Tuesday Oct. 14 Blog assignment

1. Tuesday Oct. 14 Blog assignment • Watch the presidential debate tonight • Compare coverage in your foreign media to your own impressions of the debate • If coverage is unavailable in your media, you may use the BBC as your foreign media • Questions to ask and answer: • Did the coverage accurately reflect what happened in the debate? • Is there obvious bias in the coverage—preference for one of the candidates over another? • Do they focus on topics that are of importance to their country? What are those? Are they of interest to you? Why or why not? • Why is your country interested in the U.S. presidential election? • Give me your overall impression of the debate and how you would have covered the debate differently if you were writing about it.

2. For Thursday • Discuss media journals and midterm assignment • What works • What doesn’t • How to improve • Journal exercise Discuss midterm requirements—Due Oct. 16 beginning of class—hard copies please Finish watching “Paris Hilton Inc.”

3. Singapore Why a Tiny Island Nation Matters in Global Press Freedom

4. Singapore • 4.5 million people • Prosperous and calm amidst the chaos of Asia • Small financial island nation that runs efficiently—making it a good place to do business—even the media business • Controlled for 30 years by Lee Kwan Yew—and now by his sons and daughters • Nominal opposition party that has never won a majority of votes. • People tend to agree that a government that eradicated poverty, corruption, and crime is worth voting for…and not criticizing

5. But the same view of the press as China… • A free press is a threat to government control • Press is to used as a tool of the government…not as a tool of the people • Control of ideas versus the marketplace of ideas • Government knows best • China’s ranking in Reporters without Borders: 163 • Singapore’s ranking in Reporters without Borders: 140

6. In Singapore, there’s no gloss of a “free press.” • Singaporean press is state controlled…Singapore Press Holdings… • Media is considered a way to disseminate information to the people…entertain…and make money • International media is controlled through fees, licensing and the law…laws that favor the government

7. Singapore’s Tactics for Press Control In response to Reporters without Borders’ report in 2005, Lee said: You are not going to teach us how we should run the country…We are not so stupid, we know what our interests are and how to preserve them.

8. A Brief history… • Singapore’s history--has no historical precedent for a free press. • Need for control early on • A Chinese majority surrounded by Malaysia and Indonesia • Multi-cultural state designed to keep order between Chinese, Indians, Malays—seeking racial harmony and a national identity • Priority is place on communitarian ideals over individual ideals • Press is owned by the government—to help promote harmony and the national identity

9. How it works…for Singaporeans • Lee Kwan Yew is the spokesman for the debate against free speech—his opinion carries immense weight with the Singaporean people. • Dissent is legal, but discouraged. • Freedom of expression and speech is written into the Constitution but it is not an absolute freedom. Gov’t can pass laws in interest of national security, morality, restrictions to protect the privileges of Parliament • All videos/dvds entering Singapore are viewed by a censorship committee. • Films are edited for content. • Singaporean film makers can be fined up to 500,000 euros (about $750,000) for making films considered “partisan.” • But some film makers get around it— “12 Stories”

10. And works…for the foreign press • News media can be gazetted—circulation is cut to 500 copies with the government having the right to distribute the copies as it sees fit. Allows government to say it is allowing free speech, but with regulation • Publications gazetted include Far Eastern Economic Review (1988 and banned completely in 2006), Time (1986), Asian Wall Street Journal (1987) • Libel laws that include large monetary damage awards • Requires media to appoint a publisher’s representative and post bonds of $124,000 to pay for legal fees for publications including FEER, the Financial Times, the International Herald Tribune, Time and Newsweek

11. While some have decided to leave…others play by the rules • The Wall Street Journal sets up a global news operation in Singapore…and stops writing in general about Singapore business and politics. • Bloomberg and the Economist settled libel suits out of court and paid damages and apologized. • Accept the government notion that it is a “privilege, not a right” to publish in Singapore

12. So why does Singapore matter? • Its view of the press (and democracy) offers a counter-argument to the West’s “free press” ideals • It stands as an economic and political model to follow by other Asian nations—including China • Singapore’s control relies on the legal system, heavy fines, financial hardship for journalists and citizens who speak up, and a citizenry that is happy with its economic situation so it demands less political and social freedom • It has been successful in demanding changes from the foreign press

13. There are some cracks appearing • Bloggers like “Mr. Brown” have a following • The chasm between rich and poor in Singapore is growing—causing unrest and dissent • Globalization may force change • Lee Kwan Yew’s death is likely to lead to an easing of restrictions

14. For discussion: • What is your opinion of how Lee describes “Western individualism?” • What do you think of Lee’s preconditions for democracy: near universal education and a large middle class? • Is democracy (and its associated free press requirement in the West) a necessary ingredient to economic success? • Doesn’t Singapore’s success argue against this idea? • What is meant by “illiberal democracy?” • What do you think of Goh Chok Tong’s thoughts on the press? • Compare how Goh says Singapore covered SARs versus the way in which China covered it (according to a Singaporean journalist) • Should each country create its own model of free press…or lack of a free press as Singapore has done? • Does the Western media hurt its reputation by not covering fairly events such as those outlined in the article on Tibetan coverage?