More than 6 days after a pair of NYC radio disk jockeys played a racist song parodying the Southeast Asian tsunami disaster, the radio station has suspended (but not fired) the people involved.
This kind of racism and ignorance is sadly a reality, even in 2005. It’s worse that it comes from an African-American host who had a co-host who is Asian-American.
Let us hope that the FCC steps in and penalizes Hot 97 and their corporate parent for what was a horrendously racist radio show.
Asian Media Watch | Hot 97 WQHT-FM Radio Hosts Sing of ‘Africans Drowning,’ ‘Screaming Chinks,’ and ‘Chinamen’ Tsunami Victims
also
Hot 97 suspends morning crew over tsunami ‘parody’ [nynewsday.com}
11 years of blogging…
Archives for the month of: January, 2005
Greg Gorman does a really nice review of the all-new BMW K1200RS which he was lucky enough to ride on the Nurburgring in Germany.
I rode a new R12GS BMW in New Zealand last November, and was really amazed with it. What BMW does that few other bikes do, is ABS (which is more important on a bike than on a car, imo) and the best front suspension (Telelever) on any major brand. Suspension is critical on motorcycles because keeping the tire on the tarmac is so important when you only have 2 wheels and the contact patch is much smaller.
I’d love to own one, but BMWs are really expensive in Japan and bike theft is rampant in Tokyo. It doesn’t pay to own a foreign bike, sadly.
I’ve never ridden a BMW before and have always thought of them as quirky looking but very functional motorcycles that were, in the most part, heavy and underpowered. That perception has changed.
The bikes we rode were pre-production bikes and they did have their problems – vibration and lousy throttle response at 3500-4000 rpm, various shifting problem, and a grossly inaccurate fuel gauge. These were all mentioned in various magazines but they are really minor problems.
What about a high speed weave you ask? I had the bike up to an indicated 270kph and it did nothing but go right where I pointed it. And believe me you’d notice if the bike did anything other than go where you pointed it when doing 270kph through the various sweeping turns of the Kesselchen section. If it does have a high speed weave it’s somewhere in the 270-290kph range – so what.
Overweight? The way it flicks from footpeg to footpeg, you’d never know it weighs about 550lbs with a full tank of gas. I’d say it flicks like 2000 ZX-9R or a first generation GSX-R1000. Yes, it’s that good.
The power assisted front brakes? TRULY AWSOME when the key is in the on position. Scary when it’s not, e.g. you’re pushing the bike, and try to stop. No power equals almost zero brakes.
The Electronically Adjustable Suspension (ESA)? A way cool feature I wish I had now. Set the bike up for the interstate, city, corner carving, luggage and/or a passenger with the touch of a button.
In all this is a motorcycle for the street. As such it makes the rider’s job easier. In my view, there is no high performance STREET bike out there that’s better.
There’s a great post by Fumiko Halloran on the NBR mailing list concerning both the crisis at Asahi Shimbun, as well as the crisis at NHK.
What I am hoping is that increasing weblog usage in Japan will lead to Japanese bloggers fact-checking or more openly criticizing the government or NHK or the mass media, whom are often in collusion with the government. I don’t have high aspirations of this, because it is a cultural shift, and will take time if it happens at all, but I do think it is good to see these criticisms come to light and to have the spotlight on both Asahi and NHK, two organizations who are clearly failing the Japanese public.
So, basically read the paper in Japan with a lot of salt, ’cause the news is rarely worth the paper that it’s printed on.
Asahi publishers and senior editors have firmly believed (their remarks have been reported in magazines and journals that were critical of Asahi)that the role of a leading newspaper is to “lead and shape” public opinion and influence the direction of the country; a notable example was its push for Japan to normalize diplomatic relationship with China and the result was to paint favorable pictures of the communist regime. Reporters had to write copies that were politically correct reflecting the top management’s stand.
There is little sign that this media war is going to come to any conclusion in the near future. This is a rather remarkable development in a society that loathes open, upfront confrontation. There are many aspects of this incident that would be written up in magazines and journals including the issue of freedom of the press, for sure.
NBR’S JAPAN FORUM (POL) Political Pressure on NHK: NHK-Asahi
Here’s a Washington Post piece on the crisis at NHK.
The latest allegations of political interference concerned the tens of thousands of women taken into bondage during World War II, whose history was explored in one in a four-part series addressing the issue of international war crimes. The charges against NHK, which holds a place in Japan comparable to the BBC’s in Britain, have affected its reputation. Many critics are charging NHK with kowtowing to Japan’s conservative ruling party.
“This has revealed the politics of yes men that exists at NHK,” said Keiichi Katsura, professor of journalism at Taisho University in Tokyo. “It shows that NHK is beholden to LDP politicians rather than to its viewers,” he said, referring to the governing Liberal Democratic Party.
Even before Ebisawa’s resignation, public anger at the network was mounting, with more than 100,000 viewers withholding their subscription fees in protest. Ebisawa admitted Tuesday that the number of viewers who had stopped paying the fees was growing and could reach half a million by March. As a result, NHK is cutting executive salaries by as much as 15 percent.