By Joel Chong

Thanks to the inclusion of young volunteers and migrants in the cast and crew, a Lao television mini-drama series

about the lives and struggles of young migrants who freely cross the border turned out to be just the right vehicle for getting their attention to migration and its risks. Continue Reading

On the 2nd day of the Mekong Media Forum, debates around perceptions of China through media reports continued to stand out. Journalists discussed how to report on the 2010 election in Burma — if it is held. Continue Reading

By Tess Bacalla

CHIANG MAI, Thailand, Dec 9 (TerraViva) – Countries in the Mekong region have indeed opened their borders and former foes become friends, but several of them are still ruled by authoritarian governments that put limits on media and other freedoms.

Aung Zaw, exiled Burmese editor of ‘The Irrawaddy’ magazine, stressed this contrast during in his opening remarks at Wednesday’s opening of the Mekong Media Forum in this northern Thai city, where he has lived and fought for Burma’s freedom since fleeing the repressive state 21 years ago as a student activist.

In this kind of environment – where openness has filtered through all economies in the region but not necessarily into their political environments — the founder and editor of the magazine focusing on Burmese and South-east Asian issues said journalists need to raise fundamental questions to authorities lest they remain buried and allow the region’s repressive regimes to remain in power unchallenged. Continue Reading

By Marwaan Macan-Markar

CHIANG MAI, Thailand, Dec 9 (TerraViva) – A heated debate about the future of the Mekong River at a media conference in this northern Thai city exposed a fault line triggered by the regional giant China’s plans to build a cascade of dams on the upper stretches of South-east Asia’s largest waterway. Continue Reading

By Lynette Lee Corporal

CHIANG MAI, Thailand, Dec 9 (TerraViva) – The changing ‘face’ of the media landscape in the Mekong region is eliciting both excitement and fear from observers and professionals alike.

The growing power of new media and citizen journalism, the increased involvement of civil society organisations in the dissemination of information, and the often conflicting issues between perceived image and the actual ‘media product’ are just some of the issues tackled in the Mekong Media Forum, being held here from Dec. 9 to 12. Continue Reading