2006 not promising year for journalism in Asia; majority of countries fell in Reporters Without Borders rankings!
By Tita Tantipinichwong
Asia remains an inhospitable environment for journalists and media outlets, with governmental repression on the rise in the past year. Kidnappings of reporters and physical beatings by police are common throughout the continent, says an annual report from Reporters Without Borders (RSF).
The RSF annual World Press Freedom Index evaluates the degree of freedom of expression in the media of 168 nations.
This year most countries in Asia remain in the lower half of the Index and several have fallen in rankings.Seven Asian nations ranked in the bottom 20 for free expression, and none are in the top 20. South Korea, at 31st place, is the first Asian country on the Index, while North Korea is still the last country overall, at 168th place.
Responsible for North Korea's stagnation at the bottom of the Index is Kim Jong-Il, the country's supreme dictator. Because radio and television only broadcast government stations, North Korea still "lives under the yoke of propaganda devoted entirely to the personality cult of King Jong-Il," says the report.
Moving up the Index, Burma (Myanmar) and China are at 164th and 163rd place respectively. The report states that "journalists [in these countries] are still risking their life or imprisonment for trying to keep" the public informed. Burma has fallen one place this year, with seven imprisoned and 11 arrested journalists. Censorship within the country has remained strong.
China dropped four spots from last year.
Even though there is an increase in the number of media outlets in the country, the government maintains its monopoly on all types of news. Xinhua news agency now restricts foreign agencies from directly advertising their services to public unless "they subject themselves to censors," according to the South China Morning Post.
The penalties for violating these new regulations further increased in severity. Any foreign news agency that compromises China's reputation or provokes dissidence is subject first to a warning, then suspension of content and finally a revocation of rights to operate in the country.
Nepal, which moved up one place this year to 159th, has shown improvement in its basic press freedoms due to the successful democratic uprising against the monarchy in April. Continuous fighting in the region for several years, however, accounts for its low ranking.In Southeast Asia, Laos (159th) remains in the same position as last year for the information ministry's continued control of the media.
Vietnam (155th) moved up three places, even though Internet restrictions are increasingly limiting the amount of news that can be published online and the Ministry of Culture and Information continually imposes instructions on journalists on how to cover stories.Singapore, already on the lower end of the list, dropped six places this year to the 146th position.
Due to government crackdowns on foreign media and Prime Minister Lee's defamation case against the Hong Kong-based magazine Far Eastern Economic Review, Singapore remains one of the worst violators of press freedoms.
The Philippines (142nd) dropped three places because of increasing legal intimidation on behalf of President Gloria Arroyo's husband and the murder of seven journalists since the beginning of this year.
Sri Lanka, one place above the Philippines, declined considerably from its 2002 51st place ranking. Despite the 2002 ceasefire of its 20-year civil conflict, the government and the Liberation Tamil Tigers of Eelam rebel forces have resumed fighting. Increasing attacks on Tamil journalists who are accused of bias indicate the intensifying enmity between both sides.
Also in South Asia, Bangladesh is at 137th, moving up slightly because fewer journalists were murdered this year. Nevertheless, there are still over 80 cases of government censorship documented for this year, according to RSF.
A Denmark newspaper's publishing of cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed in Sept. 2005 led to an increase the number of assaults on journalists in countries with large Muslim populations such as Indonesia (102nd) and India (105th).
Both did not move down in rankings, but did not see much improvement either.Thailand, last year ranked at 107th, is now at 122nd, due to changes in leadership after the Sept. 19 coup d'etat. The interim government imposed restrictions on the Internet, telling webboards to close down temporary or face permanent closure.
East Timor (83rd) and Mongolia (86th), both young democracies, declined in rankings due to threats against reporters.In the upper half of the Index, Japan ranks 51st. However, emerging nationalism and the existence of exclusive press clubs, combined with the bombing of the newspaper Nihon Keizai caused the country move down 14 places since last year. Taiwan, on the other hand, moved up eight places to 43rd.
The fifth annual Worldwide Press Freedom Index indicates that while certain Asian countries are moving up in rankings, a far larger number are stagnating and even deteriorating in the area of media freedom. Western democracies in Europe continue to dominate the upper half of the Index and for the foreseeable future, will remain there.
The full report of the 2006 Worldwide Press Freedom Index is located on the RSF website. A detailed analysis of press freedom in Asia is also available. (AsiaMedia Staff Writer)
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