Burmese Monks Across the Information Highway

Monday September 24, 2007
Burmese Monks Protest and March to try to Over Throw Burmese Govt.

In the New York Times in the "world" section there appeared an article about Buddhist monks in Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, and the protests and marches that are occurring there right now. In The Times that article online contained two photographs of the protesters and also a map of where the protesters had walked through. The writer also used a quote from the British Ambassador to Myanmar. The Times also offered some possible options for the situation at hand, and the reactions of other countries such as the U.S. and China. Overall the entire article seemed to sympathize with the monks and people of Myanmar rather than the govt, the Junta.

Looking at the same story of the BBC News online I found some similarities. The BBC also had pictures of the monks; however, their pictures were close up and showed in detail the faces of a few monks making the whole situation more personal. The story opened with a quote from the minister of religion, which grabs the eye of the reader. Their version of the story also went into more detail about the march itself, the feeling it had, where it went and ended, how the people interacted with each other. The article as a whole made the whole situation seem closer to home. Again the BBC like The Times sided with the protesters. A last note, the BBC uses Burma instead of Myanmar.

Townhall.com also covered this story. Townhall tends to be a conservative site. The writer for this story focused a lot on the history of all the events of this story. The other sites also referred to what had happened in the past that relate to events occurring there now; however, this site goes into more detail. Another interesting note is that like the other sites it sides with the protesters, but it goes to greater lengths to make the Junta, the govt., appear more sinister.

CSNEWS.com also uses Burma instead of Myanmar. Another conservative website, it discusses the actions of George Bush and his wife, saying that they were working to move against the Junta and support the protesters. It's not surprising that a conservative website should work hard to make the Bush administration look like humanitarians.

CNN was the last website I checked out that had the Myanmar monks story. CNN, like The Times, and the BBC also had pictures. CNN also looks at the details of the march, where it is going, and the role of the Opposing Democratic leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

Of all the websites, the BBC, seemed to be the most personalized. It was the only website that made me really look at the humanitarian side of this story; whereas, the other websites focused primarily on the details of political scene of the whole situation. Its intriguing though that the BBC appears to be the most personalized, since it is internationally read and a very large corporation. It is not too surprising that all these sites tend to swing with the sides of the protesters, since the history of the Burma govt...or military govt, has been quite violent.