"Losing Control: freedom of the press in Asia takes us right up to the end of this tumultuous century. It deals with the Chinese media cranking up its latest propaganda campaign, this time against the Falun Gong. It discusses how the Indonesian media lost its way in reporting the tragedy in East Timor. And it comments on how the Cambodian media-or at least parts of it-surprisingly reported the allegations that the Prime Minister's wife had her husband's movie star girlfriend assassinated. The book adopts a country-by-country approach dealing with all the countries in Northeast and Southeast Asia. It does not attempt to sweep across to the sub-continent. It would not be possible to do justice to any discussion of freedom of the press in that region by sandwiching it in between the pages of a book about East Asia. The methodology is based on an underlying assumption: that journalists are best placed to provide the most up-to-date analysis of their own industry. Where possible, local journalists have contributed the country chapters. In some cases a more useful outcome could be achieved by employing foreign correspondents and commentators. Authors have written their chapters using journalistic research tools, such as first hand interviews, as well as more conventional academic methods." (p.14)
Contents
Press freedom in Asia: an uneven terrain / Amanda Doronila, xi
At work, censors out of work / Louise Williams, 1
Brunei, Burma, Cambodia, Laos, Mongolia: A few rays of light / Roland Rich, 16
China: State power versus the Internet / Willy Wo-Lap Lam, 37
Hong Kong: A handover of freedom? / Chris Yeung, 58
Indonesia: Dancing in the dark / Andreas Harsono, 74
Japan: The warmth of the herd / Walter Hamilton, 93
Malaysia: In the grip of the government / Kean Wong, 115
North Korea: A black chapter / Krzysztof Darewicz, 138
Philippines: Free as a mocking bird / Sheila S. Coronel, 147
Singapore: Information lockdown, business as usual / Garry Rodan, 169
South Korea: Fear is a hard habit to break / Roger du Mars, 190
Taiwan: All politics, no privacy / Ma-Li Yang and Dennis Engbarth, 208
Thailand: A troubled path to a hopeful future / Kavi Chongkittavorn, 219
Vietnam: Propaganda is not a dirty word / Peter Mares, 239