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The formation of a press alliance in Southeast Asia signals a coming of age for the press communities of three countries in the region--Indonesia, Philippines and Thailand. As political events unleashed the power of the press, journalists in these countries have also become keenly aware that freedom can be fragile. In Bangkok last weekend, twenty-five journalists representing independent press organizations agreed to join hands to formally establish Southeast Asia Press Alliance or SEAPA, an initiative to support and promote press freedom in their part of the world. In the past, the efforts to safeguard press freedom and ensure the protection of journalists were undertaken mainly by watchdog organizations based in the West. With monitors set up all around the globe, groups like the US-based Committee to Protect Journalists, the Canadian Committee to Protect Journalists, the World Press Freedom Committee and Journalists sans Frontier investigate cases of attacks against journalists in the line of duty. These journalists now feel that it is time for them to do the work themselves. Regional efforts to safeguard press freedom may also prove more effective.. Government authorities tend to dismiss Western initiatives and queries as meddling, imposing values which have no meaning in the Asian experience. The establishment of SEAPA will demonstrate that press freedom is a universal value. The watchfulness of neighbors will be more difficult to ignore. SEAPA will also allow Western organizations to concentrate in those areas where they are most needed. The recovery of press freedom has changed the landscape of journalism in these three countries of Southeast Asia. Since its liberation from Marcos controls in 1986, the freewheeling press in the Philippines was held in contempt or treated with condescension by the rest of the ASEAN neighborhood. In 1992, political developments in Thailand caused another free press to bloom. Six years later, the crisis in Indonesia brought down Soeharto and the changes lifted the controls which suppressed the press for many decades. Now the gathering of journalists from other neighboring countries focus on the experience of these countries with interest, if not envy. But Filipino, Thai and Indonesian journalists know better than to gloat. In the two days of discussions in Bangkok, many acknowledged the many serious problems await remedies. The crisis has caused major Thai newspapers to close down leaving some one thousand journalists jobless. In Indonesia, repressive media laws remain in the books. In the Philippines, irresponsible journalism has marred the landscape of freedom. Freedom is only the beginning. The free press community needs to sustain their gains and make freedom more meaningful of the people. At this stage, steering committee to establish SEAPA has been limited to journalists from the three countries. But the organization itself will be open to expansion and will address the concerns of the press in other countries. The crisis in Malaysia has involved small papers in providing alternative information to the public. Haraka's circulation has leaped from 60,000 to 300,000 in just a few months. It is not sure whether it can continue to test the limits set by government. In Burma, journalism is a dangerous venture. Even computers, photocopiers and fax machines are banned. Burmese activists have had to work outside the country to keep their cause alive. In Vietnam, the press is government owned. In Cambodia, journalists have to cope with the lack of the most basic logistics. What then can SEAPA do? The agenda includes setting up the secretariat in Bangkok so that the organization can be operational on Press Freedom Day, May 3, 1998. Coordinating secretariats will be set up also in the Philippines and Indonesia. The agenda of activities include setting up data-bases and monitoring systems, an exchange of news on the issues of the press, reviews of laws, joint training programs and workshops to insure the continuing development of the press. In time, these efforts will build up the kind of environment where information plays a significant role in development, where it becomes a source of power, not just for the controlling few, but for all its citizens. The lessons of the past have not been entirely forgotten. Regional press organizations have often become nothing more than social clubs, whose annual meetings are lavish events which take up only the mechanics of membership. Other more high-minded groups declined due to lack of funds or just plain fatigue. Often, the problem has been the lack of young blood to sustain the institutions. Interestingly enough, the meeting in Bangkok gathered both male and female, both older and younger journalists. Most of them have gone through their period of testing with their own efforts at home. Battle-scarred, they realize that there is much hard work to be done. Participants at the Bangkok could not help but feel that they were making some kind of history. Many of us felt that such a meeting would not have taken place in better times. Crisis calls for greater solidarity. As Kavi Chonkittavorn of The Nation observed, the crisis has made us better people. In hardship we learn that we must work together and learn from one another. Hopefully, all this means better journalism in Southeast Asia. Melinda Quintos de Jesus is the Executive Director of the Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility and a member of SEAPA's Board of Directors. This piece is reprinted from the Manila Times. |
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The Southeast Asian Press Coming of Age