Development Blogs.com

On Monday of this week, I was surprised and pleased to read in one of Pakistan’s English language newspapers, Dawn, that the mayor of Karachi had been ranked the world’s second-best mayor by Foreign Policy magazine. I was also a little puzzled. Karachi has made some great strides as a city in the last few years, with the mayor leading some innovative approaches to solving the problems of slums, food shortages, massive electricity outages, and unclean water that often disable Pakistan’s financial capital, in addition to efforts to green-ify the city. But second-best in the world…? When I went to find the FP article in question, I ran across this blog post: Yesterday, we started receiving e-mails from readers and journalists in Pakistan asking for comment on reports...

Although Mr. Friedman may claim that the world is flat, we may not be quite there yet.  Take a recent BBC article that cites one of Pakistan’s most prominent pro-democracy leaders claiming a senior British diplomat cut a deal with President Musharraf that guaranteed his immunity if he resigned.  It is a fairly straight forward story with a claim and counter-claim while the journalist maintains a neutral position on the topic. One of Pakistan’s most prominent pro-democracy leaders, Aitzaz Ahsan, has accused a senior British diplomat of undermining his country’s rule of law. Sir Mark Lyall Grant was in Pakistan recently and reportedly urged the government to give President Musharraf immunity if he resigned… The British foreign office has responded to Mr...

Be sure to read Anne Applebaum’s Op-Ed in today’s Washington Post. The article reminds us of Radio Free Europe and that its mission is as important today as ever. Operating in 21 countries and 28 languages RFE provides an important, and often the only, source of independent journalism in countries around the world. Independent sources of information are crucial to the establishment of democracy and the protection of rights. People cannot voice their opinions, stand up for their rights, and advocate for their interests if they are denied access to information about their society. RFE provides journalists their only opportunity to broadcast news in their countries. RFE journalists are primarily locals, many of whom are living and working in their native country. These journalists are...

In Tunisia recently for a workshop with business journalists on corporate governance issues, I witnessed a generational divide that gives me hope.  The key moment in the training came in a debate between an older journalist writing for a state-owned newspaper and younger journalists writing for web-based economic journals about the role of the media in investigative reporting on corporate behavior.   The state-owned newspaper journalist challenged why reporters should dig their noses in private businesses if there is nothing wrong.  The others protested, saying they must be active in their reporting in order to uncover failures before they become scandals.  The split in their views was clear, and I was encouraged by the younger clan who want to shape a new culture that values good...

Free media, of course, if an integral part of democracy, and it depends just as much on the climate within which it operates (laws and regulations) as it does on the people behind the scenes.  Skilled journalists, in this regard, play a very important role in making democracies work, whether its by exposing corruption and providing citizens with access to information and critical thought.  Many organizations get involved in building the professional skills of journalists - and the importance of such efforts can’t be understated.  Still, what we often see is that it is not just the reporting skills that journalists lack - it is the understanding of issues that they are reporting on, particularly in the economic and business areas.  Take corruption for example - it is not enough...

As China’s dynamic economic growth transforms many aspects of the daily life, more and more incongruities arise between the forces of modernization and greater openness of the Chinese society, and the official communist state ideology. The two are increasingly coming to a clash in the country’s universities. Beijing’s renowned Tsinghua University – one of the most prestigious Chinese schools – is a good example of the difficulties in applying old philosophy to new realities. The university’s website proclaims that “Tsinghua has retained its character and charm [since the founding over 90 years ago] while promoting rigorous scholarship research, ensuring academic and educational prestige in China and abroad.” At the same time, its recently founded Research Center on...

Reading Vanity Fair's July article Congo's Battered Cockpits brought back to life Congo's chaotic beauty for me. ...Though perhaps beauty is not something most people would take away from an article about Congo's frighteningly unregulated airline industry. The anecdote whose punchline is a plane bellyflopping on Brazza's runway only to fly again no doubt will bring a nostalgic smile to any ironic soul who's spent time in the Congo. (I keep my own air travel stories to myself if only to avoid being grounded by mother who occasionally reads this blog.)But then, Vanity Fair's article succeeds where most others fail: it creates an realistic image of the Congo without the pity party in tow. From the pillages of the 1990's to the diamond smuggling back and forth across the Angolan border, one...

Mr. Bemba finally left our presence last Wednesday when he headed to Portugal for medical treatment. Bemba received permission from Parliament to travel last Monday on the condition that he returns in 60 days.In the meantime his political party, the MLC, has refused to participate in the lower house of Parliament due to harassment they claim to be receiving from Kabila’s party.The public prosecutor has asked the Senate to remove Mr. Bemba’s immunity as a senator so he can be prosecuted for inciting last month’s violence.Kinshasa is relatively calm these days but the question of Mr. Bemba’s post-Portugal fate remains unanswered (although this bloke has some disjointed theories that seem a bit clouded by his own experience).While it was expected that Congo’s political situation...