Thailand/Harassment of Journalists

The Committee to Protect Journalists: Thai prime minister intensifies threats against television commentator

"The Committee to Protect Journalists expressed grave concern about the Thai government’s escalating harassment of journalist and television commentator Sondhi Limthongkul. Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra filed a defamation lawsuit against Sondhi on Thursday, the third such suit against the journalist, this one seeking 1 billion baht (US$25 million) in damages."

China/Internet

China Knowledge: Internet Users in China Amounted to 103 million

"The number of Chinese internet users in China right up till June this year has reached 103 million, of which 53 million are broadband users, while 49.5 million of them are dial-up users, said Mao Qian, Senior Consultant and former Vice President and Chief Engineer of Wuhan Research Institute of Post and Telecommunication, at the fourth Optics Valley of China International Optoelectronic Exposition and Forum (OVC EXPO 2005)."

"Although China now has a large share in the global broadband internet market, the use of broadband internet in Chinese families is still relatively low at 3%, far behind its Asian neighbors like South Korea and Singapore. Mao also mentioned that more than 40 million Chinese now access the internet through their mobile phones and this group of internet users is mostly aged between 18 and 28 years old."

India/Foreign Newspapers on-demand

Asia Media: Now read foreign newspapers in India

"With a number of foreign and Indian firms triggering off a revolution in wi-fi printing the wave is just not confined to newspapers alone. Companies like Canadabased Newspaperdirect.com, USbased Satellitenewspaper.com, which licence other firms to print newspapers and Bangalore-based firms like Wipro e-Peripherals (printing) and Convergent Communications (wi-fi) are putting in place the arsenal required for the wi-fi printing movement."

Nepal/Freedom of Speech

The Korea Times: Journalists Call for Press Freedom in Nepal

"Some 70 senior journalists from 22 nations called on the Nepalese government to take immediate steps to restore freedom of speech in the Himalayan country. "The ongoing government crackdown on the Nepalese media is a cause for great concern for journalists committed to freedom and democracy in the Asia-Pacific region,'' they said in a statement."

China/Blogs/Censorship

Mediachannel/AP: China Reportedly Shuts Down Award-Winning Blog

"Chinese authorities have blocked a pro-democracy Web log after it was nominated for a freedom of expression award by a German radio station, a press freedom group said. The blog, titled Wang Yi's Microphone, dealt with "sensitive subjects" and was maintained by a teacher from Sichuan province, Paris-based Reporters Without Borders said in a statement.China's communist government encourages Internet use for education and business, but blocks material deemed subversive or pornographic."

China/Western Companies/Censoring Technologies

AsiaMedia: Western companies under fire over media controls in China

"In their quest for profits, Western companies are selling press-muzzling equipment to China, censoring their search engines or blog tools and even passing on information that may help reveal the identity of journalists critical of Beijing, media freedom groups say."

"Equipment by French group Thales is used to jam foreign radio broadcasts while United States firm Cisco's technology-savvy machinery censors Internet messages and helps Beijing track down Chinese cyber dissidents, according to the groups meeting at a forum on "China's media meltdown"."

Asia/Foreign Advertising Network

MediaWeek: Publicis reports strong third quarter

"Publicis Groupe, owner of Starcom and ZenithOptimedia, has reported £679.02m in revenue for the third quarter of 2005, a rise of 7.4% year on year. The French-owned media and advertising network said it achieved organic growth of 6.2% for the quarter ending 30 September. The strongest growth came from Asia Pacific and Latin America and the rest of the world."

Asia/Foreign News Agencies

PRNewswire: Reuters Appoints Alexander Hungate Managing Director Reuters Asia

"The global information company, - - announced the appointment of Alexander Hungate, as Managing Director of Reuters Asia effective 1st January 2006. In this role he will lead the regional team responsible for Reuters business activities in Asia. He will be managing annual revenues of about GBP420 million and 3,600 staff across more than 19 countries in the Asian region."

Nepal/Need for Press Freedom

The Korea Times: Journalists Call for Press Freedom in Nepal

India/New TV-Channel

The Guardian: CNN teams up for Indian news channel

"CNN is teaming up with one of India's leading TV journalists to launch a new English-language 24-hour news channel in India.The channel, to be called CNN-IBN, will be headed by the former talk show host and broadcaster Rajdeep Sardesai and will broadcast local news from 20 bureaux across the country as well as global news provided by CNN."

Japan/Broadcasting/Legislation

Leading the Charge: Japan Bars Foreign Control of Broadcasters

"Japan‘s parliament on 26.10. adopted legislation that will prevent non-Japanese companies from acquiring shares to control domestic broadcasters, following an attempt earlier this year by a Japanese Internet company, backed by U.S. capital, to take over a radio station. The move strengthens current restrictions, which limit only the direct stake held by foreign investors."

Ifra Conference (Madrid)/Phillipines/Mobile-service

IFRA: Beyond the Printed Word 2005 -conference moblogs

"Imee Alcantara, AVP corporate planning and business development of The Philippine Daily Inquirer, explains how her newspaper uses mobile phones to call people to action, to ask readers for their opinions, and to inform them about breaking news, such as the death of Pope John Paul II. "Wireless gives you the opportunity of having additional accessibilty to the readers, reinforces the relationship with them, and helps you reach new audiences," says Alcantara."

Video

India/New Magazine

MediaWeek: Maxim to hit India

"Maxim will be the first international men's lifestyle title to debut in the country, ahead of rival FHM, as the titles seek new audiences. Media Transasia India picked up the exclusive licence agreement from Dennis and the launch is planned for November, with a Bollywood celeb rumoured to front the first issue."

"Maxim will launch with an initial print run of 80,000. Although the country's population nears 1.1 billion people, the market is still relatively small.The bestselling men's mag there, Man's World currently shifts between 12,000 and 15,000 copies."

Asia/Internet Advertising Outlook

ClickZNews: ZenithOptimedia Raises Internet Forecast

"ZenithOptimedia upgraded its outlook for Internet advertising on a global scale, saying it now expects the medium to hold a 4.3 percent market share in 2005, as compared to the 4.1 percent share it predicted in July. The company also increased its total global ad spend forecast. The nations with the highest growth rates are the "BRIC" countries -- Brazil, Russia, India, and China. The group will drive 27 percent of world ad growth for the year."

Asia/Pay-Tv Markets

IndianTelevision.com: India, China to play key roles in Asia's pay-TV development: Casbaa

"Industry revenues coming from the pay-TV market in Asia are now in excess of US$15 billion annually. However, in other jurisdictions the regulatory framework remains uneven and unfavourable to competition and development, including meeting the demands of technological change and industry investment, as well as creating a level playing field for competitors."

China/GDP Growth

CNN Money: China seeks 7.5% annual GDP growth

"China aims to maintain average annual economic growth rate of 7.5 percent from 2006 to 2010, in line with the country's long-term goals, the country's development chief said in an article.The targeted growth rate would deliver an objective in the recent five-year plan for 2010 per-capita gross domestic product to be double the level of 2000, said Ma Kai, head of the Development and Reforming Commission."

China/Tv-business

AdAgeChina: Foreigners tempted by 1+ billion viewers

”There’s a joke about a thief who was asked why he robs banks, and he replied, ‘Because that’s where the money is.’ We’re interested in Asia, especially China, because that’s where most of the world’s viewers are,” said Time Warner Chairman Richard Parsons during a recent visit to Asia."

"With 347 million households watching television for an average of three hours per day, according to CSM Media Research, international media owners and marketers are eager to tap the potential of that country’s TV industry. But with more than 2,000 channels on terrestrial and pay-TV platforms at city, provincial and national levels, it is a complex, challenging scenario."

China/Advertising Revenues

Asia Times Online: Advertising revenue surges 20% in first half

"China's advertising revenue stood at 143.4 billion yuan (US$17.7 billion) in the first half of this year, up 20% year-on-year, according to latest data released by Nielsen Media Research. Of the total revenue, TV ads accounted for four-fifths. Ads for male consumer goods and overseas tourism saw fast growth."

"According to the data, the top three sectors for advertising expenses were medicines, cosmetics/bathroom articles, and retail and services. Their advertising expenses came to 30 billion yuan, 27.5 billion yuan and 21.5 billion yuan, respectively."

Taiwan/New Magazine for Wines

Publicitas: UK IPC Media Launches Decanter

"IPC Media's International department, part of the licensing and syndication division IPC+, has announced the launch of a Taiwanese edition of Decanter the world's greatest wine magazine. The IPC Country & Leisure Media brand will launch in the Far East, becoming the first western wine magazine to publish a dedicated Asian edition. The traditional Chinese-language magazine will be sold in Taiwan, and exported to China, Hong Kong, Singapore and Malaysia."

Asia/Blogs

Al-Jazeerah: Blogging in Asia: Ain't Safe No More

"Gone are the days when one could say anything freely behind the anonymity of cyberspace and get away with it. Imprisonment, legal action and intimidation of bloggers (web loggers) are on the rise in Asia. If you thought blog-policing was prevalent only in countries like China and Vietnam, think again. A few recent cases in Singapore, India and Malaysia have turned the spotlight on the dangers lurking in the alleyways of blogosphere."

"Even in India—the world’s largest democracy—some bloggers are being taken to court for making libelous remarks against individuals and companies. Early this year, India’s one of the biggest media companies, the Times Group (which owns The Times of India) served legal notice to an Indian blogger Pradyuman Maheshwari for defamation after he criticized the newspaper group on his blog, Mediaah! (http://mediaah.blogspot.com). Bombay-based Maheshwari is a senior journalist and commentator. As Maheshwari did not have sufficient funds to fight a legal battle against the media behemoth, he had to delete all the controversial posts from his blog."

China & India/Economy/Predictions

The Economist: What's to stop India and China?

"FOR the past two years and, according to projections, this year and next as well, the Indian economy has managed to grow at around 7% or better. That allows optimistic souls, in London, New York and Tokyo as well as in Delhi and Bangalore, to hope that India might now be on the verge of repeating China's awesome transformation. By averaging annual growth of 9.5% for almost three decades, China has lifted hundreds of millions out of poverty in the most rapid and far-reaching economic transformation in history."

Singapore/Newspapers

Publicitas: The Straits Times Retains Position As Most Widely Read Newspaper

"The Straits Times continues to be the most widely read newspaper in Singapore, reaching over 1.3 million readers each day. The slight statistical drop in its readership of one percentage point is not unexpected in light of the fact that the cover price of The Straits Times rose by 33 per cent last year to cover newsprint costs."