MCLC: World Press Freedom Index 2014

[Denton, Kirk]

MCLC LIST
From: pjmooney <pjmooney at me.com>
Subject: World Press Freedom Index 2014
*************************************************************

Source: Reporters without Borders: http://rsf.org/index2014/en-asia.php
 

World press freedom index 2014

Asia-Pacific
CHINESE BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING, AND EXPORTING ITS METHODS

In a speech shortly after his appointment as Communist Party general
secretary in November 2012, Xi Jinping addressed journalists directly:
“Friends from the press, China needs to learn more about the world, and
the world also needs to learn more about China. I hope you will continue
to make more efforts and contributions to deepening the mutual
understanding between China and the countries of the world."

Woe to any journalist who thought he was saying “Describe China’s stark
realities” when what he really meant was “Follow the Party’s propaganda to
the letter!” Since the speech, the authorities have arrested more
journalists and bloggers, cracked down harder on cyber-dissidents,
reinforced online content control and censorship and stepped up
restrictions on the foreign media.

Embarrassing officials or exposing corruption means risking public
condemnation. Luo Changping, a journalist who was forced to leave Caijing
magazine in November, Liu Hu, a New Express reporter who was arrested for
disseminating “false information”, and the New York Times newspaper are
among the recent examples of journalists and news media that have been
punished for investigative reporting. Human rights activists and dissident
bloggers such as Xu Zhiyong and Yang Maodong (also known as Guo Feixiong),
who were jailed on trumped-up charges are among those who paid a high
price in the past year.

The daily “directives” to the traditional media from the Department of
Propaganda, the constant online censorship, the growing number of
arbitrary arrests and the detention of the largest number of journalists
and netizens in the world (including 2010 Nobel peace laureate Liu Xiaobo)
have made China a model of censorship and repression. Adoption of the
model is unfortunately spreading in the region.

Vietnam has stepped by information control to the point of being close to
catching up with its Chinese big brother. Independent news providers are
subject to enhanced Internet surveillance, draconian directives, waves of
arrests and sham trials. Vietnam continues to be the world’s second
largest prison for bloggers and netizens. Of the 34 bloggers currently
detained, 25 were arrested since Nguyen Phu Trong became the party’s
general secretary in January 2011.

The party took censorship to a new level in September 2013 when it issued
Decree 72 banning the use of blogs and social networks to share
information about news developments. It shows that the party is waging an
all-out offensive against the new-generation Internet, which it sees as a
dangerous counterweight to the domesticated traditional media.

ASIAN AND PACIFIC DEMOCRACIES

The past year showed that certain governments in the Asia-Pacific region,
even democratic ones, can be extremely sensitive to criticism. This was
evident from the many judicial proceedings, often resulting in
disproportionate sentences, that were initiated against journalists under
pressure from government agencies or officials.

The Thai government uses lèse-majesté charges as an effective weapon for
intimidating or silencing those who are disrespectful. The suspended jail
sentence imposed on Chiranuch Premchaiporn (also known as Jiew), the
editor of the online newspaper Prachatai, for “comments critical of the
monarchy” and the 11-year-jail sentence given to Somyot Prueksakasemsuk,
editor of the Voice of Thaksin bimonthly, were noteworthy examples. These
sentences had a deterrent effect on the entire Thai media.

In South Korea, independent journalists Kim Ou-joon and Choo Chin-woo were
accused of broadcasting “false information” and “defamatory content” about
President Park Geun-hye’s brother and father in their satirical podcast
“Naneun Ggomsuda.” In Tonga and Papua New Guinea, four journalists were
fined or sanctioned for “criticizing” their respective prime ministers.

The Asian democracies also have “forbidden areas” where news is subject to
blackouts or censorship. In northern India’s Kashmir region and in
Indonesia’s West Papua province, the work of journalists is handicapped by
draconian news control policies. In Kashmir, the authorities impose
curfews and often block the Internet and mobile phone networks.

Surveillance and confidentiality of sourcesIn Australia, the lack of
adequate legislative protection for the confidentiality of journalists’
sources continues to expose them to the threat of imprisonment for
contempt of court for refusing to reveal their sources. No fewer than
seven requests for disclosure of sources were submitted to the courts in
2013 alone. In New Zealand, the interception of reporter Jon Stephenson’s
metadata by the military, which thought his articles were overly critical,
and the release of journalist Andrea Vance’s phone records to a leak
investigation is indicative of growing government mistrust of the media
and their watchdog role.

Chinese threat

China’s growing economic weight is allowing it to extend its influence
over the media in Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan, which had been largely
spared political censorship until recently. Media independence is now in
jeopardy in these three territories, which are either “special
administrative regions” or claimed by Beijing. The Chinese Communist
Party’s growing subjugation of the Hong Kong executive and its pressure on
the Hong Kong media through its “Liaison Office” is increasingly
compromising media pluralism there. It has also been threatened in Taiwan
by the pro-Beijing Want Want group’s acquisition of the China Times.

. . .