police headquarters is being built outside the county seat, and monks mutter about occasional fines if their public devotion to the Dalai Lama becomes too much.
Around 12 months ago, also during the start of the Tibetan lunar new year, Chinese security forces maintained an obvious presence in Tongren, though lighter than in some Tibetan areas, especially Lhasa, capital of the official Tibet autonomous region.
The year before had been marked by anti-Chinese violence across Tibetan-populated parts of China, centered on Lhasa, where at least 19 died after protests by monks gave way to bloody violence, with Tibetan rioters attacking Han Chinese.
China blamed the Dalai Lama for inspiring the unrest, and regularly condemns him for seeking Tibetan independence. He has repeatedly denied being a separatist or supporting violence.
"CCTV is always saying this and that about him and about us Tibetans," said monk Tarkey, referring to China's main state-run television network. "The world will get a better idea about who he is once he meets Obama."
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Friday, February 12, 2010
Interview on Federal News Radio
I had a good time bragging on VOA today -- how our staffers covered events in Iran, had the latest on the fighting in Somalia and are still the only game in town in Haiti. Please listen!
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
VOA Expands in Latin America
Interesting story about VOA and Martis combining some resources for better programming in Latam
By LAURA WIDES-MUNOZ
AP Hispanic Affairs Writer
MIAMI -- The U.S. government's official broadcasts to Cuba and the government-funded Voice of America are for the first time regularly sharing resources - a move officials hope will enhance both services and which could blunt longtime criticism of the Cuban broadcasts.
Some also question whether the move signals the beginning of the end for the controversial U.S. Office of Cuban Broadcasting.
Last week, the office's TV and Radio Marti services opened their studios to VOA's Spanish division to jointly produce a regular half-hour radio show. "A Fondo" or "In Depth" provides news and analysis from around the hemisphere. It was developed in part to target Venezuela, where President Hugo Chavez has cracked down on opposition and independent media and frequently criticizes U.S. foreign policy.
"I am looking into this issue to ensure that this is an effort to maximize resources to expand U.S. coverage in the region and not a back door to reducing U.S. broadcasts to Cuba," U.S Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, R-Miami, told The Associated Press.
"If this reduces the capability of Radio and TV Marti, it would be another concession to the Cuban regime who fears the uncensored information these broadcasts offer," added the legislator, a Cuban-American and champion of the decades-old U.S. embargo of Cuba.
Miami-based Radio and TV Marti, the government's only foreign broadcasts based outside of Washington, have for years endured charges that the virulent, anti-communist tone of some of their programs was ineffective. Critics - particularly those who oppose Washington's Cuba policies - also question whether anyone on the island even watches the more expensive TV Marti. The Cuban government generally blocks it.
The association between the VOA and the Martis could help the latter's reputation, said Nicholas Cull, a University of Southern California professor who has studied the government's foreign broadcasts.
"My feeling is that Marti has had a checkered history, and that anything that can pull its output into line with the high journalistic standards of VOA would be for the good," he said.
U.S. Rep. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., one of the Martis' most ardent critics, had a more cynical take.
"I think they realize they're on borrowed time with the Cuba project, so I think they're trying to merge it in as much as they can with Voice of America," he said.
Alberto Mascaro, a Miami native and former Office of Cuban Broadcasting executive, recently took the helm of VOA's Spanish-language service in Washington. He says the cooperation is not about politics but about the best use of resources.
"Miami being a gateway city, it's a place where we can glean information and guests that in Washington just may not be as accessible. It's a whole additional talent pool," said Mascaro, who hopes to serve as a bridge between the two broadcasts.
VOA has news stringers south of the U.S. border but no longer has any bureaus there - making the Miami studios all the more important as Washington seeks to counter increasing criticism from Chavez, Bolivian President Evo Morales and Nicaragua's Daniel Ortega.
Over the last year, the Marti studios have occasionally produced other shows for VOA and served as a training hub for its journalists from across the region. In recent weeks, VOA has also relied on Marti's Miami studios for much of its broadcasting to Haiti, using local Creole-speaking reporters from the area's large Haitian-American community.
Still, the change comes as the Office of Cuban Broadcasting faces budget cuts. Last year it was forced to lay off more than 20 staffers. While the larger VOA's 2011 budget request of $206.8 million is up slightly over previous years, Cuban broadcasting's request of $29.2 million is down about $4 million from 2007.
Mascaro insists both organizations adhere to the same standards and serve important but distinct missions. Marti provides a counterbalance to Cuba's tightly controlled, pro-government media.
"It's not trying to provide a pro-Castro perspective. They already get that - and only that," he said. VOA's job is to offer a broader spectrum of balanced news about the U.S. and the world, with politically and culturally relevant information for each region.
The two services differ on the technical side as well. Because the Cuba broadcasts are not welcome by the country's government, the U.S. must beam them directly into the island via shortwave, AM broadcasts and satellite. While VOA's broadcasts also use shortwave and satellite, and now with "Al Fondo," some AM, they rely more heavily on local affiliates.
Yet that may change, too. VOA's Spanish-language radio is carried by only a handful of affiliates in Venezuela, and its TV service by even fewer. Given Chavez's recent decision to take the opposition cable and satellite Radio Caracas Television International off the air, it could soon lose even those platforms. And that would make it all the more dependent on the same modes of transmission the Martis rely on.
By LAURA WIDES-MUNOZ
AP Hispanic Affairs Writer
MIAMI -- The U.S. government's official broadcasts to Cuba and the government-funded Voice of America are for the first time regularly sharing resources - a move officials hope will enhance both services and which could blunt longtime criticism of the Cuban broadcasts.
Some also question whether the move signals the beginning of the end for the controversial U.S. Office of Cuban Broadcasting.
Last week, the office's TV and Radio Marti services opened their studios to VOA's Spanish division to jointly produce a regular half-hour radio show. "A Fondo" or "In Depth" provides news and analysis from around the hemisphere. It was developed in part to target Venezuela, where President Hugo Chavez has cracked down on opposition and independent media and frequently criticizes U.S. foreign policy.
"I am looking into this issue to ensure that this is an effort to maximize resources to expand U.S. coverage in the region and not a back door to reducing U.S. broadcasts to Cuba," U.S Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, R-Miami, told The Associated Press.
"If this reduces the capability of Radio and TV Marti, it would be another concession to the Cuban regime who fears the uncensored information these broadcasts offer," added the legislator, a Cuban-American and champion of the decades-old U.S. embargo of Cuba.
Miami-based Radio and TV Marti, the government's only foreign broadcasts based outside of Washington, have for years endured charges that the virulent, anti-communist tone of some of their programs was ineffective. Critics - particularly those who oppose Washington's Cuba policies - also question whether anyone on the island even watches the more expensive TV Marti. The Cuban government generally blocks it.
The association between the VOA and the Martis could help the latter's reputation, said Nicholas Cull, a University of Southern California professor who has studied the government's foreign broadcasts.
"My feeling is that Marti has had a checkered history, and that anything that can pull its output into line with the high journalistic standards of VOA would be for the good," he said.
U.S. Rep. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., one of the Martis' most ardent critics, had a more cynical take.
"I think they realize they're on borrowed time with the Cuba project, so I think they're trying to merge it in as much as they can with Voice of America," he said.
Alberto Mascaro, a Miami native and former Office of Cuban Broadcasting executive, recently took the helm of VOA's Spanish-language service in Washington. He says the cooperation is not about politics but about the best use of resources.
"Miami being a gateway city, it's a place where we can glean information and guests that in Washington just may not be as accessible. It's a whole additional talent pool," said Mascaro, who hopes to serve as a bridge between the two broadcasts.
VOA has news stringers south of the U.S. border but no longer has any bureaus there - making the Miami studios all the more important as Washington seeks to counter increasing criticism from Chavez, Bolivian President Evo Morales and Nicaragua's Daniel Ortega.
Over the last year, the Marti studios have occasionally produced other shows for VOA and served as a training hub for its journalists from across the region. In recent weeks, VOA has also relied on Marti's Miami studios for much of its broadcasting to Haiti, using local Creole-speaking reporters from the area's large Haitian-American community.
Still, the change comes as the Office of Cuban Broadcasting faces budget cuts. Last year it was forced to lay off more than 20 staffers. While the larger VOA's 2011 budget request of $206.8 million is up slightly over previous years, Cuban broadcasting's request of $29.2 million is down about $4 million from 2007.
Mascaro insists both organizations adhere to the same standards and serve important but distinct missions. Marti provides a counterbalance to Cuba's tightly controlled, pro-government media.
"It's not trying to provide a pro-Castro perspective. They already get that - and only that," he said. VOA's job is to offer a broader spectrum of balanced news about the U.S. and the world, with politically and culturally relevant information for each region.
The two services differ on the technical side as well. Because the Cuba broadcasts are not welcome by the country's government, the U.S. must beam them directly into the island via shortwave, AM broadcasts and satellite. While VOA's broadcasts also use shortwave and satellite, and now with "Al Fondo," some AM, they rely more heavily on local affiliates.
Yet that may change, too. VOA's Spanish-language radio is carried by only a handful of affiliates in Venezuela, and its TV service by even fewer. Given Chavez's recent decision to take the opposition cable and satellite Radio Caracas Television International off the air, it could soon lose even those platforms. And that would make it all the more dependent on the same modes of transmission the Martis rely on.
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
VOA Operates Despite U.S. Government Shutdown
VOA is a 24-hour service. So despite the massive snowstorm in Washington -- and the shutdown of the U.S. Government -- the languages services are still operating. One big story missed by many -- and covered by VOA Somali -- is the impending crisis in Mogadishu. Check it out at www.voanews.com
Monday, February 8, 2010
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
VOA Buzz
VOA Creole provided much-needed medical information to their audience during a live radio call-in program on Jan. 27 broadcast from outside the ruins of the presidential palace in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. VOA broadcaster Jean Robert Philippe took questions from citizens talking with medical specialists in Florida.
Senator Ted Kaufman (D-Del.) praised VOA’s Creole Service in a statement in the Congressional Record, saying staffers provided Haitians with vital information aimed at helping them find "immediate shelter, medical assistance and aid."
More than 5,000 people attended a Town Hall on health issues in Jalingo, Nigeria. This Town Hall, along with another that attracted thousands of people, were organized by Ibrahim Ahmed of the VOA Hausa Service.
Two dozen journalists from across the Caribbean participated in a workshop on Pandemic Influenza and Disaster Reporting in Kingston, Jamaica, Jan. 27-28. Organized by VOA Development’s Brian Armstead, the workshop included speakers from the Centers for Disease Control and the World Health Organization.
Losang Gyatso, chief of VOA's Tibetan Service, introduced the documentary film Leaving Fear Behind at a showing at American University. The documentary was produced by Dhondup Wangchen, a filmmaker who has been detained by Chinese authorities since March 2008.
Michelle Harris represented VOA at the second annual Student Career Day at Mary Ellen Henderson Middle School in Falls Church City. Nearly 500 students attended.
VOA’s Near East/Central Asia Division held a special lunch on Jan. 20 to raise money for the relief effort in Haiti. Donations were sent to the American Red Cross
Senator Ted Kaufman (D-Del.) praised VOA’s Creole Service in a statement in the Congressional Record, saying staffers provided Haitians with vital information aimed at helping them find "immediate shelter, medical assistance and aid."
More than 5,000 people attended a Town Hall on health issues in Jalingo, Nigeria. This Town Hall, along with another that attracted thousands of people, were organized by Ibrahim Ahmed of the VOA Hausa Service.
Two dozen journalists from across the Caribbean participated in a workshop on Pandemic Influenza and Disaster Reporting in Kingston, Jamaica, Jan. 27-28. Organized by VOA Development’s Brian Armstead, the workshop included speakers from the Centers for Disease Control and the World Health Organization.
Losang Gyatso, chief of VOA's Tibetan Service, introduced the documentary film Leaving Fear Behind at a showing at American University. The documentary was produced by Dhondup Wangchen, a filmmaker who has been detained by Chinese authorities since March 2008.
Michelle Harris represented VOA at the second annual Student Career Day at Mary Ellen Henderson Middle School in Falls Church City. Nearly 500 students attended.
VOA’s Near East/Central Asia Division held a special lunch on Jan. 20 to raise money for the relief effort in Haiti. Donations were sent to the American Red Cross
Monday, February 1, 2010
Public Diplomacy Discussion Group
The YPFP Public Diplomacy Discussion Group focuses on how state and non-state actors can influence the policy attitudes of foreign populations residing abroad. Discussions include strategy as well as tactics and cover a variety of communications platforms, from print and radio to web applications and social media.
The group actively recruits YPFP members with an existing command of fields such as communications, marketing, strategy, and technology and a firm academic and/or professional exposure to the principles of diplomacy and international relations.
Discussion Group Chair:
Posted using ShareThis
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)