Negative Potrayal Of Asia By Western Media

[MrWorldwide]

With the exception of the Australian Broadcasting Commission, who actually have reporters assigned to cover various parts of Asia (several of whom are fluent in at least on major Asian language), the vast majority of news agencies in Oz simply pick a story off the news wire and put a negative slant on it. China is the obvious 'boogeyman' atm, North Korea the loose cannon (fair enough ..) and various other countries are potential 'death traps' for unwary Australian travellers - Bali and Thailand being the obvious choices here. Vietnam gets a mention when we need to dig up our involvement in a war we should never have been part of, and Japan is home to the dastardly whaling fleets that raid our waters and slaughter our whales. Indonesia has long been regarded with suspicion by Australian news editors - not entirely without cause, but its rare that there is any attempt to show 'both sides' of a story, and so it goes.

What stands out, to me anyway, is that our news agencies (think Murdoch) continue to insulate us from the region we live in - I know its not all beer and skittles out there, but the phenomenal economic growth of many of our neighbours barely gets a mention. Just wondering if that is the perception in other parts of the world ? Is Asia, particularly SEA, only mentioned negatively ?

[Scottythai]

What do ya expect from a country founded by Criminals. They do as they know deflect any attention from their selves. Mad at China cause they own more of the Auzzie ore then the Auzzies. Mad ot Bali for taking away tourist $$ from Auz due to high cost at home. Could go on but I think you get the point

[phuturatica]

Well... I have noticed in the UK, especially with the younger generation that Thailand is the land of tropical paradise, beaches, ladyboys and hookers. I don't really think this is to do with the way that media in the UK (BBC etc) has portrayed it, but more from word of mouth or experience.

I'm only 25 and I got a lot of comments from people of a similar age group saying "Oh are you going to live over there to find a ladyboy?" and other immature remarks like this. It's kinda frustrating when these people clearly haven't been to Thailand, otherwise they would realise that there is so much more to Thailand than its booming sex industry and fooling ladyboys.

Every now and then we get news of accidents which have affected British nationals in Thailand but in my eyes they don't really paint a bad picture, they're just reporting news which is of interest to the British nation.

You have to realise that Thailand, as beautiful as it is - is a very dangerous country seeing as it lacks on a lot of health and safety laws which are I imagine quite predominant in Australia. There are a lot of Australians killed in Thailand every year, therefore it's only in the country's best interest to warn those of certain dangers one can face in Thailand.

[slapout]

Some people call a open cess pool a hole filled with sh.t, other call it a source of fertilizer. You just have to make up your own mind as to what you are looking for and want out of life.

[chiangmaikelly]

Search Tiger economy. You find things like,A nickname given to the economies of Southeast Asia. Some of the tigers are Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, South Korea and China.

Two Asian economies that are quietly taking off. Today I want to add to those thoughts with a few more key points that opportunistic U.S. investors should know about.

A current-account surplus of $5.42 billion this year through July and the fact that the Bank of Thailand has raised its benchmark interest rate twice this year have also helped the baht post the second-best performance among Asia's most-traded currencies excluding the yen. Thailand, in particular.

Thailand experienced the world's highest growth rate from 1985 to 1995, following which it saw a contraction in economy by 1.9% in 1997.

The money press all over the world has been Thai positive for years since 1998. The only negatives one hears are from a few posters on Thai Visa. They quote long dead American humorists like Mark Twain to try and discredit the modern banking system and all the financial data published about Thailand.

The popular press on the other hand are just trying to sell newspapers and don't feel that accuracy is as important as the financial press and there is quite a difference.

Edited February 19, 2013 by chiangmaikelly

[Berkshire]

Interesting regarding Australia. I can tell you that in the USA, there is definitely a negative slant (in a manner of speaking) regarding Asia. China is the big bad enemy at the moment. To hear the politicians say it, China is stealing our jobs, stealing our IT and patents, providing us poor quality products, manipulating their currency, cheating on trade, hacking into our networks, blah blah blah, not to mention poor human rights and corruption. Some of these are legit gripes, but way overdone in most cases.

Before China, there was Japan, buying up chunks of America and destroying the US auto industry. Then there were the Korean and Vietnam wars, with Asians negatively portrayed in movies and TV shows. The Philippines has always be renown for mail-order-brides, even more so than Thailand. Dirt poor Cambodia, dictatorship in Myanmar, and the misfit in North Korea. So yea, the US media is pretty negative about Asia as well.

[wamberal]

If you read trashy newspapers, and watch low quality "news and current affairs" programmes on television, of course you would not be very well informed.

There is a lot of quality media in Australia, and even more easily accessible on-line. I lived and worked in Hong Kong for ten years, and in Thailand for four years, and the UK for a couple of years, and have also travelled extensively, and would have to say that the genuine knowledge of Asia in general, and individual Asian countries, is higher in Australia than in any other non-Asian country.

Edited February 19, 2013 by wamberal

[MrWorldwide]

If you read trashy newspapers, and watch low quality "news and current affairs" programmes on television, of course you would not be very well informed.

There is a lot of quality media in Australia, and even more easily accessible on-line. I lived and worked in Hong Kong for ten years, and in Thailand for four years, and the UK for a couple of years, and have also travelled extensively, and would have to say that the genuine knowledge of Asia in general, and individual Asian countries, is higher in Australia than in any other non-Asian country.

I watch both the SBS and ABC news each night, in addition to several of the commercial news services. I dont subscribe to the Financial Review or The Age - both have their critics - but nor do I restrict myself to the Telegraph or any of the other tabloids. I just find it interesting that we have a massive and culturally diverse nation of over 230 million people to our immediate north, complete with an economy that shows little sign of the impact of the GFC, and yet our media continues to demonise Indonesia. Like most Australians, I was appalled by the video of animal cruelty, but our politicians completely over-reacted : I wonder if they would have done the same thing if the video had been filmed in a US slaughterhouse ? Similarly, the jungle juice 'epidemic' in Bali / Lombok hasnt been presented in the interests of uncovering the perpetrators - it has been dished up as sensationalist fodder for the dribbling masses sprawled across their lounges on a Sunday night.

No question that some truly nasty incidents occur all over Asia on a daily basis, and that those involving Australians will naturally be publicised, but the constant demonisation of certain countries blows my tiny mind. By contrast, there is a storm steadily brewing here over 'Prisoner X', a Melbourne man found hanged in an Israeli jail in 2011 after being allegedly arrested without charge by Shin Bet, but our media seems eager to abide by Israel's edict that the workings of their security services shouldnt come under scrutiny. No demonisation of the state of Israel or its citizens, no attempt to tar everyone with the same brush - call me paranoid, but I can see Uncle Sam's influence all over this. If Malaysia had jailed an Australian citizen anonymously, and without any legal process, there would be a huge outctry in this country.

[wamberal]

A lot of ground to cover. Firstly, most television news is selected for broadcast on the basis of the available video footage, so that accounts for a lot of the bias, selective reporting, strange priorities, etc etc.

Secondly, I agree that we seem to have little genuine interest in Indonesia. When I was young, many years ago, we actually had quite a few schools teaching Bahasa Indonesia, that virtually died out. But then again, that is also a function of demand for Indonesian language in employment. Other things being equal, local events are more interesting than those at a distance. The Indonesian abbattoir stories are of interest because the beasts being killed are from Australia, and a lot of Australians are dewy-eyed about animal rights. Similar events from, for example, the USA, might be of minor interest in Australia - but, frankly, why should they be? Only because the video is available, that is why (and I would bet that if there was some gory video available, some of the channels would fall over themselves to show it).

Not sure the point you are making about the Israeli incident. The dead man was a dual Australian/Israeli citizen, was an acknowledged operative with Mossad, and apparently did something that he should not have, according to his employer. Mossad is known to be a ruthless and deadly organisation. Uncle Sam's brush is usually involved, because they are Israel's strongest ally. As they are also an important ally, and espionage partner, of Australia.

An Australian parliamentarian was recently stopped from entering Malaysia and deported. The Australian Government's response was pretty mild.

Edited February 19, 2013 by wamberal

[uptheos]

There are a lot of Australians killed in Thailand every year, therefore it's only in the country's best interest to warn those of certain dangers one can face in Thailand.

In the past five years over 1300 Aussies have died in Thailand from mysterious causes.

http://www.chiangrai...news/13386.html

Falling off a balcony syndrome seems to be quite common.

Edited February 19, 2013 by uptheos

[phuturatica]

There are a lot of Australians killed in Thailand every year, therefore it's only in the country's best interest to warn those of certain dangers one can face in Thailand.

In the past five years over 1300 Aussies have died in Thailand from mysterious causes.

http://www.chiangrai...news/13386.html

Falling off a balcony syndrome seems to be quite common.

Exactly... This is what I was relating to.

[Songhua]

Unfortunately the trash is what most of the population truly believes to be fact. Take for example the (apparently earth crumbling) story which appears on Australia's Channel 9 program 'A Current Affair' every three months or so condemning the importation of Asian prawns because they're supposedly unhealthy and full of human excement. Nothing more than fear tactics and propoganda by the commercial fishing industry - but Channel 9 runs with it every time.

Having answered the 'are they the prawns full of Asian sh!t' question at my counter for a number of years with the answer 'yes, they are Asian prawns', I came to realise that I wasn't going to sell any prawns.

There is no sense arguing with a customer ... they've seen it on A Current Affair and it's 'true'.

We now sell (Australian) prawn dishes at almost double the price and the customers can't understand the increase.

Sorry OP, simplistic story and slightly off topic maybe, but just an example of the mindset (bordering on racist) the trash news can create.

Edited February 19, 2013 by Songhua

[geriatrickid]

The Australian reporting on Asia is rather well balanced. The large numbers of immigrants and their languages facilitates news coverage. Considering the number of Australians murdered, killed and maimed through misadventure etc. in SE Asia, I think there is a great deal of restraint. Why not deal with the reality.

- The Japanese have never apologized for their war crimes and still engage in the senseless and unnecesry slaughter of whales. They also did a nice coverup of their nuclear catastrophe.

- The Chinese over fish and have no regard for the enironment or many of the things Australians hold dear such as fair play and human rights. China has mounted assault after assault on the IT systems of the west with some nasty hacking of Australian companies and government websites. The Chinese have their own agenda and if it means walking over a few people they will.

- Vietnam: if you read the media, you will see that while Vietnam's problems are addressed it gets a sympathetic portrayal in the media.

- Indonesia: can you blame the Australians with Indonesia's incessant over fishing in Australian waters and its pivotal role in the transit of bogus refugees? The place is annoying.

- Myanmar: Well, considering that journalists are all but banned, what do you expect.

- The Phillipines: The place is a basket case. Nothng the Australian media could say or write can make it seem any worse than it is.

- Cambodia - The land where people go kaboom when they step on one of the leftover mines and a place that has a well deserved reputation for pedos and corruption.It's the creepy country because of its Khmer Rouge genocide that still has the people implicated walking around. Yet, the Australian media has usually taken a sympathetic view to the Cambodian people's plight.

- Malaysia- The Australians have to walk on eggshells because the Malaysians are a sensitive lot. The media tries to ignore the place lest it be accused of anti muslim bias again.

- Brunei? Well the media does like to profile the opulence of the Royal family.

- Singapore usually is treated nicely. it's the only place in SE Asia where the bathrooms are clean and you can drink the tapwater. Australians bathe from time to time and they can identify with a country where after you wash your clothes, they don't come out stinking of sewage water as is the case in Thailand.

- South Korea: The land of non smiling people doesn't interest a nation where people are friendly.

- Taiwan? No one cares except when the MPs get into a fist fight.

[geriatrickid]

Unfortunately the trash is what most of the population truly believes to be fact. Take for example the (apparently earth crumbling) story which appears on Australia's Channel 9 program 'A Current Affair' every three months or so condemning the importation of Asian prawns because they're supposedly unhealthy and full of human excement. Nothing more than fear tactics and propoganda by the commercial fishing industry - but Channel 9 runs with it every time.

Having answered the 'are they the prawns full of Asian sh!t' question at my counter for a number of years with the answer 'yes, they are Asian prawns', I came to realise that I wasn't going to sell any prawns.

There is no sense arguing with a customer ... they've seen it on A Current Affair and it's 'true'.

We now sell (Australian) prawn dishes at almost double the price and the customers can't understand the increase.

Sorry OP, simplistic story and slightly off topic maybe, but just an example of the mindset (bordering on racist) the trash news can create.

Uhh sorry, but the Thai prawn industry does leave a lot to be desired. Are you going to say that there is acually health surveillance and oversight? Are you going to claim that the large amount of prawns raised in some rivers are raised in appropriate conditions? Are you going to deny that children are not working in horrific conditions shelling and deveining these prawns for export? The reporting on these conditions is accurate in respect to the aquaculture companies profiled.

[SteeleJoe]

Indonesia has long been regarded with suspicion by Australian news editors...

Just a brief and somewhat tangential comment: it is, as you say, not without cause and I also know from some friends in the Australian military senior ranks that it is not just newspaper editors who regard them that way...

Sent from my iPad using ThaiVisa ap

[HardenedSoul]

There are a lot of Australians killed in Thailand every year, therefore it's only in the country's best interest to warn those of certain dangers one can face in Thailand.

In the past five years over 1300 Aussies have died in Thailand from mysterious causes.

http://www.chiangrai...news/13386.html

Falling off a balcony syndrome seems to be quite common.

Perhaps because they find the stereotypical Australian strain of masculinity doesn't stand up any better in Thailand than it does at home.

[wamberal]

What do ya expect from a country founded by Criminals. They do as they know deflect any attention from their selves. Mad at China cause they own more of the Auzzie ore then the Auzzies. Mad ot Bali for taking away tourist $$ from Auz due to high cost at home. Could go on but I think you get the point

You are right, of course, my great-great-grandfather was a criminal who was sent to Australia. A Scottish criminal.

[kevvy]

What do ya expect from a country founded by Criminals. They do as they know deflect any attention from their selves. Mad at China cause they own more of the Auzzie ore then the Auzzies. Mad ot Bali for taking away tourist $$ from Auz due to high cost at home. Could go on but I think you get the point

what about your country do you want a list made too.

[MrWorldwide]

kevvy - ignore the troll, mate - the rest of us have.

[theblether]

Today's headline news on the Scottish news-stands..........

[krisb]

Indonesia gets a bad wrap every so often because they are the largest muslim population in the world and only 200km off our shore and as we all know, not every muslim is a terrorist but every terrorist is a muslim. China I dont hear much about other than they are busy buying our land as fast as they can and they built an embassy here under a veil of secrecy because last time we bugged it. North Korea is a loose cannon and thats that.

I think the middle east cops it far more than Asia ever does.

End of the day only bad news sells, and not watching and reading it is healthier. No news is good news!

[Ricardo]

If people in the West don't think much of Asia, why are they so very determined, to keep buying cheap Asian-manufactured goods at Wal-Mart/Asda/Tesco etc ?

[MrWorldwide]

Indonesia has long been regarded with suspicion by Australian news editors...

Just a brief and somewhat tangential comment: it is, as you say, not without cause and I also know from some friends in the Australian military senior ranks that it is not just newspaper editors who regard them that way...

Sent from my iPad using ThaiVisa ap

OK - I served in the Australian Army for 4 years and our standard enemy on exercises was usually the fictional nation of 'Kameria' to our near north : it didnt take Einstein to realise that Kameria was Indonesia. For a country we supposedly fear, we train their officer corps at Duntroon, including the Kopassus officers ultimately responsible for atrocities in Aceh, West Papua and East Timor (according to Wikipedia, that training ceased in 1999 after events in East Timor). The TNI is a law unto itself, openly threatening Indonesian journalists (on camera, no less) sent to cover the fighting in Aceh when they questioned the Army's version of events after finding bodies in a ditch. Unlike Australia, where the armed forces serve the duly elected government, certain Asian nations (no names..) have a history of military coups, and Indonesia is one of them. I have the utmost respect for SBY and his efforts since coming to power, but that wont last forever. Hopefully, the next government will be democratically elected, but the threat of another outcome is always there. That said, would they really attempt a fullscale invasion of Australia ? I doubt it, at least not in the immediate future, but they might want to make a claim on disputed resources in the north - mineral and fishing rights, for example.

All of that, IMO, pales into insignificance when you look at other countries in the region - a territorial spat between Australia and Indonesia would be a blip compared to the US and Japan confronting China. Here's hoping it all remains the stuff of paperback novels.

[MrWorldwide]

If people in the West don't think much of Asia, why are they so very determined, to keep buying cheap Asian-manufactured goods at Wal-Mart/Asda/Tesco etc ?

The question you should be asking is why has the American public allowed Wal-Mart to rape your country, reducing employees and customers alike to the kind of people that the Nouveau Riche in Shanghai and Beijing would cross the street to avoid. I see plane loads of Australians carrying fake designer bags and wearing 'Boss' t-shirts that cost them all of 150 baht while Asians are paying ridiculous prices for the real thing. I dont want to take this thread any further off track, but any time you want to talk audio and the Asian Century, its a discussion I'm more than willing to have.

[giddyup]

What do ya expect from a country founded by Criminals. They do as they know deflect any attention from their selves. Mad at China cause they own more of the Auzzie ore then the Auzzies. Mad ot Bali for taking away tourist $$ from Auz due to high cost at home. Could go on but I think you get the point

You are right, of course, my great-great-grandfather was a criminal who was sent to Australia. A Scottish criminal.

Was his crime sheep molesting? I hear that's rife in Scotland.

[NeverSure]

Search Tiger economy. You find things like,A nickname given to the economies of Southeast Asia. Some of the tigers are Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, South Korea and China.

Two Asian economies that are quietly taking off. Today I want to add to those thoughts with a few more key points that opportunistic U.S. investors should know about.

A current-account surplus of $5.42 billion this year through July and the fact that the Bank of Thailand has raised its benchmark interest rate twice this year have also helped the baht post the second-best performance among Asia's most-traded currencies excluding the yen. Thailand, in particular.

Thailand experienced the world's highest growth rate from 1985 to 1995, following which it saw a contraction in economy by 1.9% in 1997.

The money press all over the world has been Thai positive for years since 1998. The only negatives one hears are from a few posters on Thai Visa. They quote long dead American humorists like Mark Twain to try and discredit the modern banking system and all the financial data published about Thailand.

The popular press on the other hand are just trying to sell newspapers and don't feel that accuracy is as important as the financial press and there is quite a difference.

I don't know where you get your figures about Thailand. It has a national debt of $123 billion US dollars which is $1,775 per person, or $7,100 for a family of 4. Link

A big problem is that when Thailand borrows big money, graft gets in the way and no one knows where the money goes. The recent big budget for flood control is exhibit "A".

"Figures don't lie, but liars figure" must have been referring to Thailand.

Add to this the banksters and real estate developers building anything anywhere there is dirt, and demand be damned, and Thailand is sitting on a knife edge.

Thailand is paying borrowing $US5 billion dollars a year in interest on its national debt.

Unfortunately, international reporters take Thailand's lying figures and report and believe them.

Edited February 19, 2013 by NeverSure

[Potosi]

I wonder what can be portrayed positively about Asia from the Western point of view? One can have lots of petite girls in the bed with no effort and for little money, but is there anything else?

[endure]

What do ya expect from a country founded by Criminals. They do as they know deflect any attention from their selves. Mad at China cause they own more of the Auzzie ore then the Auzzies. Mad ot Bali for taking away tourist $$ from Auz due to high cost at home. Could go on but I think you get the point

You are right, of course, my great-great-grandfather was a criminal who was sent to Australia. A Scottish criminal.

Was his crime sheep molesting? I hear that's rife in Scotland.

You're confusing Scotland with Wales...

[driedmango]

I don't know you read lots of fair news on the CBC one of the most fair and balances news outlet s in the world.

There seems to be a rush of world leaders dropping by los this year.. I think they know its booming. .

I don't listen to fox or CNN to much.. but ya they are slanted..

But I don't know how much truth you find in a paper from china... night and day if you want to compare.

On that note a female friend told me she would never go to Thailand in so sarcastic tone.. there she is on her way for some yoga retreat will be funny to tell here omg your going to love it over there.

You get jealous people so they have to say something stupid about you travelling.. I just tell them there is too much crack in Vancouver and i hear that is why people move there.. lol

[FDog]

The Australian reporting on Asia is rather well balanced. The large numbers of immigrants and their languages facilitates news coverage. Considering the number of Australians murdered, killed and maimed through misadventure etc. in SE Asia, I think there is a great deal of restraint. Why not deal with the reality.

- The Japanese have never apologized for their war crimes and still engage in the senseless and unnecesry slaughter of whales. They also did a nice coverup of their nuclear catastrophe.

- The Chinese over fish and have no regard for the enironment or many of the things Australians hold dear such as fair play and human rights. China has mounted assault after assault on the IT systems of the west with some nasty hacking of Australian companies and government websites. The Chinese have their own agenda and if it means walking over a few people they will.

- Vietnam: if you read the media, you will see that while Vietnam's problems are addressed it gets a sympathetic portrayal in the media.

- Indonesia: can you blame the Australians with Indonesia's incessant over fishing in Australian waters and its pivotal role in the transit of bogus refugees? The place is annoying.

- Myanmar: Well, considering that journalists are all but banned, what do you expect.

- The Phillipines: The place is a basket case. Nothng the Australian media could say or write can make it seem any worse than it is.

- Cambodia - The land where people go kaboom when they step on one of the leftover mines and a place that has a well deserved reputation for pedos and corruption.It's the creepy country because of its Khmer Rouge genocide that still has the people implicated walking around. Yet, the Australian media has usually taken a sympathetic view to the Cambodian people's plight.

- Malaysia- The Australians have to walk on eggshells because the Malaysians are a sensitive lot. The media tries to ignore the place lest it be accused of anti muslim bias again.

- Brunei? Well the media does like to profile the opulence of the Royal family.

- Singapore usually is treated nicely. it's the only place in SE Asia where the bathrooms are clean and you can drink the tapwater. Australians bathe from time to time and they can identify with a country where after you wash your clothes, they don't come out stinking of sewage water as is the case in Thailand.

- South Korea: The land of non smiling people doesn't interest a nation where people are friendly.

- Taiwan? No one cares except when the MPs get into a fist fight.

Your first line shows you know bugger all about Australia. Do you even know about the Aussie media? Channel 7 and 9 run the same stories just picked up off the web. Channel 10 can't even afford that so just do local stories and anything an overseas affiliate will give them. Channel 2 is a govt run station but is really anti the Liberal govt, even when they are in power. SBS is watched by the ethnics predominantly in Melbourne and Sydney with a small viewing in other capitals.

Now lets go outside the capitals. Head into the country a little bit and then you see what really happens. They just have the govt channel 2 and a mixture of the other stations on one other channel. They get bugger all news.

Do you really think the normal aussie cares about the Japs killing whales? No, most aussies hold the anti whalers with disdain ever since good old Capt Watson uses terrorist tactics to stop them. We are all for the stopping the Japs killing the whales but most of the people I know hope they take down Watson with them. Even Greenpeace kicked him out as he was a loony.

China? No problem with them. If it wasn't for China then Oz would be a basket case so we really need them.

Indonesia? Please keep up with the times, fishing isn't a concern anymore. We care more about the boat people coming from there.

Vietnam? No problem, we feel bad about being there because of the bloody yanks, again.

Myanmar? Most people wouldn't even know it existed.

Philippines? Cheap holiday and sex, nothing more, same as Thailand.

Cambodia? Cheap. Nothing else is known to most.

Malaysia? The only time we hear of them is when they execute one of our drugos and we thank them for it. Also Air Asia has cheap flight through KL to get to somewhere else. Nothing else.

Brunei? Ask a normal aussie about Brunei and they immediately think of the middle east because they think you mean Dubai. They wouldn't have a clue where it is.

Sth Korea? Everyone knows they are loonies.

Taiwan? Cheap electronics that we buy with a passion. Nothing else.

Singapore? First plane stop on the way to the old dart. Not big on the agenda.

So please don't give what YOU think the aussies think of outher countries as it is wrong.

At the moment we only want Indonesia to to something about the boat people and as for the other countries we only think of whether there is cheap booze and sex or whether they are helping our economy. Nothing else.

Edited February 19, 2013 by FDog