Critical paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 3

Critical paper - Essay Example To become effective in asserting women’s rights movement, however, a collective effort must be done with the participation of various players in society at an international level. This necessitates a transnational women’s rights movement to make such effort effective where the issue of women’s rights is elevated at an international level discussed in the article of Friedman using education as one of its main vehicle. The Friedman article tackled the problem posed against the women’s rights movements and various efforts that were exerted in transnational arena that had substantial outcomes that positively impacted women’s rights movement. This is an important discussion considering the challenge faced by women’s right movement by a conservative countermovements such as opposing women’s greater participation in society. This article discussed the efforts of the NGO’s that helped advocate women’s equality, their approach in influencing policy direction and ultimately, to encourage engagement with women’s rights. The article is clearly organized into different sections that address different aspects. The first category analyzes the transnational social movement, it discusses the definition of a transnational women’s movement in contrast with a social movement. The inherent difference is then clearly conveyed and the reader is fully able to distinguish the meaning of transnational women’s movement. Transnational social movement is â€Å"sustained contentious interactions with opponents- national or non-national –by connected networks of challengers organized across national boundaries†. The difference therefore between a transnational movement and a social movement is the categorical basis. Friedman analyzes the progress of transnational women’s movement through four elements: political opportunity, structure, mobilizing structure, frames and action repertories. The conferences that

Human Resurces Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3250 words

Human Resurces - Essay Example As a new intern, I was always impatient over such realities but learnt to allow myself time to adapt to my new environment. I observed that the workers who had mentors became accustomed to standard routines at a much faster rate than those who, like myself, for one purpose or another did not. I observed that interns with mentors were inspired by their mentors’ confidence in their abilities and made more efforts to learn about their new organisations than did the rest of us. Their mentors also invested time in coaching and encouraging the interns, thus transferring their work skills to the new workers (Forster 2005). It was obvious that organisational objectives can only be accomplished through the collective input of all employees, regardless of rank. Reflective and Reflexive Practice In most of my placements, I was a part of a team or group that was responsible for accomplishing certain objectives. I would have a time for personal reflection during which I considered my role in the group work and how to best accomplish my responsibilities. After this, I was able to put the gleanings from personal reflection into practice. I would then express my ideas about my emerging awareness about my role in group sessions. In each of these team sessions, team members shared on how they believed that their contributions would affect the realisation of company goals on a daily basis. After sharing with others about such experiences, the interns would then return to implement the suggestions from the group session, and then reflect all over again (Hofstede 2003). As interns, we all benefited from the collective practices suggested as well as the individual actions taken by all of us. My personal ideals actually influenced how I interpreted corporate decisions and policies. At times my personal values were at odds with some organisational maxims. At such time, I would actively seek for the opinions of other who I knew had also experienced some measure of conflict durin g the integration process. From them, I learnt that this is a perfectly normal occurrence which is faced by almost all interns during their orientation. These ‘older’ workers also helped me to discover ways in which I could make company ideals my own or change my own views to suit them. Reflexivity is descriptive of the process whereby a person’s self-awareness is developed to the place where reflection is swiftly followed by a response with no time in the middle (Guest and Conway 2004). Reflexive employees will make be confronted by problems and quickly find solutions for them with consistency. When such personnel come across policies that they oppose, they possess the vital self awareness to recognise their disagreement and express it in a comprehensible manner to all (Brooks 2003). This is a quality that I took time to develop during my internship. It only came after I had understood the basic functions of company operations. Moreover, it was obvious to me tha t this was a vital part for employees to be able to relate well with colleagues as well as accomplish their tasks (Debra and Quick 2006). Training was not the only thing that resulted in the reflexive trait being witnessed in employees; each individual employee had to learn at his or her own pace. Some researchers have in the past claimed that training and development practices in organisations ought to be combined as equal

Critical paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 3

Critical paper - Essay Example To become effective in asserting women’s rights movement, however, a collective effort must be done with the participation of various players in society at an international level. This necessitates a transnational women’s rights movement to make such effort effective where the issue of women’s rights is elevated at an international level discussed in the article of Friedman using education as one of its main vehicle. The Friedman article tackled the problem posed against the women’s rights movements and various efforts that were exerted in transnational arena that had substantial outcomes that positively impacted women’s rights movement. This is an important discussion considering the challenge faced by women’s right movement by a conservative countermovements such as opposing women’s greater participation in society. This article discussed the efforts of the NGO’s that helped advocate women’s equality, their approach in influencing policy direction and ultimately, to encourage engagement with women’s rights. The article is clearly organized into different sections that address different aspects. The first category analyzes the transnational social movement, it discusses the definition of a transnational women’s movement in contrast with a social movement. The inherent difference is then clearly conveyed and the reader is fully able to distinguish the meaning of transnational women’s movement. Transnational social movement is â€Å"sustained contentious interactions with opponents- national or non-national –by connected networks of challengers organized across national boundaries†. The difference therefore between a transnational movement and a social movement is the categorical basis. Friedman analyzes the progress of transnational women’s movement through four elements: political opportunity, structure, mobilizing structure, frames and action repertories. The conferences that

Corporate Responsibility and Marketing Strategies Essay Example for Free

Corporate Responsibility and Marketing Strategies Essay Apple corporation bases its success on â€Å"creating innovative, high quality products and services and on demonstrating integrity in every business interaction.† According to Apple, four main principles contribute to integrity: honesty, respect, confidentiality, and compliance. To more thoroughly detail these principles, Apple has drafted a code of business conduct that applies to all its operations, including operations overseas. Apple disappointed socially responsible investors. Apple has come under fire since around 2006 as details emerged surrounding the workplace environment at Apples Chinese suppliers. An article in The New York Times publicized unsatisfactory worker conditions, which included grueling 24-hour shifts, overcrowded dorms, exposure to toxic chemicals, and horrific explosions. Foxconn Technology Group operates many of the plants in question in Chengdu, China. When it comes to customers, Apple is said to be a bold innovator that leads the industry into new directions and forces others to follow. However, when it comes to the management of its supply chain and treatment of workers in the Chinese factories that make its products, Apple hides behind the constraints of prevailing industry practices. What is even more disconcerting is the fact that these practices are in violation of not only local and national laws, but also of Apples own voluntary self-imposed code of conduct. Most of Apples worker-related problems were focused on Apples manufacturing partner Foxconn and its subsidiaries. Apples China operations first caught international attention in June 2006 with a long story in Britains Mail on Sunday.1 This was followed by a series of similar stories in other leading international news media, and has continued to this day.2 Because of Foxconns secrecy, it is well-nigh impossible to develop an accurate assessment of the problems in the factories owned and operated by Foxconn and its various subsidiaries. However, a brief description of extreme conditions prevailing in these factories and widely reported in the  media gave the readers some indication of the enormity of the problems that likely to existed in those plants. Apple has audited many of its suppliers and found violations of its Supplier Code of Conduct, but requesting its suppliers improve working conditions is not as powerful as changing suppliers to ones with more humane conditions. Part of the problem is that Apple has no legal liability for what happens in Chinese factories owned by separate manufacturers. Environmental organization Greenpeace had frequently campaigned against Apple, requesting elimination of non-recyclable hardware components, the removal of toxins from iPhone hardware, and a comprehensive take-back plan to prevent Apple products from ending up as waste. Greenpeace also began a protest in 2003 against Apples use of toxic PVC plastics and brominated flame retardants, or BFRs, in Apple’s products. Apple eliminated these chemicals in 2008, becoming the first laptop maker to do so (Corporate Responsibility Spotlight: Apple, September 14, 2012.) Workers assembling iPhones, iPads and other devices often labor in harsh conditions, according to employees inside China’s plants, worker advocates and documents published by companies themselves. Problems are as varied as onerous work environments and serious — sometimes deadly — safety problems. Under-age workers have helped build Apple’s products, and the company’s suppliers have improperly disposed of hazardous waste and falsified records, according to company reports and advocacy groups that, within China, are often considered reliable, independent monitors. The suppliers demonstrated disregard for workers health. In 2010, 137 workers at an Apple supplier in eastern China were injured after the workers were said to have been ordered to use a poisonous chemical to clean iPhone screens. In 2009 two explosions at iPad factories, including in Chengdu, killed four people and injured 77. Before those blasts, Apple had been alerted to hazardous conditions inside the Chengdu plant, according to a Chinese group that published that warning (Duhigg, Charles and Barboza, David. In China, Human Costs Are Built Into an iPad, (The NewYork Times) January 25, 2 010.) The publications outlining the ethics and social responsibility violations of Apple caused more consumers to actually start to wonder where and how Apple products are manufactured. Consumers have focused on Apples remarkable products rather than how they are produced. The New York Times story on iPad working conditions, for example, generated 1,770 reader comments. Many, if not most, blasted Apple  or the overall system of cheap labor. And an online petition prompted by the This American Life piece that called for Apple to protect Chinese workers had garnered roughly 166,000 signatures—and counting. I determined that Apple’s customers would be willing to pay more for its products if Apple had to increase selling prices in order to provide better wages and benefits for suppliers’ workers. Apple seems to make people crazy, described as a cult because it has such a vociferous following.† The Secrecy Strategy† (Moltz, John., Why Apple Drives People Crazy. Macworld. Feb2013, Vol. 30 Issue 2, p100-100. 1p). Stock-market and financial analysts are known to always have had a hard time understanding Apple because Apple does not sell commodity products or chase market share at the cost of everything else. Its modus operand i is: Enter a market, stake out the high end, and scoop up all the profit. As copycats such as Samsung flood the low end, Apple continued to hold the high end by evolving and differentiating products, while looking for new markets. One key approach used is to never telegraph punches; that way, no would know which market would be remade next. Hence Apples famous veil of secrecy, which further frustrated analysts. The bottom line was that the appeal of Apples products and its business strategies were said to be inscrutable, which made the company a Rorschach test. People saw what they wanted to see, and the idea that Apples fortunes are plummeting is more appealing to many than the idea that it might continue to ride high. The appeal of Apples products and its business strategies are believed to be both inscrutable. Apple joined the FLA in 2012 following intense public attention over allegations of widespread problems at Foxconn, China’s largest private employer. The FLA said both Apple and Foxconn â€Å"have agreed to ongoing assessments by FLA in order to ensure that labor practices meet FLA standards and remain in compliance for the long term.† Current and former Apple executives, moreover, say the company had made significant strides in improving factories in recent years. Apple has a supplier code of conduct that details standards on labor issues, safety protections and other topics. The company has mounted a vigorous auditing campaign, and when abuses are discovered, Apple says, corrections are demanded. And Apple’s annual supplier responsibility reports, in many cases, are the first to report abuses. This month, for the first time, the company released a list identifying many of its suppliers. Apple has continued to be aggressive in  calling out suppliers who dont meet up to its code of conduct. In January, Apple said it had fired Pingzhou Electronics after it was found to be hiring underage workers. Apples Supplier Code of Conduct sets the minimum age for workers at 15. (Apples Labor Practices In China Scrutinized After Foxconn, Pegatron Reviews. Forbes.com. 12/12/2013, p2-2. 1p. 1 Chart). What made Steve different from other marketers, is that he understood that his job as a marketer was not to focus on making money or sales, and, unlike other marketers, Steve’s marketing skills was seem in the way he presented his products: Here are some of the quotes that reflect Steve’s focus in business: If it could save a person’s life, could you find a way to save ten seconds off the boot time? You‘ve got to start with the customer experience and work back toward—not the other way around. Being the richest man in the cemetery doesn’t matter to me. Going to bed at night saying that they had done something wonderful is what mattered to Steve. Steve made the marketing process simple; if he gave people what they want, educated them on why they needed it, showed them how it will improve their lives, and why no other competitor’s products could compete with the convenience and ease of use of yours, customers would be willing to spend. References Apples Labor Practices In China scrutinized after Foxconn, pegatron reviews. Forbes.com. 12/12/2013, p2-2. 1p. 1 Chart. Apple’s Marketing Strategy – Sell On Value, Not Price. Retrieved from http://www.chrisnosal.com/apples-marketing-strategy-sell-products-on-value-not-price/ (Duhigg, Charles and Barboza, David.( January 25, 2010). In China, human costs are built into an iPad, (The NewYork Times). Frauenheim, Ed. February 6, 2012. Bad Apple: Could the era of exploitation outsourcing be near its end? Retrieved from http://www.workforce.com/blogs/2-work-in-progress/post/bad-apple-could-the-era-of-exploitation-outsourcing-be-near-its-end) Kannel, Charlie, The Motley Fool (September 14, 2012) Corporate responsibility spotlight: Apple. (Daily Finance). Ira Kalb, Marshall School of Business, USC . (September 13, 2013) Apples Cheap iPhone might not be that affordable, but it does protect the brand (Business Insider). Retrieved from

Media: Government Transparency And Accountability

Media: Government Transparency And Accountability The media plays significant roles in acting as a medium in transferring the information between the government and the public. The information that the public received have ability to influence the perception and the decision making of the public. The media and the government have dependent relationship. Each of them has an influence on each other. However, the media, especially newspaper and television, are outlets that are likely to be influenced, by either the government or private interests. The intervention on the media may prevent the freedom of expression provided by the democracy. These interventions can be counted as corruption. Corruption is one way to reflect government transparency and accountability. Introduction It is obviously seen that nowadays the media plays a very important role in the development of the country. The development of the society, culture, economics, education, or politics are depending on the media since the media act as a major instrument in transferring the information between different people in the society. The media can have a strong influence to the people. What are written in the newspaper, what are shown on the television, or what are spoken through the radio can change the perception of the people. During the time when Thailand was under the absolute monarchy system, media was a significant part that helped moving Thai society toward modernization. However, after Thailand changed to the democratic system, the freedom of expression of the media was emphasized. Democracy can prosper only in societies where information and ideas can flow freely. The most accessible media in Thai society are newspaper and radio. However, the sources of media that are easy to capture by the government are the newspaper as well as the television. We will then focus on these two outlets in our study. The print media, the earliest kind of media in Thai society, are limited to only small number of people in the early period. However, as time passed, the situation was changing. There were papers with criticisms about the ruling class and government officials, as well as papers that were provided with some entertainment features. The role of the press then changed from serving the ruling class, government officials and foreigners to providing information for common Thai people. The newspaper industry grew along with Thailands economic growth. However, Thailands economic crisis in 1997 was a time when newspaper industry was affected by the economic downturn. When we look at the newspaper business in Thailand today, it is obviously seen that the newspaper business has constantly become more competitive. For the daily newspaper of Thai-language, the market shares are gained mostly by Thai Rath, accounted for 34per cent, and Daily News 19per cent. The two leading newspapers, Thai Rath and Daily News, are conservative in their political disposition. For the Business Daily Newspaper, Krungthep Thurakit is the dominant player, contributing for 85per cent of the maket share, while Puchadkarn and Post Today are taken for the other 15 per cen. For the English Daily papers, Bangkok Post and the Nation are the two players, taking about 55 per cent and 45 per cent of the market share respectively. Still, there are political influences in the newspaper business. The government has ability to influence the news contents or to make adjustments that created the desirable situations for them. The politicians can directly give bribery or they can give something not in the form of money but in kind of gifts or other kind of influences. For example, according to Who Owns the Asian Media: Thailand Media Report By Ubonrat Siriyuvasak, during Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatras second term in 2005, the Bangkok Posts front-page report on an alleged crack on the runway of the new Suvarnabhumi airport. The time of the report was the time when the government was under the investigation by the Opposition Party about the corruption of the constructing of the new airport. After the published of this report, the news editor, Chadin Thepwan was forced to resign by the Bangkok Post. This case showed that even though the government was not directly managed the newspaper or the news contents; it could do something to influence the business to be according to its way. For the most-consumed media in Thailand, the television, 86 per cent of the Thai population watching TV on a daily basis. Previously, there are six television stations in Thailand which broadcast freely on air and nation-wide. Three of the channels: Channels 5, 9, and 11, were operated by State operators, while the other three: Channels 3, 7 and iTV are operated by private concessionaires. iTV or Independent Television, was launched in 1996 as the first television station that was not owned by the State. It seemed to provide independent and critical programs for the people as well as act as a voice of democracy. However, iTV is becoming more and more profit-oriented and after the economic crisis in 1997, the company faced massive debts and finally, Shin Corporation of Thaksin Shinawatra took over iTV in 2000 before the Thai Rak Thai Party won the election in January 2001. Since the Thai Rak Thai and Thaksins Shin Corporation were related, during the election campaign, the news agenda and the contents were controlled by the new executive team. Journalists who went against such interference were fired. As a result, the pro-Thai Rak Thai news campaign was one factor that led the party to win in the election. A survey by the ABAC poll showed that television news coverage was overwhelmingly biased towards Thaksin and his Thai Rak Thai government However, iTV, who was not able to pay back high debts after the crisis, was forced to stop broadcasting, now has continued broadcasting again under the Thai PBS name. Moreover, Channel 9 has been changed to MODERN 9 under the Mass Communication Organization of Thailand (MCOT) regulation; Channel 11 to NBT and are under the Public Relations Department. Since media are the powerful sources of information, many sectors, including both the private and the government, are trying to gain control of the media in order to manage the information sent to the public. Because the media has the ability to influence people as well as government, the government who depends on media by using media to get into the people, is the one who wish to take control, as we have seen in the previous examples. Every day, the media reports political news, telling the current government movements and government actions that show people how the government is working to help develop the country and solve the problems. The credibility and the image of the government are then depended on the information and the pictures that the media send out to the people. The government, therefore, wants to limit the information and take control of the media so that only the good things are presented to the public. As a result, many media are under the government intervention. From the measurement of transparency international; the global coalition against corruption website, it shows that the corruption perceptions index (CPI) of Thailand, according to the survey in 2009, is about 3.4 and is ranked on 84th from 180 countries around the world. Since the government intervention in media is associated with the corruption, Thailand who claims to be governed by democracy may not be able to say we are governed by complete democracy. Thailand has been involved with the problem of corruption for long time ago, in the past people may not know terminology and its importance since the corruption might be embedded with Thai culture so that people get used to it or it was known in other names. The problem of corruption also relates to the administrative system of the country. From Sukhothaià ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬ ¢the first era of Thailandà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬ ¢up to the present, Thailand has been ruling by various forms of administrative systems depending on the influences or situations at the time so that the forms of administrative system are different in each era. We would like to talk about the administrative system in each era in order to make them as the basis for explaining corruption and how it came from. In Sukhothai era, the beginning era of Thailand, the administrative system was in the form of Father-Son or Paternalistic. King played a role as father while public played role as his children or family ruled in hierarchical pattern. It created good relationship among parties. After Sukhothai era exhausted its power, Ayutthaya era was replaced. The administrative was changed from Paternalistic to the Divine Rights system. This system was distinguishingly characterized as states come into existence by Gods will, God chooses the rulers of the states, and the rulers are responsible only to God. Divine Rights system was derived from Hindu influence, this system is unlike Father-Son system as it separated the rulers and public leading to different classes and privileges; the public were under the control of the rulers. This form of administration gave King the absolute power causing the distance between King and public. After very long period of powerful, Ayutthaya era was eventually fall. Thonburi era had been replaced, since King Taksin aimed to collect power to build the new kingdom, the administrative system was not different from Ayutthaya era. After Thonburi era, the current era, Rattanakosin era, has flourished instead. For Rattanakosin era, we would like to divide the era into early and lately Rattanakosin because in the period of King Rama V, there was dramatically change in Thailands administrative system; the abolishment of slavery, the education support, and the idea of reformation in administrative system to democracy. However, the idea of reformation to democracy was not shown up in the period of King Rama V, the idea has been established in Thailand and public began to participate in the administration. So,the administrative system in the early Rattanakosin before period of King Rama V still be the same as in Ayutthaya era. In the lately Rattanakosin era and after King Rama VII period, Thailand is governed by democracy up to the present. The Constitution of Thailand have been giving the freedom of expression to individual and the press since Thais ruling system was changed from absolute monarchy to democracy for almost 78 years, however, there have always been criticisms about the degree of freedom of expression of Individual and the press in Thai society since it came to associate with the government. The media still has freedom, but now its freedom is decreasing as the government tries to put its hands in. The objective of this study is to combine theoretical, empirical and other evidences in order to understand the relationships and their interactions among the media, the government and the public in Thailand. Understanding all these things will explain how media affect the transparency and the accountability of the Thai government. The role that the government plays in the media and the role that the media plays in the government are being interested increasingly by the society in these recent days. Therefore, as part of the Thai society, we would like to focus on performance of the media and government, particularly the effects from media on government accountability and transparency occurred within Thailand. When government tries to control media, this can be considered as corruption, so, the corruption problems will be highlighted as they play role in indicating the transparency of the government. As corruption can be categorized into private-to-private corruption and public corruption, our concentration will be only on public corruption; according to the Legal Information Institute of Cornell University Law School, public corruption is defined as a government official, whether elected, appointed or hired, may violate federal law when he/she asks, demands, solicits, accepts, or agrees to receive anything of value in return for being influenced in the performance of their official duties, and the further use of word corruption refers to this. Corruption can be one indicator to point out government transparency and accountability as well as a degree of democracy. The study will include; the corruption in election since the incumbents intervene on the media in order to present themselves i n a positive ways, the intervention of the government on media in sense of taking ownership and capturing the media such as television and newspaper. We will mainly focus on television and newspaper as the representatives of all kinds of media. Looking at the ownership of the television station and the newspaper outlet, these can point out the degree of government intervention and media capture since media have influence on government. Still, our study has some comparisons in some particular parts with other countries in order to make our analysis more clearly. Literature Review Matias Warsta (2004) described the overall frameworks about corruption problem in Thailand, as well as the suggestions for solving the problems. This empirical literature argues that the problem of corruption has been in Thailand for a long time and also deeply rooted as a part of Thai culture. The corruption problem has a great impact on the economic growth of a country. Warsta (2004) pointed out the relationships among government, media, and public in the corruption problem. Government tries to use its power to control media to get its desirable outcome since media has ability to communicate as well as to influence the public which can affect their perceptions about the credibility and the image of government. There are many reasons for corruption shown in this literature. Corruption Perception Index (CPI) is referred as the measurement of perception of corruption ranked form 0 to 10 where 0 means a country seems totally corrupt and 10 means no corruption. As CPI 2009 shown, Thaila nd entitled to 84th rank on the list of 180 countries which is interpreted as equitably high. Free media is one of the characteristic of democracy which plays a significant role as the watchdog to ensure that things are performed in the democratic way. However, government and politicians tend to increasingly get into the media by buying shares of the media or granting the money to media. Thailand attempts to reduce the problem of corruption by using various methods, but this literature gave the suggestion that in the long run Thailands key to success to reduce this problem is to reduce the huge gap between the rich and the poor as this gap is the top of the corruption problem in Thailand. Besley and Prat (2005) developed a baseline model suggesting that there is a possibility for the government to capture media and therefore influence political outcomes. The model states that the media plays role in providing information for the voters in the time election. The voters use the available information to make their voting decision. Besley and Prat (2005) show the relationship between media and political activities through the baseline model, which is a pure adverse selection model where the policy outcome is depended on the politicians type; whether the politician is good, giving benefit to the voters, or bad, giving no benefit to the voters. The model is set up as a game, having two components, a bargaining game and an election game. The bargaining game between the media and the politician determines whether the media is an effective information provider or not, since the politicians have abilities to hide bad news by make an offer to the media outlets. Those who accept the offers suppress the signal about the bad politicians. When the media receives a transfer in exchange for silence, the media is captured. On the other hand, the media is independent. The model and its extensions give number of predictions on the relationship between features of the media industry, media capture as well as political outcomes. John Zaller (1999) analyzes that the outcome of the media politics come from the goal-oriented and strategic behaviors. Zallers basic theoretical posture is that politicians, journalists, and citizens behave in ways that generally reflect individual goals and interests that in pursuing their various goals. He emphasizes the role of journalists, which the journalists have their own roles in acting as a voice of the politicians to communicate with voters. However, they can choose what to report. The journalists can add or reduce something before reporting in the news. The politicians also want the space about themselves in a good way in the news as well. This then create conflict between politicians and journalists for the control of the news. They are struggling to control news content within constraints set by the mass audience. ARTICLE 19 (2005) described the background of Thailand in many aspects, the history of media in Thailand, the media situation. All these provide good fundamental understanding about the media in Thailand. The empirical literature suggested that for the media to protect their freedom of expression, it is necessary that the media should be permitted to operate independently without the control from the government. This necessity should be held when the media claimed to have freedom of expression to ensure that the media play role as the watchdog and also serve the public interests. This literature argued that, for people, to understand the media in Thailand, they have to go far beyond the understanding of their function as the communicator among participants in the society, they have to bear in mind that the media are the business associations who seek for the profits from their self-interest. The literature has categorized the media ownership into the state-owned media and the private media. There are statistical shown that television and radio are the most accessible media among Thai public. Freedom of expression is also supported by Ubonrat Siriyuvasak (2006). The empirical analysis criticizes the lack of freedom in the media business in the recent year. Ubonrat provides the statistical data about the ownerships of the media, including the state and private ownerships of the radio and television stations, as well as the ownership of the newspaper. This literature criticizes the aim to control the media by the government, especially in the time of Thaksin and his Thai Rak Thai government. Since during the Thaksin government, there were many changed took place including the change in media business, the paper then gives evidences of how the media outlet, especially, the newspaper and the television, were influenced by the government power. The question of who really own the media was emphasized by the author. Chapter 3 Analysis Since Thailand is governed under the democratic system, with democracy, it allows the equality, rights, and freedom to people in the society; people can enjoy all these things as long as they do not violate the others in the society. The provision of rights and freedom are in many aspects; freedom of expression is one of those aspects that relates to our paper. People in the democratic society can freely express what they think. In some societies, an opposing and unfriendliness relationship between media and government represents a vital and healthy element of fully functioning democratic system. However, the media and government depend on each others. Sometimes the media overlaps other functional areas of democracy and governance. Since the government nowadays can do some media managements or even can capture the media, the goal of media development should be to move the media from one that is directed or even controlled by government or private interests, to one that is more open and has a degree of editorial independence that serves the public interest. Many different kinds of mass media can create transparency. But the dominant medium of political communication and hence the dominant medium of political transparency is television. When we use television to understand politics, we see things in the way that television allows us to see. Television can create new forms of political reality that exist because they are seen on television. Television tends to emphasise entertainment value. People tend to interest in the entertaining things. The more entertaining news is more likely to survive in the broadcast world. Therefore, most television programs, public events, politics, and even law, are made to grab the attention of the viewers by entertaining them. They will launch the programs and present the news in the way that they think can catch the viewers. In the political news, television coverage of politics tends to focus less on substantive policy issues than on the other interesting news such as the inside stories about strategy and achieving political advantage. People tend to be interested on the issue of who the winner is and how they achieve their victory. These kinds of news tend to dominate in the television. Since the media, especially the television can portray the political issues in the ways it preferred, this affect the politicians as well as the government. Politicians and government understand that media become an important tool to influence the people and to retain their power. They therefore want to make sure that those things on the television are beneficial for their image and for the political situation. There are number of ways that the politicians and the government can influence the political contents in the media. Being part of the media can made it easier for them to influence the political contents. The ownership of the media, especially the television stations, is often under the state ownership. The state ownership of the media increases the likelihood that the media are being captured. Media ownerships are ranged from the private ownership to the state ownership. In theory, media ownership can be categorized into 2 groups: State-owned media, which often view information as a public commodity to be protected against a private sector monopoly in the public interest; and Private media, which, although they may distort information under the influence of political parties or commercial pressures, are at least not government controlled. There are laws and regulations that established to support for the independent of the media. The new Broadcast Act requires that all radio and TV stations be subject to license. Thai television channels remain under the tight control of various government agencies. Table 1: Owners and operators of Thai Television channels TV channel Owner Operator Channel 3 MCOT Bangkok Entertainment Co. Ltd. Channel 5 Royal Thai Army Royal Thai Army Channel 7 Royal Thai Army Bangkok Broadcasting Television Company (BBTV) Modernine TV (MCOT) MCOT MCOT National Broadcasting Services of Thailand (NBT) Governments Public Relations Department (PRD) Governments Public Relations Department (PRD) Thai Public Broadcast Station or TPBS (TPBS) Governments Public Relations Department (PRD) Private Channel 3 is owned by MCOT a former state enterprise under the ownership of government and the Royal Thai Army. It is operated by Bangkok Entertainment Co. Ltd. a subsidiary company of BEC World Public Co. Ltd., under contract. Channel 5 is both owned and operated by the Royal Thai Army. Channel 7 is owned by the Royal Thai Army and operated by the Bangkok Broadcasting Television Company (BBTV) under contract. Modernine TV or MCOT is both owned and operated by MCOT. National Broadcasting Services of Thailand (NBT) owned and operated by the governments Public Relations Department (PRD) of the Prime Ministers Office, and TPBS, previously iTV, is now a privately run independent TV station. TPBS is free from government control or influence, with its budget financed by sin tax. It is less likely to get any intervention from politicians or state power. According to table 1 showing the owners and operators of Thai television channels, the broadcast media are entirely owned by the state. However, the state has the ability to give concessions to the private operators in a limited number. The concessions were often given on a privileged patronage relationship. Those who had political powers or have connections with the concessionaries would have the priority to get the concessions which are given either in the short-term or in the long-term. As a result of the limited concessions, the state and a small number of media corporations have monopolized the channel on the rights and freedom of information and communication, for which ideas and culture are distributed. Moreover, since the state owns most of the countrys television stations, no broadcasting about corruption are not unusual. Not only the television can be bribed or influenced, the newspaper can be in the same situation as well. For the newspaper industry in Thailand, they are strongly owned by a single family or small groups of investors who share familial relationship, or a publishing group. Even they are privately owned, not being captured because of the state ownership, they can still be influenced as well. Table 2: Owner of Thai Newspapers Newspaper Owner Thai Rath Vacharaphol Family Daily News Hetrakul Family Khao Sod Matichon Pcl, a publishing group Kom Chad Luek Nation Multimedia Group Krungthep Turakij Nation Multimedia Group Post Today Post Publishing Pcl Phoojadkarn Daily Manager Media Group. Bangkok Post Chirathivat family, the South China Morning Post of Hong Kong, GMM Grammy Pcl. The Nation- Nation Multimedia Group Each newspaper has its own political stance, and they serve different group of readers. However, even the newspapers in Thailand are privately owned, they can still be under the political pressure as well. Being under the pressure, newspapers then have the ability to present the news contents in which bias toward government or against the government, depending on who pressure them. In addition to the direct political pressure, if the owner of the newspaper is interested in which side or political groups, he is more likely to accept the bribery. The side they take depends heavily on sponsorship by and private relationships developed between the newspaper and influential individuals or groups. Bribery can be in form of money and non-money, even though, the owner does not get money in order to support that side, he is still willing to receive the bribe in form of the special privilege or some kind of protections.. If the government or the politicians want the news to present information that is desirable for them, they can choose to pressure or bribe them. We can see that there is still a chance for the politicians or the government to influence the news. Most of media in Thailand are subjected to the influence of either government or groups of people. For the television, most of the channels belong to the state, indicating the lack of freedom of expression and the ability to influence outcome. For newspaper, the influence comes in form of bribery rather taking ownership. The state will get into the media, trying to manage their working process. It can arrange the information received and released by the media in order to control the information to be in its desirable outcome. With this action of state, the information is distorted, some truths are not revealed. The benefits of the distortion or the concealment will fall into hands of a group of people, not the whole. Thus, the intervention of state on the media is not desirable outcome for the society as a whole and it is inefficiency. Therefore, this is the way that can lead to the corruption problem. Corruption problem is one of the major issues in Thailand which tends to be more important through time. This does not mean that in the past Thailand had no corruption. Actually, the problem of corruption has been rooted in Thailand for ages but it may not be concerned or realized much as in the present. The possible reason is that the administrative system in the past gave absolute power to the king, the gap between king and public was quite large and classes in the society were existed. Moreover, people had no ability to make decisions in all kind of things, in other words, they had no rights and freedom in their own life. Since the administrative system of Thailand has changed to democracy and the country has developed, things have been improved especially the communication that tends to be more advanced. Because of rights and freedom people are allowed to enjoy especially the freedom in expressing opinion, so what people perform will have more opportunity to be revealed to public for them to realize unlike in the past that there was no freedom, thats why things were kept as with those who were relevant while the public could not know the truth at that time. Corruption problem that has been in Thailand for a long time starts to be recognized and people also start to realize that it is bad thing since it is extremely destroying the pattern of interaction for the society as a whole, it also creates the distortion and inefficiency in economic development, so the country cannot develop to its highest or even expected position with this constraint. Furthermore, corruption in Thailand may come from many possible reasons including low salaries of public servants, low education of people, big financial gaps between social classes, lacking transparency of governance, unstable political situation, lack of democracy, lack of freedom of word, heavy bureaucracy, and centralized power. However, in this paper, we will scope the reasons to the lack of transparency of governance, the lack of democracy, and the lack of democracy. In democratic society, people can participate in governing the country by electing the representatives to work and serve their interests. People can choose their representatives through election holding the principle of majority voting, in other words, those who get the highest voting will be the representatives. However, we can see that Thailand does not govern by complete democracy; Thailand is governed by semi-democracy, the possible reasons may come from many aspects such as culture that make the country cannot be governed by complete democracy. However, we are not able to judge whether complete democracy is suitable for Thailand because the country may have constraints or facts that the complete democracy cannot be used. Furthermore, the corruption problem can have great impact on transparency and accountability of the government as well as the image of the country. One of measure of transparency and accountability of government can be shown by election. Media provide information to public which influence their decision making in voting. Politicians may present themselves by using media since media can reach the majority of people. Moreover, as politicians desire to win the election, positive image is necessary, so they need desirable information to be sent out to public. The possible way to reach the target is bribery. As Thailand is governed by democracy system, the right in freedom of expression is provided to both public as well as the media. Thus, the interventions from government and politicians in the media companies contradict to their providing right. Moreover, such interv

The Theme of Religion in Angela’s Ashes Essay -- Angelas Ashes Irish

The Theme of Religion in Angela’s Ashes Throughout the novel, religion is presented as being of extreme importance in Irish society, influencing the beliefs and actions of the characters. I will attempt to highlight the several factors which I believe make up the presentation of religion in â€Å"Angela’s Ashes†. From the beginning of the book, religion is said to make up a large part of the unhappy childhood Frank suffered. The following quote shows the extent of Frank’s sentiments: â€Å"Worse than the ordinary miserable childhood, is the miserable Irish childhood, and worse yet is the miserable Irish Catholic childhood† The quote above portrays the crescendo of negative emotion, describing the worse possible scenario of a childhood, adding finally â€Å"Catholic† to signify the most terrible part of the childhood Frank suffered. This indicates that religion played an important role in a person’s life and in the society presented by the book. A person’s life was structured to follow the ideals of their religion. From the tone of the quote however, I am led to believe that according to Frank, being a Catholic lead to suffering in life and that therefore, religion guided lives. What is shown later in the book is that the misery Frank refers to is not only poverty and living standards, but the Catholic way of life, restricting freedom and opportunity in life. Regardless of the fact that religion could be blamed for an array of problems in the lives of the characters, Catholicism is presented as an extremely important part of life in Ireland. Many, such as Frank’s grandmother, consider it to be an institution with all answers to life; an institution that needs to be followed in order to achieve a greater good i... ...often too easy to sin in the Catholic religion, and that almost anything a person did, even impure thoughts, could be considered sins. Frank makes a comment about being â€Å"an official sinner† after his First Communion, indicating that he considers sinning to be a natural part of life, and that being an â€Å"official† sinner allows him to confess, and therefore gain forgiveness from the Church. Religion has been presented through threats made to force people into doing something often against their will. It has been presented as inspiring fear in people and therefore directing their lives. Overall, many characters, including Frank, have shown only a superficial belief in Catholicism, although through the fear they have they live their lives in accordance with the church, yet often defying its basic principles, such as sex before marriage, theft and adultery. The Theme of Religion in Angela’s Ashes Essay -- Angela's Ashes Irish The Theme of Religion in Angela’s Ashes Throughout the novel, religion is presented as being of extreme importance in Irish society, influencing the beliefs and actions of the characters. I will attempt to highlight the several factors which I believe make up the presentation of religion in â€Å"Angela’s Ashes†. From the beginning of the book, religion is said to make up a large part of the unhappy childhood Frank suffered. The following quote shows the extent of Frank’s sentiments: â€Å"Worse than the ordinary miserable childhood, is the miserable Irish childhood, and worse yet is the miserable Irish Catholic childhood† The quote above portrays the crescendo of negative emotion, describing the worse possible scenario of a childhood, adding finally â€Å"Catholic† to signify the most terrible part of the childhood Frank suffered. This indicates that religion played an important role in a person’s life and in the society presented by the book. A person’s life was structured to follow the ideals of their religion. From the tone of the quote however, I am led to believe that according to Frank, being a Catholic lead to suffering in life and that therefore, religion guided lives. What is shown later in the book is that the misery Frank refers to is not only poverty and living standards, but the Catholic way of life, restricting freedom and opportunity in life. Regardless of the fact that religion could be blamed for an array of problems in the lives of the characters, Catholicism is presented as an extremely important part of life in Ireland. Many, such as Frank’s grandmother, consider it to be an institution with all answers to life; an institution that needs to be followed in order to achieve a greater good i... ...often too easy to sin in the Catholic religion, and that almost anything a person did, even impure thoughts, could be considered sins. Frank makes a comment about being â€Å"an official sinner† after his First Communion, indicating that he considers sinning to be a natural part of life, and that being an â€Å"official† sinner allows him to confess, and therefore gain forgiveness from the Church. Religion has been presented through threats made to force people into doing something often against their will. It has been presented as inspiring fear in people and therefore directing their lives. Overall, many characters, including Frank, have shown only a superficial belief in Catholicism, although through the fear they have they live their lives in accordance with the church, yet often defying its basic principles, such as sex before marriage, theft and adultery.

Gender Roles, Stereotyping and Gender Bias Essay -- Sexism and Gender

Gender affects every aspect of our life, from how we feel about ourselves and set our goals in educational, recreational and work opportunities as well as the the nature and extent of our participation in social and civic life. It has a strong impact on the way we practice our religion, the way we dress, the way we express our feelings and the nature of all of our relationships with others. This paper explores various facets of gender roles in order to understand this topic such as what role males and females are expected to play in today's society, how gender roles are decided, affected and exaggerated by stereotyping. Futhermore, this paper will draw attention towards how stereotyping leads to gender biases. What is 'Gender' ? ''Gender'' means those characteristics which defines or explains if someone is masculine or feminine according to their behavioural differences, for example how they dress or act towards others, the kinds of work they do and their status in society. Gender is not the sex we are born with, 'Sex' refers to all the physical attributes separating women and men according to the biological differences or in other words 'Sex' is the biological make up of a human being , whereas gender refers to the cultural attributes derived from sex differences. For exampel some children who are male by birth means having male parts but feel like female.They are just physically males with female characteristics and behave like feminine.This gives them new identity which is known as how they feel more anin accordance with the gender they have and that gives them new gender identity . There are two major genders: 'Masculine' and 'Feminine'. Gender roles are in fact just those ideas and which are implemen... ...s appear. Change begins at home. As quoted by Dr.Phill '' Change can come in either of two important ways: Start behaving positively or stop behaving negatively'' Parents need to give chance to their children to live their lives free from the fetters of gender bias and stereotyping As they say,'' Great oaks grow from little acorns'' Conclusion : Sex is the organizer of human society.This is filtered culturally through gender roles which have an impact our lives. Gender role stereotyping is one of the most consistent ways in which adults and particularly parents play a significant part in socialization of a child. Parents have to learn to adopt an androgynous attitude towards while bring up their children. Eradicate the gender biases and implement adequate egalitarianism. ''Every clould has a silver lining'' Every man is the architect of his own fortune''