Political Outcomes
Find a recent online article about one of the following multi-governmental organizations (MGO):
- European Union (EU)
- Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)
- North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA)
- MERCOSUR (the common market of South America)
ASEAN NEWS: A LOT ON POLITICS AND LEADERS, TOO LITTLE ON SOCIAL ISSUES
Summary:
The ASEAN articles did not show much discussion of other development issues, which are key to strengthening the foundation of the ASEAN Community due in 2015. The most prominent subjects of focus in the ASEAN were territorial disputes and conflicts, foreign affairs and diplomacy, which accounted for 22.03 percent of the ASEAN articles reviewed. The least-reported topics – with less than 2 percent of the total – were poverty, health, emergencies and natural disasters, education, unequal development and gender. While there was a good amount of coverage on the political and foreign-policy aspects as well as economic issues around ASEAN, there was a severe lack of reportage on social issues that included poverty, education, unequal development and gender – even as ASEAN pursues its goal of becoming a community with deeper links among its member countries.
My thoughts:
ASEAN was established with the aim of accelerating economic growth, social progress, cultural development among its members, protection of regional peace and stability, and opportunities for member countries to discuss differences peacefully. I believe that multi-governmental organizations such as ASEAN should not only just work on those problems, but also inform the people what is happening and what they are actually doing. Therefore, it is important to provide more in-depth information about socially relevant subjects, going beyond the usual practice of following ASEAN-organized events and looking into more of what the organization does, through articles or other media so that they can hear people's voices too.
(http://www.aseannews.net/asean-news-a-lot-on-politics-and-leaders-too-little-on-social-issues/)
(http://www.aseannews.net/asean-news-a-lot-on-politics-and-leaders-too-little-on-social-issues/)
I agree with you that although ASEAN's goal is to improve its members' economic, cultural and social progress, the progress of how they are done should be told to people. As ASEAN and also other multi-governmental organizations are key factors that countries benefit from, countries should be informed about what those organizations are doing. This will help not only the members but also the organization itself as they will get to hear more voices from people.
ReplyDeleteYour thoughts about reporting more articles about social problems are interesting. I totally agree that there must be more articles that will report the social, economic problems of the countries not just the Spratly Island dispute. It was also interesting that you found the article that talks about the percentage of the articles and its topic. Interesting.
ReplyDeleteIt seems to me like what you're thinking about is something like an ASEAN newspaper. In fact, you know you can find all sorts of information on these topics by simply doing more research? The more you look into it, the more I think you'll be surprised at how much information is out there.
ReplyDelete