censur Arkiv - Medieblogger (arkiv)

PayPal lukker for e-bogudgiveren Smashwords

Via Stephen Frys tweet har jeg set, at betalingstjenesten PayPal har lukket ned for e-bogudgiveren Smashwords:

Paypal also has to deal with the whims of the credit card companies with which it is partnered. With that business arrangement, when a credit card company says to jump, Paypal must comply. When it does so, it effects all its own customers as well. Ebook publisher Smashwords reports that it has become one of the latest recipients of one such action.

Under pressure from credit card providers, Paypal has put in place a policy that it would no longer process payments for ebooks that contained themes of rape, incest, beastiality and underage sexual content. It then decided to give Smashwords less than a week to remove all books that fit those criteria.

Jeg kan umiddelbart komme i tanke om to bøger, der ikke ville gå i det tilfælde.

Den ene er Bret Easton Ellis’ megahit ‘American Psycho’ (der handler om en psykopatisk serie- og lystmorder, der arbejder på Wall Street) og Vladimir Nabokovs ‘Lolita’, der bliver udråbt som en af de største litterære virker nogensinde – og som handler om hovedpersonens følelser for en 12-årig pige, hvilket også har skabt røre.

Vi skal passe på, at vi ikke bliver så puritanske, at vi beskytter os selv og andre mod ting, som godt nok provokerer os, men som kan være nødvendige eller hovedværker i forfatterskaber – eller begge dele. Det er misforstået hensyn at blokere for alt, der beskæftiger sig med emner, vi ikke har lyst til at læse om.

Undervisning i marxistisk journalistik

Det er nytårsaften, og jeg er syg. Derfor et blogindlæg på dette ellers noget aparte tidspunkt 😉

Jeg sidder og kigger lidt rundt på diverse netmedier, og hos Washington Post finder jeg en artikel (kræver login) omkring et begreb i Kina, der kaldes “marxistisk journalistik”.

Eleverne bliver blandt andet undervist i historie (den kinesiske udgave) og lærer den (tilbageholdende) rolle, som der forventes af journalister i et land som Kina. Læs blot her om undervisningen om Tibets historie:

The mountainous territory [Tibet] has always been an inalienable part of China, they were told, and the Dalai Lama is a sly traitor hiding behind his Buddhist religion to promote secession. The lecture, a rendition of China’s standard government line, put some students to sleep, but most listened patiently.

Baggrunden bag “marxistisk journalism” beskriver Washington Post-journalisten Edward Cody således:

In China, that role traditionally has been to support the government by spreading propaganda and suppressing news that contradicts policy or puts officials in a bad light. But as the country has opened to the world in the last three decades, many journalists — and journalism students and their professors–have acquired new ambitions for their craft, such as investigative reporting on official corruption.

Against that background, the party’s Central Committee in 2001 urged Chinese media and journalism schools to adopt the concept of “Marxist journalism.” The term was broadly interpreted to mean journalism that the government views as improving society and taking account of Chinese realities, including censorship under one-party rule.

Som journalist er jeg selvfølgelig direkte imod denne måde at strømligne journalister. Men hey, hvem er ikke det?

Blot en reminder om, at der er lande, hvor medier og journalister og trange kår. Gad vide hvad begrebet “new media” betyder i Kina?