Reporting on Conflict | Media Watch Blog

• News source:
• 16 April 2009
• Khmer Intelligence
• By Chak Sopheap, Guest Commentary, UPI Asia Online

When the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia, popularly known as the Khmer Rouge Tribunal, was established, many Cambodians hoped it would bring justice, truth and reconciliation for the victims and survivors of the regime….

There are better alternatives to this court setup if justice and national reconciliation are the goals. The funds allocated for the court, which have already exceeded the original budget, should have been used for restorative justice – a healing process – rather than this imperfect retributive justice.

• News source:
• 15 April 2009
• Millier-McCune
• A new look at data from the Iraq Body Count finds that some weapons leave a disproportionate share of civilians dead in their wake.
• By Michael Todd

A recent article in the New England Journal of Medicine examines data from the Iraq Body Count, which finds that some weapons leave a disproportionate share of civilians dead in their wake.

A new analysis of violent civilian deaths in Iraq since the American-led invasion in 2003 has a little something for many viewpoints.

• News source:
• 15 April 2009
• Peace and Collaborative Development Network blog (posted by Craig Zelizer)
• By Craig Zelizer

THE PEACE MEDIA CLEARINGHOUSE – A NEW Resource for Peacemakers

Find documentaries, films, shows, podcasts, songs, video games, and other multimedia about peace and conflict management…

• News source:
• 15 April 2009
• The Daily Beast
• Both Washington and Madrid appear determined not to allow the pending criminal investigation to get in the way of improved relations.
• By Scott Horton

Spanish prosecutors have decided to press forward with a criminal investigation targeting former U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and five top associates over their role in the torture of five Spanish citizens held at Guantánamo, several reliable sources close to the investigation have told The Daily Beast. Their decision is expected to be announced on Tuesday before the Spanish central criminal court, the Audencia Nacional, in Madrid.

• News source:
• 14 April 2009
• Business Ethics Blog
• By Chris MacDonald

Ethisphere Magazine just released its 2009 list of the World’s Most Ethical Companies. Accompanying their ranking is the graph pictured here, the caption of which reads:

Need proof that it pays to be ethical? The World’s Most Ethical Companies consistently outperform the S&P 500. The graph…depicts the average stock growth percentile of the public World’s Most Ethical Companies vs. the Standard & Poor’s 500 index over the last five years.

It’s an interesting graph, to be sure, but it doesn’t show what they claim it shows. What it shows is correlation, not causation. I hope their conclusion is right…

• News source:
• 14 April 2009
• Globe and Mail
• By Bill Curry

OTTAWA — Parliament has less than a year to craft a new definition of “Indian” before Canadian native policy risks tumbling into chaos as the existing rules for determining native status are thrown out by the courts.

The clock is ticking after the B.C. Court of Appeal set the tight deadline for the minority Parliament. It’s a ruling that has experts in native law scratching their heads, wondering how such a contentious issue can possibly be resolved in time.

• News source:
• 14 April 2009
• Slaw
• By Simon Fodden

The Ontario Ombudsman — office of, one presumes — is now on Twitter: http://twitter.com/Ont_Ombudsman

• News source:
• 13 April 2009
• Bangkok Post
• By TED MAYER

The Wisdom of Sustainability: Buddhist Economics for the 21st Century is the latest book from social activist, critic and spiritual visionary Sulak Sivaraksa. The title suggests this volume is intended as a conversation partner to E.F. Schumacher’s Buddhist Economics, first published in 1966 and reprinted in 1973 in the influential volume Small is Beautiful. In fact the work of UK economist Schumacher is one of Sulak’s primary referents and serves as one of the integrating threads to this new volume.

The richness of the lectures and essays collected in The Wisdom of Sustainability, however, lies in the breadth and depth of Sulak’s moral referents. It is not only Schumacher’s economic vision but also Gandhian non-violence that helps concretise Sulak’s vision of a peaceful world.

• News source:
• 13 April 2009
• Foreign Policy
• By Jeffrey Lewis and Meri Lugo

Speaking in Prague on April 5, U.S. President Barack Obama called the thousands of nuclear weapons sitting in world arsenals “the most dangerous legacy of the Cold War.” He proposed deep cuts in U.S. and Russian nuclear stockpiles. But when policymakers talk about nuclear reductions, what do they mean in practice? After all, you can’t just leave the warheads out on the curb on Tuesday morning for the garbage collector to pick up.

• News source:
• 13 April 2009
• Mediator Tech
• By Tammy Lenski

The folks at Elder Decisions have scored another major P.R. success with today’s National Public Radio feature, Mediators Help Families with Tough Choices of Aging.

• News source:
• 12 April 2009
• MarcGopin.com
• By Marc Gopin

Syrian Ambassador to the United States gives an important interview to CNN. The story is significant because Moustapha lays out the parameters of a separate Syrian/Israeli peace track, while also stressing the importance of a ‘comprehensive’ peace for Israel, which must include the Palestinian track.

• News source:
• 11 April 2009
• The Real News

Trailer for film based on Howard Zinn’s book…

• News source:
• originally published 12 February 2009
• Bangkok Post
• Social critic suggests the government should invest in improving the media's journalistic standards and long-term growth
• By Mongkol Mangprapa

Comprehensive media reform is essential in keeping its function as a system of checks and balances intact, social critic Prawase Wasi told a seminar on media ethics yesterday.

Mr Prawase said there was no denying that the media had played a big part in the current crisis in society. With the help of technology, every member of society can gain quick access to information and news.

• News source:
• 14 April 2009
• Philadelphia Inquirer
• By Chris Plutte, Rwanda country director for Search for Common Ground

Since arriving in Rwanda six months ago, I have learned a lot about the power of radio.

On a recent Wednesday, I looked up from my Facebook page to watch six teenage girls leave my office in Kigali. They were off to the local radio station to produce Urungano (the local word for generation), a program addressing the trials and tribulations of Rwandan girls…

Fifteen years ago last week, another movement sought to empower its people through the same Rwandan airwaves.