The Channel | 2002 | June

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the channel | 17
publishing almost anything of substance and subject to
imprisonment for the slightest expression of dissent. But
the military junta recently released journalist Sein Hlaing
after more than 11 years in prison and freed from house
arrest opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
Then, of course, there was the Indonesian government’s
decision to deny Australian journalist Lindsay Murdoch’s
application for a renewal of his working visa, thereby
effectively banning him from working as a correspondent
in Jakarta. He remains in Jakarta three months after his
expulsion, continuing to report using a different visa.
Asia is a remarkable place.
The supposedly more sophisticated, media savvy countries,
place similar demands on the working press. The Japanese
government has under deliberation in the nation’s Diet a
Personal Data Protection Bill that would infringe on
journalists’ freedom to gather information and report the
news. Although the bill states that media organizations are
immune from penalty if they violate the new laws rumours
are the media will be expected to abide by them. One
hundred and twelve newspapers, four news agencies, and
thirty-eight television stations have protested the proposed
law, fearing government interference in freedom of
expression.
In highly competitive and heavily cluttered Taiwan media,
where players look for audience niches rather than hoping
to capture the mass market, headline scoops are a good way
of standing out from the crowd. The editor of the Chinese-
language daily China Times was recently arrested and
charged with endangering national security based on an
article about howTaiwanese officials used secret government
funds to buy influence and favour overseas under the
administration of former president Lee Teng-hui. Other
national media were quick to pounce and follow up the story.
Asia is a region of contrasts and contradictions. Which is
what makes it so appealing to nationals who passionately
cover their own difficult beat, and internationals, alien to
the environment but attracted by the fact there is always a
good story just around the next aroma-filled corner.
From Kabul to Kiribati, even though the risks remain high
reporting on war and insurgency, covering crime and
corruption, or simply expressing a dissenting view in an
authoritarian state, a journalist in Asia today is more likely
to suffer another less friendly fate.
Getting fired.
The Asian economic crisis was the spark that saw the first
wave of retrenchments during the past twelve months as
advertising revenues plummeted. The cost of the war on
terror has hit home hard on all news media. And now news
managers are finding it hard to justify expensive traditional
news gathering to critical owners who see audiences,
readership and viewers slipping away to new forms of media.
Just another day in the newsroom, really.
Adventist World Radio
British Satellite News
Channel Africa
Dalet Digital Media Systems
George Jacobs and Associates, Inc.
InterMedia, Inc
Lextronix, Inc
Merlin Communications International Limited
National Association of Shortwave Broadcasters (NASB)
Members of the NASB:
Adventist World Radio; Assemblies ofYahweh; Family Radio Network; Far
East Broadcasting Co. Inc.; Global Catholic Radio; Herald Broadcasting
Syndicate; High Adventure Ministries, Inc.; Radio Miami International;
TransWorld Radio; World Christian Broadcasting; World Harvest Radio
International;
Associate members of the NASB:
Antenna Products; Continental Electronics Corporation; TCI (Technology
for Communications International); Thomcast, Inc; IBB (The International
Broadcasting Bureau of the US Information Agency), which is affiliated
with:TheVoice of America; Radio Free Asia; Radio Free Europe/Radio
Liberty; Radio-TV Marti; WorldNet (TV)
NPR Worldwide
PricewaterhouseCoopers
Radio Canada International
Radio Free Asia
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
Radio Miami International
Radio New Zealand International
Radio Polonia
Radio Prague
Radio Romania International
Radio Sweden
RadioTaipei International
RadioVlaanderen Internationaal
SES-Astra
TDP (Transmitter Documentation Project)
World Radio Network
You/ComTelecommunicatie B.V.
AIB Members