Coverage of Pakistan & Kashmir
Region in Regards to War in Afghanistan
By Reed Mercado
I am monitoring the coverage of Pakistan in regards
to the war in Afghanistan and the issues related to
the Kashmir region.
11.13.01
HoustonChronicle.com & New York Times, Print Edition
The interactivity of the Houston Chronicle website
is impressive. I like that articles related to the war
in Afghanistan have navigation down the right hand side
covering a variety of aspects of America's new war.
The photos are small enough that the page loads quickly,
but the use of colors is effective and makes all the
text easier to read.
The article does not get much ink from the New York
Times. It is buried in the "Nation Challenged"
section, and has no pictures.
11.14.01
Newsday, Print Edition & HinduOnline.com
This is a short Newsday article, only about 600 words,
but it has a photograph of the author, and is an easy
read. It is an opinion piece, proclaiming India to be
America's best ally in the Middle East, and being essentially
mistrustful of Pakistan, especially because of the perceived
fragility of the government. The Hindu Online, which
is India's national paper, takes an interesting stand
in denouncing all violence in the Kashmir region. The
website does not look particularly professional, and
is not much more than text on the screen. The text is
large, easy to read, and the best adjective I can think
of is uncluttered.
11.15.01
Canada.com/OttawaCitizen & The New York Times, Print
Edition
The Ottawa Citizen online looks just like every other
newspaper's website up these days. They pretty much
just took the newspaper and slapped everything on the
web, even classified ads. It is okay, but it does not
really take advantage of the medium. The article, warning
India and Pakistan to cool down, is informative, but
seems too pro-American to really be viable. The Times
piece is an opinion one, and I like the drawing included
with it. It reminds me of the New Yorker, which is a
good thing. It is mostly a history lesson, which is
much needed, but I hate how the ink smudges and comes
off on my hands when I hold it too long. It makes me
want to put the paper down.
11.16.01
New York Times, Print Edition & Telegraph.co.uk
Both of these articles are interesting because they
blame the Kashmir region for creating part of the problem,
but not because of fighting there, but for different
reasons. The Times article implicates Pakistanis there
of helping the Taliban, and the Telegraph article says
heroin produced in Afghanistan makes it out through
the Kashmir. The top of the telegraph site is hard on
the eyes, because they chose lousy colors. There are
a lot of ads, but lots of pictures too, and it seems
to be more graphic oriented than most news sites.
11.17.01
New York Times, Print Edition & The Statesman.net
I think that this Indian wire service is great for
this coverage. This is why the Internet is so great.
I can feel the local pulse regarding a situation, not
getting just a limited American viewpoint from one of
the few papers that deigns to do foreign coverage (though
they have picked it up considerably since September
11.) The article, short and sweet, with no links or
graphics, but not long enough to let me lose it, criticizes
the portrayal of Indian diplomats in the United States.
The Times article only makes a brief mention of Kashmir
in an article mostly about fallen Kabul. It was the
only article I could find that day that actually had
something about Pakistan, but it was only a mention,
though the lengthy article is featured prominently in
the "Nation Challenged" section of the paper.
11.18.01
BostonHerald.com & The Economist, Print Edition
The Boston Herald web site is poor in my opinion. The
graphic on top, with Osama on the left, Bush on the
right and an explosion in the middle, is sensationalism
at best, and they should be ashamed of themselves. The
article is about Pakistan's role in the government that
will have to develop after the war in Afghanistan is
over. The site also uses four columns across which I
think is a bit much, but the colors are good, and the
photographs are quite good. The Economist is a great
publication, and the article, about the threats Pakistan's
economy is facing now, addresses a problem few have
stopped to think about. Economist articles are short
and to the point, which I like, and it utilizes a chart
to help illustrate the piece's stickier economic points.
11.19.01
UnionTrib.com (San Diego Union-Tribune) & Time,
Print Edition
Although the San Diego Union Tribune only has a 150
word blurb about the Kashmir region, it was one of the
few American news sites I found reporting on the 100
Indian soldiers killed there. I like this site, it is
very community oriented. The home page is cluttered,
and though the execution is not there, the good intentions
are obvious. The Time magazine article was long, and
fairly accusatory of Pakistanis supporting the Taliban.
Perhaps they do, but the language of the article was
just so melodramatic, taking away from the substance.
Also, for such a long article, it really did not have
enough photographs. That many uninterrupted words is
not a good idea in today's short attention span society.
11.20.01
Salon.com & New York Times, Print Edition
The Salon article is straight news, and I do not think
those kinds of stories are as good as the rest of the
writing on the site. Also, their premium content thing
is supremely annoying, but these sites need to figure
out how to make money. Still, the article is not particularly
insightful or ground breaking. The Times article is
an overview of recent developments and it glances over
the Pakistan facet of the situation. There were no pictures,
but I imagine for such a broad piece it is hard to pick
on thing for readers to look at.
11.21.01
The New York Times, Print Edition & The Statesman.net
The New York Times article about refugees fleeing to
Pakistan touches on the problems facing Afghanistan's
neighbor. The photo in the piece, of children refugees
leaving serves to illustrate well what the article is
about. It is not given much importance however, as it
is buried in the paper. The Indian news service is not
very concerned with being biased, as it blasts Pakistan
over the issues in the Kashmir region. Still, the article
has lots of facts that would otherwise not make it to
the US, so that is good
11.22.01
The Washington Post, Print Edition & NYTimes.com
This Washington Post article is long and story-like,
as their pieces tend to be. It is very well-written,
documenting the jailed tribulations of Pakistani Muslims
who joined the Taliban to fight the Northern Alliance
and America. I do not particularly like the Post, though
I am sure it is more due to being used to New York publications.
The Times website has become increasingly pushy with
the readers. There are advertisements everywhere and
some that even fly around the screen for a few seconds.
The pages are all the same which is good, but I think
they should shorten their articles for the site, because
clicking through three links to read the whole article
is garbage. Even so, this site is comprehensive and
well put together, just like the print edition.
11.23.01
Financial Times, Print Edition & Ireland.com (Irish
Times Website)
The Times article is buried on the 21 page, but is
quite a long article. I was surprised that such a long
one did not have a photograph. I really appreciate English
press, however, they take an opinionated critical view
in essay like articles that tell a story. The Irish
Times website is extremely dense, and has just lists
of links with not much text. The article did not really
link out anywhere or have extra features. The article
was not much more than a side note, and was a relatively
short briefing on the eruption of violence in the Kashmir.
11.24.01
The New Yorker, Print Edition & TheStatesman.net
The New Yorker piece about Pakistan is actually a letter
from their foreign minister, Abdul Sattar, responding
to an earlier New Yorker article about the existence
of nuclear weapons belonging to Pakistan in the Kashmir
region and the insecurity of their locations. The minister
responded in a 700 word letter. There are no pictures
and the only real reason to note the letter in The Mail
section is that it is from a ranking government official
of the country. The Statesman Indian news service website
is bare boned; it only has a couple pictures, and teasers
to the articles, along with minimal navigation. The
article, important to the region, is featured high up
on the site.
11.25.01
Telegraph.co.uk & The New York Times, Print Edition
I am surprised at how much the English press mistrusts
and is willing to point fingers at Pakistan for a multitude
of problems. The article accuses the Pakistani government
of closely colluding with Taliban forces. The only other
thing I can think of is that the American press has
chosen to ignore that fact as they are supposed to be
our friends, but it seemed a little blown out of proportion
to me. The Times article seems to refer to Pakistan
as a nuisance because nationals have to keep getting
airlifted out after the Taliban retreats or surrenders
in some place. The article is good, long, and is placed
deep in the paper, reminding me that there are much
more important things to the United States going on
than concern over Pakistan.
11.26.01
Financial Times, Print Edition & NYTimes.com
The Financial Times writes in pretty stuffy language,
so it can be hard to swallow, but the article, about
how Pakistan militants are helping the Taliban and operating
in the Kashmir, manages to stay mostly impartial, which
is impressive for an English newspaper. It seems to
me that this paper has less photos than other papers
of its stature, and I am not sure how I feel about the
pinkish color of the pages. The more stuff that the
New York Times puts on its website, the less I like
it. The internal links are great, especially if you
have been under a rock for the last two months, you
could catch up, but all the external stuff, like the
moving banner ads and the large ads placed pretty much
in the middle of the article suck.
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