Singapore:Asian press freedoms seen increasing

Asian press freedoms seen increasing - Survey

Reuters. June 7, 1999.ASIAN governments are taking a more liberal attitude towards press freedom with censorship seen declining, a report by the Hong Kong-based Political & Economic Risk Consultancy (PERC) said.

The report received by Reuters on Monday rated the Philippines as having the least censorship at 2.29, followed by Japan at 3.63 and Thailand at 3.86.

Respondents to its annual survey said press censorship was greatest in Vietnam and China at 9.5 and 7.89 respectively on a scale of 10, "where authorities often view the main function of the media as a tool for propaganda."

But in most cases the level of censorship compared with the previous survey was weakening, PERC said.

"For the first time in four years (when we began asking this question) more than half of the countries we surveyed received an above average grade (less than five)," it said.

"Moreover, this year's grades in eight of the 11 countries surveyed were better than last year, and in most of these cases the magnitude of improvement was quite large," the report said.

The following are some highlights from the survey giving the 1999 rating and the previous year's rating in brackets:

Philippines rating 2.29 (3.8): Access to foreign print and broadcast media best in Asia. Local media one of Asia's freest and most boisterous. Frequent complaints in survey was that local media lacked quality.
Hong Kong rating 4.26 (3.95): perception of rising censorship but those surveyed were possibly more critical than in other centres because HK was a regional business centre making it more sensitive to information.
Indonesia rating 4.9 (7.07): Biggest fall in censorship reflecting change in political landscape. However, respondents still critical of the quality of journalism. Access to foreign media has increased.
Malaysia rating 7.25 (7.3): Few countries scored worse when it came to the quality of reporting, and degree of official and unofficial censorship. Respondents criticised access to foreign media.
Singapore rating 5.73 (7.11): censorship practised but not to the extent of the past. Respondents critical of the quality and range of information sources available.
South Korea rating 6.9 (7.47): limited availability of English language media. Access to foreign broadcast media improving. Quality of local media received low score.

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