Coverage of Pakistan & Kashmir Region in Regards to War in Afghanistan
By Reed Mercado

I am monitoring the coverage of Pakistan in regards to the war in Afghanistan and the issues related to the Kashmir region.

11.13.01
HoustonChronicle.com & New York Times, Print Edition

The interactivity of the Houston Chronicle website is impressive. I like that articles related to the war in Afghanistan have navigation down the right hand side covering a variety of aspects of America's new war. The photos are small enough that the page loads quickly, but the use of colors is effective and makes all the text easier to read.
The article does not get much ink from the New York Times. It is buried in the "Nation Challenged" section, and has no pictures.

11.14.01
Newsday, Print Edition & HinduOnline.com

This is a short Newsday article, only about 600 words, but it has a photograph of the author, and is an easy read. It is an opinion piece, proclaiming India to be America's best ally in the Middle East, and being essentially mistrustful of Pakistan, especially because of the perceived fragility of the government. The Hindu Online, which is India's national paper, takes an interesting stand in denouncing all violence in the Kashmir region. The website does not look particularly professional, and is not much more than text on the screen. The text is large, easy to read, and the best adjective I can think of is uncluttered.

11.15.01
Canada.com/OttawaCitizen & The New York Times, Print Edition

The Ottawa Citizen online looks just like every other newspaper's website up these days. They pretty much just took the newspaper and slapped everything on the web, even classified ads. It is okay, but it does not really take advantage of the medium. The article, warning India and Pakistan to cool down, is informative, but seems too pro-American to really be viable. The Times piece is an opinion one, and I like the drawing included with it. It reminds me of the New Yorker, which is a good thing. It is mostly a history lesson, which is much needed, but I hate how the ink smudges and comes off on my hands when I hold it too long. It makes me want to put the paper down.

11.16.01
New York Times, Print Edition & Telegraph.co.uk

Both of these articles are interesting because they blame the Kashmir region for creating part of the problem, but not because of fighting there, but for different reasons. The Times article implicates Pakistanis there of helping the Taliban, and the Telegraph article says heroin produced in Afghanistan makes it out through the Kashmir. The top of the telegraph site is hard on the eyes, because they chose lousy colors. There are a lot of ads, but lots of pictures too, and it seems to be more graphic oriented than most news sites.

11.17.01
New York Times, Print Edition & The Statesman.net

I think that this Indian wire service is great for this coverage. This is why the Internet is so great. I can feel the local pulse regarding a situation, not getting just a limited American viewpoint from one of the few papers that deigns to do foreign coverage (though they have picked it up considerably since September 11.) The article, short and sweet, with no links or graphics, but not long enough to let me lose it, criticizes the portrayal of Indian diplomats in the United States. The Times article only makes a brief mention of Kashmir in an article mostly about fallen Kabul. It was the only article I could find that day that actually had something about Pakistan, but it was only a mention, though the lengthy article is featured prominently in the "Nation Challenged" section of the paper.

11.18.01
BostonHerald.com & The Economist, Print Edition

The Boston Herald web site is poor in my opinion. The graphic on top, with Osama on the left, Bush on the right and an explosion in the middle, is sensationalism at best, and they should be ashamed of themselves. The article is about Pakistan's role in the government that will have to develop after the war in Afghanistan is over. The site also uses four columns across which I think is a bit much, but the colors are good, and the photographs are quite good. The Economist is a great publication, and the article, about the threats Pakistan's economy is facing now, addresses a problem few have stopped to think about. Economist articles are short and to the point, which I like, and it utilizes a chart to help illustrate the piece's stickier economic points.

11.19.01
UnionTrib.com (San Diego Union-Tribune) & Time, Print Edition

Although the San Diego Union Tribune only has a 150 word blurb about the Kashmir region, it was one of the few American news sites I found reporting on the 100 Indian soldiers killed there. I like this site, it is very community oriented. The home page is cluttered, and though the execution is not there, the good intentions are obvious. The Time magazine article was long, and fairly accusatory of Pakistanis supporting the Taliban. Perhaps they do, but the language of the article was just so melodramatic, taking away from the substance. Also, for such a long article, it really did not have enough photographs. That many uninterrupted words is not a good idea in today's short attention span society.

11.20.01
Salon.com & New York Times, Print Edition

The Salon article is straight news, and I do not think those kinds of stories are as good as the rest of the writing on the site. Also, their premium content thing is supremely annoying, but these sites need to figure out how to make money. Still, the article is not particularly insightful or ground breaking. The Times article is an overview of recent developments and it glances over the Pakistan facet of the situation. There were no pictures, but I imagine for such a broad piece it is hard to pick on thing for readers to look at.

11.21.01
The New York Times, Print Edition & The Statesman.net

The New York Times article about refugees fleeing to Pakistan touches on the problems facing Afghanistan's neighbor. The photo in the piece, of children refugees leaving serves to illustrate well what the article is about. It is not given much importance however, as it is buried in the paper. The Indian news service is not very concerned with being biased, as it blasts Pakistan over the issues in the Kashmir region. Still, the article has lots of facts that would otherwise not make it to the US, so that is good

11.22.01
The Washington Post, Print Edition & NYTimes.com

This Washington Post article is long and story-like, as their pieces tend to be. It is very well-written, documenting the jailed tribulations of Pakistani Muslims who joined the Taliban to fight the Northern Alliance and America. I do not particularly like the Post, though I am sure it is more due to being used to New York publications. The Times website has become increasingly pushy with the readers. There are advertisements everywhere and some that even fly around the screen for a few seconds. The pages are all the same which is good, but I think they should shorten their articles for the site, because clicking through three links to read the whole article is garbage. Even so, this site is comprehensive and well put together, just like the print edition.

11.23.01
Financial Times, Print Edition & Ireland.com (Irish Times Website)

The Times article is buried on the 21 page, but is quite a long article. I was surprised that such a long one did not have a photograph. I really appreciate English press, however, they take an opinionated critical view in essay like articles that tell a story. The Irish Times website is extremely dense, and has just lists of links with not much text. The article did not really link out anywhere or have extra features. The article was not much more than a side note, and was a relatively short briefing on the eruption of violence in the Kashmir.

11.24.01
The New Yorker, Print Edition & TheStatesman.net

The New Yorker piece about Pakistan is actually a letter from their foreign minister, Abdul Sattar, responding to an earlier New Yorker article about the existence of nuclear weapons belonging to Pakistan in the Kashmir region and the insecurity of their locations. The minister responded in a 700 word letter. There are no pictures and the only real reason to note the letter in The Mail section is that it is from a ranking government official of the country. The Statesman Indian news service website is bare boned; it only has a couple pictures, and teasers to the articles, along with minimal navigation. The article, important to the region, is featured high up on the site.

11.25.01
Telegraph.co.uk & The New York Times, Print Edition

I am surprised at how much the English press mistrusts and is willing to point fingers at Pakistan for a multitude of problems. The article accuses the Pakistani government of closely colluding with Taliban forces. The only other thing I can think of is that the American press has chosen to ignore that fact as they are supposed to be our friends, but it seemed a little blown out of proportion to me. The Times article seems to refer to Pakistan as a nuisance because nationals have to keep getting airlifted out after the Taliban retreats or surrenders in some place. The article is good, long, and is placed deep in the paper, reminding me that there are much more important things to the United States going on than concern over Pakistan.

11.26.01
Financial Times, Print Edition & NYTimes.com

The Financial Times writes in pretty stuffy language, so it can be hard to swallow, but the article, about how Pakistan militants are helping the Taliban and operating in the Kashmir, manages to stay mostly impartial, which is impressive for an English newspaper. It seems to me that this paper has less photos than other papers of its stature, and I am not sure how I feel about the pinkish color of the pages. The more stuff that the New York Times puts on its website, the less I like it. The internal links are great, especially if you have been under a rock for the last two months, you could catch up, but all the external stuff, like the moving banner ads and the large ads placed pretty much in the middle of the article suck.

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