Kanchanaburi, Thailand, Dec. 12 (IPS)— India is often called
the world’s biggest democracy, but journalists there are increasingly
becoming targets for reprisals and police coercion, as well as legal
action from state governments.
Thailand too is perceived as having a relatively open media, but the
government of Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra has come under fire
for undermining critical media and shrinking the space for independent
reportage.
The Philippines has a reputation for being among the freest and noisiest
media in Asia, but it is also there where 14 journalists have been killed
since January 2001, many from small publications in the countryside.
The seven killings in 2003 are said to be the highest number in a year
ever.
These trends show that societies that have more room for free media
rather than, say, nations like Burma or China are facing more sophisticated,
subtler and trickier problems. Threats to media come in many other forms
apart from open government control, use of advertising, or physical
threats — or a combination of all of these.
“The press in India have suffered unfairly from the use of privilege
by governments that cannot accept criticism,’’ stated Nirmala
Lakshman, joint editor of Chennai-based The Hindu newpaper.
The atmosphere of intolerance for dissenting views and exposes of corruption
has led to 100 cases being filed against newspapers and magazines in
Tamil Nadu state, she told a forum this week on media, human rights
and democracy organized by Bangkok-based regional human rights lobby
Forum-Asia and the South-east Asia Press Alliance (SEAPA).
The Hindu itself was a target of such action by the government of Tamil
Nadu state, whose assembly in November sentenced the newspaper’s
editor and four other journalists to 15 days of imprisonment for ‘breach
of privilege’ for articles critical of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister
Jayaram Jayalalithaa.
According to Lakshman, the House speaker found a breach of privilege
the newspaper’s use of words like “‘incensed” in
reference to Jayalalitha and criticism of her “high-pitched tone’’
— as well as an editorial on the use of state power to silence
critics and the media.
On Nov. 7, police tried to arrest The Hindu journalists, who had gone
into hiding. The Indian Supreme Court has issued a stay on the arrest
order.
“What is far worse in this particular incident was that not only
was the freedom of expression assaulted, but by the threat of imprisonment
and police intimidation, the basic right to liberty of an individual
was called into question,’’ Lakshman said. “Privilege
unlimited is a disturbing trend,’’ she said, going back to
1985 when a Tamil Nadu editor was imprisoned.
Thailand’s media environment has deteriorated since the government
of Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, sensitive to criticism, came into
power in 2001, says Kavi Chongkittavorn, deputy managing editor of the
Nation Group, which runs the English-language daily The Nation.
The government’s cultivation of a more pliant media, its popularity
and the use of business to weaken media, has made Thailand a “superficial
democracy,’’ he adds.
While media had been very proactive during what he calls their “golden
period’’ from 1990 to 2000, a time that saw the new Constitution
being passed, newspapers today are divided into different factions,
Kavi adds. “Media and civil society have been disarmed and divided
by Thaksin and his team since January 2001,’’ he said.
In his Dec. 5 birthday speech, King Bhumibol Adulyadej told Thaksin
to listen to criticism even if “I know the prime minister doesn’t
like to be criticized.”
When newspapers criticize government action, he said: “Read those
newspapers. Let them write. When they criticize, listen to them. Thank
them when they say the right thing, or tell them to take it easy when
they give wrong criticism.’’
Ahead of the 2001 general election, which Thaksin’s Thai Rak Thai
Party won with a thumping majority, Shin Corp, owned by Thaksin’s
family, took over the television station iTV due to what it said at
the time was purely business reasons.
At present, opposition politicians are watching whether the government
will give in to a request by iTV to reduce its concession fees from
25 billion baht (633 million US dollars) over 30 years to 150 million
baht (3.8 million dollars) per year. “I am watching whether Thaksin
will choose the public interest over that of his family,’’
said Democrat Party member of parliament Abhisit Vejjajijva. Thaksin
refused to comment on the issue, local media reported.
More recently, critics expressed concern over data from the Stock Exchange
of Thailand showing that a key amount of shares in The Nation Multimedia
Group — more than 11 percent as of end-November — had been
bought by relatives of Communication and Transportation Minister Suriya
Jungrungreungkij.
Both Minister Suriya and The Nation management have denied that there
was political interference through the buying of shares in The Nation,
which had a reputation for independent criticism.
“The government tried to gag its critics so it could highlight
the positive aspects of economic growth while ignoring the social disparity
such growth caused,’’ activist Wanida Tantiwithayapitak told
a seminar in Chulalongkorn University this week.
In March last year, the army’s Emergency Department told a radio
concessionaire to withdraw the News Talk program of The Nation because
it was too critical of the government.
Over in the Philippines, the irony is that the attacks on its journalists
have not even been getting enough coverage in the media, says Carlos
Conde, a journalist and officer of the National Union of Journalists
in the Philippines.
Many of the attacks are carried out by those offended by stories carried
by the media, including in some instances by police officers. On Nov.
17, the police chief of Tangub city in southern Misamis Occidental province
challenged a reporter for DXDD radio station to a duel because of his
reporting on illegal gambling.
“The predicament of Filipino journalists flies in the face of the
myth being peddled that the Philippines has the freest press in South-east
Asia,’’ he said in a country paper for this week’s seminar
here.
“I would agree with the general description of our press as free-wheeling,
rambunctious, even colorful and flamboyant to the point of being irresponsible.
But free? That would be a lie,’’ he wrote.
