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Viewpoint: Battle for the Media
A growing 'free press' is challenging ASEAN's
old order
Source Asia Week
By Kavi Chongkittavorn
November 27,2000
Like ASEAN itself, ASEAN's journalists are divided. It is increasingly
difficult to forge any kind of consensus among the region's reporters
and press organizations. Just as governments range from the dictatorial
to the democratic, press practices in the 10 nations of Southeast Asia
vary from freewheeling in the Philippines and Thailand to totalitarian
in Vietnam and Burma. In between are Singapore and Malaysia, where the
semi-controlled press has long been in vogue.
In the last few years Cambodia and Indonesia have joined the "free press"
club. Long suppressed and inexperienced, their journalists are eagerly
exploring a world with fewer limits. Sometimes criticized for being overly
cynical and negative, they will improve in time. Filipino and Thai journalists
themselves aren't exempt from criticism. Too often those who have enjoyed
a tradition of freedom resort to shallow or sensational reporting. They
have been accused — sometimes rightly — of distorting complex issues and
inflaming public passions.
But the Filipinos and Thais are the region's most combative and best organized
reporters. Over the last 30 years they have fought dictatorial regimes
in order to gain their freedom. In all four "free press" countries, despite
public criticisms, journalists continue to receive wide support in showdowns
with government or corrupt officials. At a regional level, the struggle
is on as never before between journalists of the free press and the restricted
press.
Least free are Burma, Laos and Vietnam, which use the media as tools of
state propaganda and "nation-building." Political discussion is forbidden
but these nations recognize that in order to lure dollars, economic information
must flow a little freely. So they permit tame English-language publications
to be published — often ventures with foreigners — to persuade outsiders
that these places are good for investment.
More sophisticated are Singapore and Malaysia. They use the media to manufacture
consent, exercising strict press licensing and directly or indirectly
controlling most news outlets. People read the papers to find out what
the government thinks and wants them to think. In both countries, mainstream
press reports are closely scrutinized and self-censored. Online newspapers
like Malaysiakini.com are an exception. Because it wants investment in
information technology, Malaysia allows freedom on the Internet and a
few sites are providing balanced and courageous coverage. What is worrying,
however, is that the semi-controlled model is moving beyond Singapore
and Malaysia. They believe that a semi-controlled press is good for business
and government and their media establishments have invested in Thailand
and Cambodia as well as Hong Kong..
These different traditions make it difficult for journalists in the region
to cooperate. For 25 years, they have been linked through the Confederation
of ASEAN Journalists (CAJ), brainchild of Harmoko, Indonesia's minister
of information at a time when its press was controlled. A quarter-century
ago, Indonesia wanted ASEAN journalists to network, not to promote press
freedom but consensus within ASEAN and information about the grouping,
which was establishing its identity. The region has changed but the CAJ
has not.
Independent journalists in ASEAN are increasingly frustrated with the
old network of journalists, which has failed to respond to regional dynamism
and join forces with the free press. The CAJ remains a monolithic organization,
specializing in so-called development journalism and lackluster conferences.
Illustrating the division was a walkout by Thai journalists at a CAJ assembly
in Singapore last month.
The Thais accused the host of lacking transparency and accountability
and failing to discuss a Thai proposal to amend the CAJ charter, including
abolition of the secretariat office in Jakarta and the post of permanent
secretary. The changes, which would allow each country to help determine
CAJ directions and core activities, are pivotal to its rejuvenation. The
protest in Singapore has sparked spirited discussions about the very existence
of the CAJ.
As the "free press" grows, its journalists are establishing local and
regional associations. The sea change in Indonesia following Suharto's
departure in 1998 and the country's burgeoning free press have inspired
the independent media to unite. In Thailand, the Philippines and Indonesia,
they joined hands to form the Southeast Asian Press Alliance in 1998.
An alternative forum for the independent media, SEAPA will soon be joined
by Cambodia and East Timor.
SEAPA has taken bold steps to fight for press freedom. It helps fund Malaysiakini.com
as well as projects to promote access to information and combat corruption.
Its Jakarta office is at the forefront of efforts to protect the press
from abuse by police and mobs. SEAPA is also helping journalists in East
Timor to rebuild their media infrastructure. Region-wide, the media "gap"
is likely to grow wider as the semi-open press continues to assert itself
as a viable choice. A new generation of ASEAN journalists is emerging
with the vision to challenge old ways of doing things. In the long run,
the only viable press will be a free press.
Kavi Chongkittavorn
is managing editor of The Nation newspaper in Bangkok and chairman of the
alternative media organization SEAPA
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