The greatest challenge for any blogger is coping with the threat of actual news -- for example something serious seems to be afoot in Tibet, as police are clashing with protesters and the situation turned violent. Don't want to ignore a significant news story, but can't really do anything to advance anyone's understanding of it. This is why we'll always need real reporters.
« Caron: The Return | Main | No One »
Actual News
14 Mar 2008 11:42 am
Comments (20)
Read something written by real reporters, in other words.
Unfortunately, the real reporters aren't providing much insight into this either. Nor can I right now (except to give a long and boring recap of Tibet- China relations throughout history, which I won't do). But I have an email out to a Tibetan friend with close contacts to the Drepung Loseling order. That seems to be the only way I can get good information when it comes to Tibet.
Fortunately, one can always go meta, mentioning the story in order to say something about blogging. That way it doesn't get ignored, and enlightment (albeit not enlightenmnet about the story in question) ensues.
A clever solution, it seems to me.
What happened to their Olympics PR blitz? This is awfully ugly.
Andrew Sullivan will never forgive that remark.
But I have an email out to a Tibetan friend with close contacts to the Drepung Loseling order.
It seems almost always there is someone in the comments section that is either him/herself is in the thick of things or at least knows someone "on the inside".
Not much, but better than nothing at all.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Anti-China_protests_in_Tibet_intensify/articleshow/2866926.cms
I don't know exactly how reliable the information is, but my source has it on good authority that Indiana Jones is involved somehow.
"It seems almost always there is someone in the comments section that is either him/herself is in the thick of things or at least knows someone "on the inside"."
I think that's one of the beauties of the blogging world. It allows those with special insights a voice. Information that would otherwise be overlooked can see the light of day.
That's going tobe the next evolution in news-blogging, and it's already in progress. TPM is hiring reporters: real, on-the-spot reporters, to cover news in the nation's capital. It's only a matter of time (and funding, of course) until a blog that focuses on international news hires its own real, on-the-spot reporters.
Call the Washington office of Radio Free Asia; they employ a number of Tibetan reporters.
I would remind everyone to be careful what they write about the China-Tibet conflict because they might be accused of anti-sinism if they write in the wrong way.
This post brought to you courtesy of David Simon.
Yeah, sure, Tibet. They'll have demonstrations, they'll get arrested, nothing will change.
But what about Iran? They are having elections, big ones with huge potential import. Where's the exit polling?
For sure we will always need reporters but this to be meaningful this needs to be supplemented with the kind of analysis and background that comes from bloggers. As others have said there is plenty that has been written about Tibet that could be brought into play. This would be at least as useful as any further details of how many Tibetans have been imprisoned in the latest wave of protests.
You will in any case some quite good reporting through bloggers: see http://www.studentsforafreetibet.org/
Chances are we'll learn the truth a few years from now. Getting a J visa, which journalists need to get to legally report from China, can be a real bitch. What you report on is heavily controlled even if you are a foreigner. For instance, a National Geographic photographer a few years ago had to issue an official apology to China for taking certain pictures in Tibet. The punishment if he didn't do so was banning National Geographic from China. You usually can't visit Tibet or Xinjiang legally unless you are part of an official tour group, which often control your movements.
Cop-out. The value of bloggers over reporters/dead tree news is the ability to gather up sources, print linksm and provide some sort of overview frame to facilitate discussion. One reason why I am against the whole "bloggers on teevee" thing, and never click-through to those is prcisely because of the lack of links. Must be nice for the ego to those aspiring to be teevee celebrities, but does absolutely nothing for blogging.
I'm sure there has been quite a bit written lately, both by reporters and global-type bloggers to provide informaion/background about Tibet issues. To pretend that a blogger such as yourself has no utility in facilitating your readers understanding and discussion about it is a cop-out.
I was in Tibet last summer, and the Chinese government does indeed keep a tight lid on people and information flowing both into and out of Tibet. There's tons of paperwork involved in just getting there and moving from district to district, lots of censorship, and enough secret police around that Tibetans would speak frankly to me about the situation only when there wasn't anyone else around.
So here's a story that as far as I know isn't getting reported: There is a massive forced resettlement project underway, where they are forcing Tibetans out of their ancestral homes and into ugly new settlements along highways. The scale of this thing isn't to believed: you see these new towns *everywhere* you go. The Chinese government claims they're doing this to make it easier to deliver services to them, but it's really to make it easier to control the Tibetan population.
One of the things I wondered about is why the Chinese government cares so much about Tibet: they've spent a lot of money building out infrastructure like highways (not to mention a wireless system that's much better than what we have in the states). The answer I got was water: Tibet supplies a huge percentage of the water to India and the Mekong Delta. China is headed for a water disaster, and to fix it they need to divert significant portions of the flows away from the rest of Asia. I came away thinking that water could be the new oil for Asia. :^(
I think it would be a Good Thing (tm) if someone started covering this.
Matt, you seem to be coping with this great challenge admirably, but I'll keep you in my prayers.
Comments closed March 28, 2008.
| 
Heads in the Sand
Or bloggers could always read up on Tibet and try to learn something about it, instead of prattling on about Clinton-Obama and health care mandates.
Posted by Christmas | March 14, 2008 11:48 AM