Press, Power Politics

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Press, Power & Politics ASIA November 16-17, 2000 • Hong Kong Board of Trustees PRESS, POWER & POLITICS • ASIA MEDIA FORUM Charles L. Overby, Chairman Contents Page and Chief Executive Officer Peter S. Prichard, President Political reporting tests freedom in Asia 1 Harry W. Brooks Jr. Madelyn P. Jennings Independent media bolster Hong Kong, official says 2 Malcolm R. Kirschenbaum Bette Bao Lord Brian Mulroney Journalists compare coverage of Hong Kong, Taiwan elections 3 Jan Neuharth Will Norton Jr. John C. Quinn Aggressive political coverage can lead to disdain, death threats, censorship 4 Josefina A. Salas-Porras John Seigenthaler Indonesian editor supports press council to resolve media disputes Paul Simon 5

Allen H. Neuharth, Founder Online news sites: helping to plug in voters 6 Editorial: Maurice R. Fliess Panelists draw sharp distinction between Asian and Western Rod Sandeen political cartooning 7 Photos: Judy G. Rolfe Free-flowing discussions accentuate Hong Kong forum 8 Map: Grant Jerding

The Freedom Forum World Center 1101 Wilson Blvd. Asian journalists gather in Hong Kong Arlington, VA 22209 USA to assess their leeway to cover politics Tel: 703/528-0800 Fax: 703/284-3529 From the vantage assessment from Willy Wo-Lap Lam, a Hong E-mail: [email protected] point of Hong Kong, Kong journalist known for his hard-hitting Internet: www.freedomforum.org The Freedom Forum reporting on the Chinese government. Lam on Nov. 16-17 exam- said that the man who presides over Hong The Freedom Forum Asian Center ined how the news Kong, Tung Chee-hwa, has restrictive views Offices 1502-03, 15th Floor media are covering regarding the press that echo those of the Shui On Centre, 6-8 Harbour Road Wanchai, Hong Kong elections and other leadership in Beijing. Phone: 852-2596-0018 political develop- And so it went: a beacon of hope here, a Fax: 852-2598-8818 ments across Asia. shroud of censorship (or self-censorship) E-mail: [email protected] Speakers from there. Where democracies are taking root, Chris Wells, senior Hong Kong and nine the news media are working mightily to Order publications by phone: vice president/ Asian nations – India, nourish them. Where strong-arm leaders The Freedom Forum makes available international of The Indonesia, Malaysia, still rule, courageous journalists are chal- single copies of a wide range of Freedom Forum conference reports, studies, speeches Mongolia, Philippines, lenging the established order. and other publications related to the South Korea, Sri Lanka, Taiwan and The discussions focused not only on how media, journalism education and the Thailand – described varying degrees of suc- newspapers and broadcasters have covered First Amendment. To request a cess and frustration in trying to report polit- recent elections across Asia, but also on how publications list call 800/830-3733. ical news. Internet Web sites are beginning to play a role, The program got off to a positive start and on how Asian editorial cartoonists are Online: The Freedom Forum’s online news when Anson Chan, the second-ranking per- persevering in often-hostile environments. service, free!, is on the Internet at son in the government of Hong Kong, said The two-day program in Hong Kong, www.freedomforum.org. This service is freedom of the press is essential to the con- home of The Freedom Forum Asian Center, a timely source of information about free tinued well-being of Hong Kong, which since concluded the yearlong series of forums on press, free speech, free spirit and the end of British control in 1997 has been a “Press, Power & Politics.” Previous 2000 journalism issues worldwide. “special administrative region” of China. But forums were held in Lima, Peru; London; her remarks were offset by a sobering and Accra, Ghana. Political reporting tests freedom in Asia For journalists in Asia, covering elections, around him for what was supposed to be only denied any guilt and said he was a victim of in particular, and politics, in general, can be a photo opportunity. “You pressmen need to trying to effect democratic reform. like negotiating a minefield. In a politically, know more,” sputtered Jiang, according to an Since then, Malaysian readers’ confi- socially and eco- English transcript published in the South dence in the one-sided reporting of the gov- nomically diverse China Morning Post. “But the questions you ernment-controlled press has plummeted region that stretch- keep asking — too simple, sometimes naïve. and mainstream circulation has declined. es from Kabul to Understand or not? Got it? … If your reports Meantime, the circulation of Harakah, a Jakarta, even those are not accurate enough, you will have to be twice-weekly organ of the Pan Malaysian working for rela- held responsible. I did not say giving an impe- Islamic Party (PAS), a fundamentalist oppo- tively free news rial order. No such meaning at all.” sition party, more than quadrupled to media, such as in Observers will have to wait and see if the 500,000. Independent and opposition Hong Kong or warning will chill Hong Kong journalists’ cov- Internet Web sites became principal sources Thailand, face erage of news sensitive to China. Chinese of news, and an independent Internet news Arnold Zeitlin, director of daunting challenges. media neither printed nor uttered a word site called Malaysiakini appeared at election The Freedom Forum In November, about their president’s outburst. But news time to award-winning acclaim. Asian Center well-known China accounts were available to the growing num- In March, the government cracked down critic Willy Wo-Lap bers (estimated at about 16 million) in China on Harakah by enforcing a regulation Lam resigned from who have access to the Internet. They get restricting its distribution to party members the English-lan- news from the Internet despite the Chinese only and limiting publication to twice a guage South China government’s frantic — and so far unsuc- month. The government also closed a month- Morning Post of cessful — attempts to control it. ly magazine and a weekly newspaper. Hong Kong after All across Asia, journalists face various In the general election following being abruptly forms and varying levels of censorship and Ibrahim’s arrest, Mahathir’s United Malays replaced as China harassment as they attempt to report on National Organization party, the dominant editor — a job he tumultuous political times and complicated player in a government coalition, retained had held for more election scenarios. control but with a smaller majority. Susan Bennett, than 10 years. Lam Thailand will hold the first Asian election News media in some other corners of Asia director/Asia and often wrote criti- of the new millennium on Jan. 6, 2001. Like have fared better: European programs of cally of the govern- Malaysia and several other mainland Asian Five Asian states — the Philippines, The Freedom Forum ment in Beijing. In states, Thailand is a constitutional monarchy Singapore, South Korea, Sri Lanka and a book published last year, he offered an with a parliament and a prime minister as Taiwan — provide for direct election of a unflattering observation of Chinese President head of state. The country’s press, while beset president. An untrammeled press, despite Jiang Zemin. “Jiang watchers have spotted with self-policing problems, functions with- some pressure from government and other similarities between his Machiavellian out government interference. special interests, flourishes in all but approach to grabbing and wielding power and For Thailand’s southern neighbor, Singapore and Sri Lanka. In South Korea, that of Mao (Tse-Tung),” he wrote. Malaysia, control of the news media has been however, the press earlier this year agreed to Lam’s ouster, which drew protests from firmly clasped in government hands during tight restrictions on coverage of the summit his co-workers, came just three weeks after the 18-year rule of Prime Minister Mahathir between President Kim Dae Jung and North Hong Kong reporters in Beijing were berated Mohamad. The control grew tighter following Korean leader Kim Jong Il. by Jiang for the mere asking of a provocative the 1998 arrest of Anwar Ibrahim, a deputy Parliamentary elections thrive in India, question. Jiang, who rarely faces unpro- prime minister who was once Mahathir’s heir Indonesia, Mongolia and some other Asian grammed queries from Chinese journalists, apparent. Ibrahim underwent lengthy trials countries. The news media function freely in was tossed a political hot potato by one of the on subversion and sodomy charges and was India and Indonesia but battle for independ- bolder Hong Kong reporters who wanted to convicted and jailed on both counts. He ence in Mongolia. know more about the support of China’s vice premier for Hong Kong Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa. Did this amount to an “imperial “All across Asia, journalists face various order” for Tung to receive another term when his first one expires in 2002, the reporter forms and varying levels of censorship and asked. While cameras rolled and clicked, Jiang, harassment as they attempt to report on in a rare public show of emotion, gesticulated tumultuous political times and complicated and shouted in Mandarin, Cantonese and English at Hong Kong reporters gathered election scenarios.”

PRESS, POWER & POLITICS: ASIA 1 Independent media bolster Hong Kong, Anson Chan’s remarks hailed as ‘Magna Carta for The second-ranking official in the Hong Kong’s bustling economy is government of Hong Kong gave a ringing directly tied to “a free and unfettered flow endorsement of press freedom as the Asia of news and information,” she added. “Any Media Forum on “Press, Power & Politics: signs of political correctness or self-cen- Asia” got under way. sorship clogging up that flow” would send Anson Chan, chief secretary for “all the wrong signals” to business partners administration, said in a keynote address and to the world at large. that the Hong Kong news media have “not In fact, the press is tougher on Hong lost any of [their] fabled sting” in the Kong’s current government than it was on three and a half years since the former the previous British authorities, she said. British colony was handed over to China. Before opening the local newspapers each They continue “to rigorously and relent- morning, Chan said she reminds herself of lessly exercise [their] role as a watchdog something Nelson Rockefeller said during on the government,” she said. Freedom Forum President Peter S. Prichard welcomes his time in public service: “Reading about Anson Chan to the Asia Media Forum. “Hong Kong regards press freedom as one’s failings in the daily newspapers is a bedrock guarantee of our way of life. It one of the privileges of high office in a free is enshrined in our constitution. More country.” importantly, it is imbedded in the hearts Nor have Hong Kong’s news media and minds of our people,” Chan said. “We shied away from covering issues of great want to see press freedom deepened, not sensitivity to the Beijing government, she diminished. We believe stronger and even said, mentioning Taiwan, Tibet, Chinese more professional media, free of self-cen- dissidents and the Falun Gong spiritual sorship or political correctness, would be movement. beneficial to our society.” Chan said a free press must be accept- Later in the program, Willy Wo-Lap ed “warts and all. You can’t have a virtually Lam, who on Nov. 6 resigned from the free press or a more-or-less free press. South China Morning Post after being Willy Wo-Lap Lam decries a “day-to-day downward spiral” That’s like being a little pregnant.” of media willingness to tackle vital issues. relieved of his responsibilities as associ- At the same time, she told the audi- ate editor for China news, hailed Chan’s Hong Kong “is the same noisy, argumenta- ence of about 200 people — including a siz- remarks as “a Magna Carta for press freedom” tive place that it has ever been, and maybe able contingent of working press — that it is in Hong Kong. But he cautioned that the chief more so,” she said. in the news media’s best interests to aspire to executive of Hong Kong’s government, Tung Chan, who worked for the British govern- “the highest possible standards. The higher Chee-hwa, has views on press freedom that ment in Hong Kong for 35 years prior to the the standards, the greater [the] standing and are “closer to the standard north of the bor- transition to Chinese sovereignty, said those impact and influence in the community will der” in mainland China. In addition, Lam said freedoms are protected by “our English com- be. And that is good for the media and good he has detected a decline in aggressive cover- mon-law system,” an independent judiciary for the community.” age by Hong Kong news media over the last and Hong Kong’s constitution. In the consti- Hong Kong’s lively media scene includes several years. tution, known as the “Basic Law,” China 26 Chinese-language daily newspapers and In her remarks, Chan said people in Hong granted Hong Kong some autonomy under the more than a half-dozen English-language Kong (population 6.8 million) enjoy not only concept of “one country, two systems.” dailies as well as television and radio outlets. freedom of the press but also “the freedoms of “How freely the press operates in Hong Chan said the competition, especially among speech, assembly, worship and the myriad Kong is seen as a litmus test for ‘one country, the Chinese-language press, has led to com- other freedoms which are inherent in and two systems,’ ” she said. “Any perceived slip- plaints of “a general dumbing-down in a fundamental to an open, tolerant, law-abid- page is counted as a step down a slippery scramble for juicier stories, sharper angles ing, pluralistic society.” slope.” and more sensational headlines.” Given the tremendous freedom it enjoys, the press “should take it upon itself to better “You can’t have a virtually free press or a inform and illuminate the public” by seeking the truth and striving for fairness, she said. more-or-less free press.” Both Chan and the program’s second —Anson Chan, chief secretary for administration, Hong Kong speaker, Lam, expressed concern that some of

2 PRESS, POWER & POLITICS: ASIA official says press freedom’ the best minds in Hong Kong journalism are leaving the profession. Chan urged news exec- utives to confront the problem by offering more career opportunities and training as well as better compensation. She commended The Freedom Forum for conducting numer- ous seminars and conferences for journalists at its Asian Center in Hong Kong. Lam, whose view of press freedom in Hong Kong was less sanguine, said “a climate of fear, a climate of intimidation” initiated by Freedom Forum trustee Bette Bao Lord (right) leads the discussion featuring Christine Loh of Hong Chinese leaders in Beijing has contributed to Kong and Rex Wang of Taiwan. the high rate of turnover that both he and Chan deplored. “This (turnover) has had a telling and a very detrimental effect on the Journalists compare coverage quality of Hong Kong journalism,” Lam said. The Basic Law provides that the govern- of Hong Kong, Taiwan elections ment cannot dictate to Hong Kong’s media, he said, but “psychological warfare” is another A former Hong Kong legislator said she lion in Hong Kong also deal with elections in story. Chinese President Jiang Zemin and his saw a direct link between a declining interest which candidates campaign for only 24 of the colleagues “have been quite successful with in Hong Kong politics and superficial cover- 60 legislative seats. The other 36 legislators this intimidation campaign — killing the chick- age by the local news media. are elected by the “business and professional ens to scare the monkeys, this kind of thing.” Christine Loh, now a newspaper colum- elite,” composed of an additional electorate In his own case, Lam tied his departure nist, lamented a trend toward short stories of about 200,000 people, most with a pro- from the Morning Post to his no-holds-barred emphasizing gore and sex. “I’m not sure that’s Beijing leaning. coverage of China and its government. Lam doing Hong Kong people a favor,” she said. Further complicating life for the media is was stripped of his China editorship four Loh and Rex Wang, chief editorial writer that the campaigns are not about issues months after the newspaper’s leading share- for the Taiwan News, compared notes about because the legislature has such little power, holder complained about his coverage of a how the media in Hong Kong and Taiwan, Loh said. Still, she said, the people have an meeting between Jiang and Hong Kong indus- with China looking over their shoulders, cov- interest in public affairs. The media could trialists on the issue of Tung’s possible selec- ered recent elections on the two islands. feed that interest by providing in-depth cov- tion in 2002 for another term. Author Bette Bao Lord, a Freedom Forum erage and analysis of politics. Last year Lam completed a book that can- trustee, moderated the discussion. In Taiwan, the Kuomintang (KMT) party didly assessed the Chinese president. Lam In Taiwan, voter turnout for the March that ruled the country for 51 years was oust- worked on the book during a Freedom Forum presidential election was 83%, up from 74% in ed in the presidential election in March. fellowship in New York City. 1996, Wang said. In Hong Kong, voter turnout Chen Shui-bian, representing the Democratic His comments to the Asia Media Forum for the September legislative elections was Progressive Party and independence for came during a conversation with veteran U.S. 43%, down from 54% in the first post-colonial Taiwan, was elected. More than 90% of the journalist Bernard Kalb. election in 1998, Loh said. media supported the KMT and a policy of one Lam said Hong Kong’s newsrooms lack full In Taiwan, the media are biased and play China, Wang said, and most of the media now independence from “powerful owners and the China factor prominently, Wang said. favor a recall of the new president for ending management who may have a different agen- Meanwhile, in Hong Kong, Loh said, the construction of a nuclear power plant. da because of their diverse and huge invest- media are bored with elections and don’t Martial law was lifted in Taiwan in 1987 ments in the mainland.” cover the China factor aggressively. when there were 31 newspapers on the At the moment, he said, there is no need Part of the problem is that the legislature island, opening the way for a free press. Now to be an alarmist about Hong Kong’s news in Hong Kong “is relatively meaningless there are 367 newspapers, 121 radio stations media, which are “still lively and vibrant.” because it doesn’t have power,” Loh said. and 27 cable television systems, Wang said. “However, I do see problems” — a “day-to- Most of the political clout in Hong Kong lies Wang criticized the media for making up day downward spiral” of not touching on vital with the chief executive, Tung Chee-hwa, stories to fan controversies. “We call the issues. If that trend continues, press freedom who was selected by a pro-Beijing committee. media in Taiwan not fact-finders but story “might be impaired,” he said. The media and an electorate of 3.5 mil- manufacturers,” he said.

PRESS, POWER & POLITICS: ASIA 3 Aggressive political coverage can lead

The power of television came late to Thailand, but it came with impact. Independent television was created about five years ago with a government man- date that its content be at least 70% news and documentaries, according to Suthichai Sae-Yoon, group editor in chief for Nation Multimedia Group and founder of Thailand’s first 24-hour news channel. A former newspaper editor, he joined Thailand’s first independent station, ITV, in 1996 to provide that content. Among the first stories was election fraud, with footage of From left: Suthichai Sae-Yoon says voting fraud made compelling TV in Thailand. Nomin Lhkagvasuren tells The Freedom Forum’s Arnold Zeitlin (right) that Mongolia’s press is learning democratic values. ballot boxes being stuffed. “People said, ‘That’s the kind of TV we want,’ ” he said. When the politicians showed up to answer elections professionally. The country has Sae-Yoon also took his cameras to outlying questions, the scene was broadcast live. been democratic for only 10 years, and the regions where politicians were stumping for In the beginning, politicians liked the citizens and the press are still learning how to votes. Villagers were interviewed about the coverage because it gave them public expo- live and operate in a democratic society. issues important to them, and college profes- sure, Sae-Yoon said, but later they grew to dis- Public-opinion polls taken in 1998 among sors helped the people phrase their questions. like it because it put them on the spot. Mongolian voters indicated that ex- In Malaysia, the Web site Malaysiakini Communists would win the 2000 parliamen- (“kini” means “now” in Malay) has taken tary elections. During those two years, she advantage of a new law to provide independ- said, media coverage did little to change the ent news coverage in a country where the minds of the electorate. media are controlled by the state. In his A 1998 law says the state can’t own any enthusiasm to create a high-tech industry in media in Mongolia. But radio and television Malaysia, Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad still are controlled by the state because they endorsed a multimedia law that gives Internet rely on government subsidies, Lhkagvasuren sites such as Malaysiakini.com much more said. freedom than print media to report the news. Radio and television are the only media Premesh Chandran, co-founder of the that reach the countryside, where more than online news site, said the year-old two-thirds of Mongolians live. Malaysiakini also serves as a mirror of the The Mongolian Ministry of Justice, which Malaysian media and pressures them to registers all media, accused the independent Diana Lin, shown on the set of TVB News in improve. press of acting unethically during the 2000 Hong Kong, says campaign coverage should Iqbal Athas covers the Tamil separatist election campaign, Lhkagvasuren said. The focus on personalities, not issues. movement as defense correspondent for The ministry accused newspapers of soliciting Sunday Times in Sri Lanka. For the last two bribes from political parties, of which there years — since he wrote about military pro- are about two dozen, in exchange for not writ- curement — he has had two police guards ing critical articles. The newspapers denied stationed outside his home. Athas and his the charge. family had received death threats in the past The media in South Korea recently came when he reported on setbacks inflicted by the under criticism for agreeing not to write arti- Tamil Tigers on the Sri Lankan military. cles offensive to North Korea during the his- During recent elections in Sri Lanka, the toric summit meeting between the two ene- news media were barred from writing about mies earlier this year. South Korea has been the Tamil war. It was the first time in 51 years free of military rule for 10 years, and the of Sri Lankan independence, Athas said, that media are free. But Young Joon Hahm, Asian the media had been censored. correspondent for the South Korean daily Nomin Lhkagvasuren, formerly an editor Chosun Ilbo, said the agreement endangered with the Gobi Business News in Mongolia and the free press in South Korea. Premesh Chandran describes the role of his Malaysiakini Web site, as Young Joon Hahm of now a free-lance journalist, said the Diana Lin, executive producer for TVB South Korea’s Chosun Ilbo newspaper listens. Mongolian press has not yet learned to cover News in Hong Kong, said she sees the role of

4 PRESS, POWER & POLITICS: ASIA to disdain, death threats, censorship

television during an election campaign as stations from broadcasting results of exit In addition to those complications, showing viewers the personality of the candi- polls during elections. The media ignored the Sopariwala said he has become reluctant to dates, adding that there isn’t enough time to ruling, and eventually the courts agreed with make projections based on exit polls get into issues. Generally, she said, the issues them. But elections are complicated in India, because elections have gotten so close. If a are the same in each campaign. The candi- which has a population of more than 1 billion, forecast is off, it can lead to erroneous dates either are pro-government, pro-democ- an illiteracy rate of about 50%, a huge land- reports that the wrong government — not racy or pro-Beijing. mass and a history of voter fraud. For just the wrong candidate — has won the Dorab Sopariwala, election analyst for the instance, national elections cannot be held on election. Star News channel in India, said the Election the same day because troops must be moved “No one in his right mind should be exit Commission in that country barred television from region to region to ensure fair elections. polling in India in this day,” Sopariwala said.

Indonesian editor supports press council to resolve media disputes

Between unfriendly courts and unruly mobs lies an unlikely remedy — a press council. Daniel Dhakidae of Kompas (left) and Bambang Harymurti of Tempo (right) enjoy a light moment with moderator Bernard Kalb. Bambang Harymurti, editor in chief of Tempo, a weekly news- magazine in Indonesia, said he supports the country’s new, voluntary Dhakidae criticized Wahid for being “wishy-washy and unpre- press council as a means to resolve media disputes because the courts dictable.” But he praised him for abolishing the Ministry of there don’t function well and mobs sometimes settle grievances. Information, a government agency used to control the media under The council accepts complaints only when both sides agree to former President Suharto, a military strongman who was driven stay out of court. Without an alternative way to settle disagrements from office in 1998. between the media and sources, the “person with the most money Tempo was banned in 1994 under Suharto and reopened in 1999. would win — either by buying the court or renting a mob,” Harymurti was the magazine’s U.S. bureau chief when the publica- Harymurti said. tion was closed. Press councils often instill fear in journalists because in some Harymurti likened Suharto’s form of repression to Swiss cheese. countries they are controlled by the government and used to license “As long as you moved from one hole to another, you were OK,” he the news media. said. Harymurti and Daniel Dhakidae, director of research and devel- Harymurti answered the Wahid question by describing three opment for Kompas, Indonesia’s largest daily newspaper, described mysteries in Indonesia: media that are free of government interference but that fear mobs. When a person will die. In the first four months of 2000, the Alliance of Independent When the world will end. Journalists in Indonesia documented 21 cases of journalists being What Wahid will do next. harassed, threatened or harmed. Crowds angered by media cover- Harymurti said Indonesians are accustomed to a government age have protested at newspaper offices and radio stations. that promises prosperity in return for the surrender of individual Journalists have been threatened with harm if they report news that rights. A lot of people among the population of 210 million are indoc- angers local interests. trinated with the idea of a strong government that keeps people Most of the mob action is triggered by stories about religion, from killing each other, he said. Harymurti said. “Some people who fought Suharto — they wanted a new strong Moderator Bernard Kalb asked whether either newsman had person,” he said, adding that the most important role for the media faith in Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid. is to fight this paradigm.

PRESS, POWER & POLITICS: ASIA 5 Online news sites: helping to plug in voters Traditional news media are using their us during the (Clinton) impeachment Internet sites to get more people politically process,” Stencel said. But the Web site was inclined, three online journalists said. among many news outlets that on the night of “The interactivity of the Web gives us a the 2000 presidential election prematurely very direct way to engage our readers and get proclaimed George W. Bush the victor. them plugged into the electoral and political Panel moderator Adam Clayton Powell III, Daisy Li Yuet-Wah says Apple Daily online process,” said Mark Stencel, managing editor director of technology and programs for The connects people who follow Hong Kong politics. At left is Michael D. Marasigan of of Washingtonpost.com’s OnPolitics Web site. Freedom Forum, said the biggest online-relat- BusinessWorld Online in the Philippines. Prospective voters in the recent U.S. pres- ed change between the 1996 and 2000 presi- idential election were able to ask questions of dential elections was the number of U.S. Washington Post political writers, read up-to- households linked to the Internet. It now the-minute reports (including transcripts and exceeds 50%, he said. quick analyses of the debates) and explore In Hong Kong, last September’s legislative candidates’ positions on specific issues, elections were the first to be covered online, Stencel said. The effort left him hopeful that Li said. The Apple Daily site conducted pref- public cynicism about politics and apathy erence polls that produced one notable result: about voting, for which the news media “bear People who participated tended to be more some responsibility,” can be turned around. liberal than the overall electorate. Daisy Li Yuet-Wah, director of Apple Daily But the impact of the Internet on the online in Hong Kong, said the Internet pro- elections was “not significant at all,” she said, Mark Stencel recounts how vides “a new arena for readers who have a real because only about 29% of Hong Kong resi- Washingtonpost.com erred on the night of the 2000 U.S. presidential election. concern about politics.” People can have dents between ages 15 and 64 are online. online chats with one another to discuss polit- Li noted, though, that one of the beauties team to 14 provinces to see the extent to ical issues, said Li, whose Web site is an off- of the Internet is that it has no boundaries. It which an infrastructure for the Internet shoot of the Chinese-language Apple Daily enables people who move away from an area exists. They filed stories and transmitted dig- newspaper. to follow politics closely in their previous ital photos from pay telephones in conven- The Internet also can be a vehicle to keep place of residence. Between 50% and 60% of ience stores, from business telephones in the public engrossed in politics when some- the users of Apple Daily online live some- restaurants and from the occasional cyber- one elected to office gets into hot water. where other than Hong Kong, especially cafe. Their conclusion: The Philippines is very In the Philippines, BusinessWorld Online North America, Australia and New Zealand, much a Third World nation in terms of infor- has been publishing transcripts of the she said. mation technology, even though many techni- impeachment proceedings against President Through e-mail correspondence and par- cal people from the country are now working Joseph Estrada to allow people to make up ticipation in online forums, “We are certain in California’s Silicon Valley. their own minds about the case, said Michael there are some readers from China” as well, Li All three panelists said they were opti- D. Marasigan, chief operating officer and edi- added. mistic about the future of Internet journalism tor, and former city editor of the daily Less than a million of the 75 million peo- — even Li, who saw the work force of Apple BusinessWorld in Manila. ple living in the Philippines are online, and Daily online slashed recently by owner Jimmy Stencel offered to provide some pointers most visitors to BusinessWorld Online are Lai Chee-ying because of high operating loss- on how a Web site can cover an impeachment Filipinos residing elsewhere, Marasigan es. Li, whose position was not eliminated, said trial, because “we have some experience with said. she continued to “feel very positive about the that.” The site, which he helped to start in 1995, Internet.” It is “not just something fashion- “For a long time, television took the is gearing up to cover local elections in 2001. able. It’s actually a revolution. We will not go breaking-news business away from newspa- As part of that effort he sent a “mobile media” back.” pers, and our role became much more about analysis and context,” Stencel said. “The Internet has put us back in the breaking-news “Television took the breaking-news business business,” requiring “much more rapid-fire editorial decision-making.” away from newspapers. … The Internet has The mantra of Washingtonpost.com is, put us back.” “We’d rather be right than first,” and it “saved —Mark Stencel, managing editor, Washingtonpost.com’s OnPolitics Web site

6 PRESS, POWER & POLITICS: ASIA Panelists draw sharp distinction between Asian and Western political cartooning

Editorial cartoonists in Asia are going Neither Vittachi nor Feign offered specif- Seneviratne said he began editorial car- after corrupt politicians and are risking their ic examples of cartoonists or cartoons that fit tooning in Sri Lanka when he was 16. He jobs, even their lives. Their counterparts in into a purely comedic category. They did, worked at the Independent group of newspa- the United States and some other Western however, praise the work of The Guardian’s pers, but his time there ended suddenly two countries are living comfortably and going Steve Bell in London and that of the late years later when soldiers met him at the door after laughs. American cartoonist Jeff MacNelly as hard- and prevented his entering the office. That was the sharp distinction drawn at hitting editorial commentary. He later produced six cartoon-laden the final discussion of the Asia Media Forum. Feign was let go by the South China booklets that ultimately helped to bring The criticism of Western political car- Morning Post in 1995 after he penned a con- down the ruling government. But by that tooning came from moderator Nury Vittachi, troversial cartoon about organ transplants. time, he said, he had been forced — at age a former editorial cartoonist who now is a His next full-time job at a newspaper came 21 — to leave the country. humor columnist for the daily Hong Kong this past May, when the iMail revived his By way of Italy, Singapore and Australia iMail and the weekly Far Eastern Economic politically and socially oriented cartoon he made his way to the Hong Kong Review; and panelist Larry Feign, an strip, “The World of Lily Wong.” Standard, where one of his cartoons about American cartoonist who draws for the iMail. “I personally was blacklisted (and) the situation back in Sri Lanka got him in In his introductory remarks, Vittachi said couldn’t find any work for a few years,” Feign trouble with an editor and into a confronta- of the Western cartoon scene, “It’s comfort- said. “It wasn’t fun.” tion with a colleague. When in 1997 manage- able, it’s cozy.” He contrasted that with the But he also said that nothing in his ment told him to stop drawing newly situation that he said cartoonists have faced career could compare with experiences of installed Hong Kong Chief Executive Tung in his homeland of Sri Lanka since the 1950s Opatha and Seneviratne, both of whom have Chee-hwa as a “pineapple head,” “I said, — physical threats, government crackdowns firsthand experiences about the dangers of ‘That is how I look at him, so what can I do?’ ” and other forms of intimidation. cartooning in Sri Lanka. Under pressure, he resigned. “The difference is, Western cartoonists Opatha, a cartoonist in Sri Lanka for After a brief fling with a startup cartoon have it really easy. These guys, they fight for three decades, said he has been able to per- magazine, Seneviratne returned to his old their lives, they fight for their jobs,” he said, severe because of strong editorial leadership desk at the iMail, successor to the now- gesturing toward panelists Feign, S.C. at the Leader and his own determination to defunct Standard. Opatha and Sara Seneviratne. seek the truth, to make a difference. “I’m not a well-built fellow. … So what I Opatha, chief cartoonist of The Sunday “I always take the side of the poor man do is use my pen,” he said. Leader in Colombo, “has known more press … because I have been in a poor family,” he Vittachi, the moderator, said he, too, has controls and clampdowns than probably any said, adding that the poor “have been taken had his troubles. The South China Morning cartoonist in history,” Vittachi said. He called for a ride by the politicians.” Post commissioned him to draw a series of Opatha “a brave man.” Opatha acknowledged that when he goes cartoons, and what he produced featured “a Feign said that when he was growing up after corruption and bribery, he risks physi- little monkey who gets into Tung Chee-hwa’s in the United States, editorial cartoons had cal reprisal. There are hardly any young car- brain and finds all sorts of bad stuff in there.” political punch. “They don’t any more,” he toonists working in Sri Lanka “because they He added that the newspaper “took one look said. “They’re just gags.” are very frightened,” he said. at it and canceled it.”

From left: Cartoonists Larry Feign of the Hong Kong iMail, S.C. Opatha of The Sunday Leader in Sri Lanka and Sara Seneviratne of the iMail testify to the hazards of editorial cartooning in Asia.

PRESS, POWER & POLITICS: ASIA 7 Free-flowing discussions accentuate Hong Kong forum

Clockwise from top: Attendees view a photo display of Freedom Forum programs around the world. Some of Hong Kong's 30-plus newspapers compete for space at a newsstand. More than 200 people, including a large contingent of working press, attend the opening program at the Grand Hyatt hotel.

8 PRESS, POWER & POLITICS: ASIA RUSSIA Ulan Bator

MONGOLIA

NORTH KOREA SOUTH Seoul KOREA JAPAN

CHINA

PAKISTAN BHUTAN New Delhi NEPAL Taipei BANGLADESH Pacific TAIWAN Ocean INDIA MYANMAR (BURMA) LAOS HONG KONG

THAILAND VIETNAM PHILIPPINES Bangkok Manila CAMBODIA

SRI LANKA BRUNEI Colombo MALAYSIA Kuala Lumpur PAPUA Indian SINGAPORE NEW GUINEA Ocean

N INDONESIA 0 500 Jakarta Miles

At The Freedom Forum Asian Center, Pakistani editor Shaheen Sebhai (left) asks a question while other attendees (above) listen intently. 00-W13: 12/00 • 3.5K NDIC

PRESS, POWER & POLITICS: ASIA 9 The Freedom Forum, based in Arlington, Va., is a nonpartisan, international foundation dedicated to free press, free speech and free spirit for all people. The foundation focuses on four main priorities: the Newseum, First Amendment issues, newsroom diversity and world press freedom. The Freedom Forum funds two independent affiliates — the Newseum, the interactive museum of news in Arlington; and the First Amendment Center, with offices at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tenn., and in New York City and Arlington. Other operating offices are in Buenos Aires, Hong Kong, Johannesburg, London and Cocoa Beach, Fla. The Freedom Forum was established in 1991 under the direction of Founder Allen H. Neuharth as successor to a foundation started in 1935 by newspaper publisher Frank E. Gannett. The Freedom Forum is not affiliated with Gannett Co., does not solicit or accept financial contributions, and does not accept unso- licited funding requests. Its work is supported by income from an endowment now worth about $1 billion in diversified assets.