8 February, 2006

asia press freedoms 2005

China has shown a sharp downward trend in press freedoms last year, while the Philippines remains dangerous and North Korea abysmal.:

Breveon1338
While some countries in Asia have remained stable with regard to media freedom, there have been sharp downward trends in several Asian countries, particularly China, Nepal, the Philippines and Thailand.

Reporters Without Borders (RSF), the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and Freedom House, a non-governmental organization that monitors press freedoms around the world, assessed the levels of press freedom in countries based on the prevailing legal environment, political and economic situation and the overall attitudes of authorities towards the media.

The surveys were generally concordant in their results, with China, Nepal, North Korea and the Philippines remaining the biggest causes of concern for journalists in Asia.

"Compared to last year, there really aren’t many positives in Asia," said Karin Karlekar, Managing Editor of the Freedom House survey. "While some countries have remained steady [Japan, Taiwan and Hong Kong], we can see downward trends in many countries in the region."

North Korea was found to be the worst country in all surveys, showing no signs of improvement over the past couple of years. All media in North Korea continue to remain tools of Kim Jong-il’s state, while all foreign media are repeatedly portrayed by the regime as "liars" seeking to destabilize the government, according to the Freedom House report. However, the report also suggests that an increase in international trade has resulted in greater contact with foreigners, which might allow for greater access to international news reports in the near future.

China has also shown a sharp downward trend in 2005, said Karlekar, which can be attributed to increased censorship of newspapers and radio stations, and greater Internet surveillance.

According to RSF, the so-called "broadcasting Great Wall" in China has been growing over the past year: The Voice of Tibet, the BBC and Radio Free Asia are among the radio stations jammed by the government in 2005. 

Technorati Tags: , , , , , , , ,

by @ 8:19 pm. Filed under Japan, South Korea, Blogs, Singapore, China, India, Malaysia, Indonesia, Asia, East Asia, Northeast Asia, Asean, Myanmar/Burma, Southeast Asia, Philippines, Media, South Asia, Thailand, Weblogs, Censorship, North Korea, Tibet

Leave a Reply

[powered by WordPress.]

Free Hao Wu
Keep on Blogging!

Support Bloggers' Rights!
Support Bloggers' Rights!




Search Blog

Archives

February 2006
M T W T F S S
« Jan   Mar »
  2 4
6 7 8 9 10 11 12
13 14 15 17 18 19
20 22 23 24 25 26
27  

Categories

China

Japan

Hong Kong

The Koreas

Taiwan

India & South Asia

Global & Regional

Meta Data

Listed on BlogShares Ecosystem Details

Other

Design By: Apothegm Designs

sponsors



AsiaPundit Friends

Adopt


Recommended


Mr. China - by Tim Clissold:

How to lose $400 million in the world's biggest market.


Imelda - Power, Myth, Illusion:
A documentary on the former Philippine first lady that is damning, sympathetic and incredibly funny.


Yat Kha - Re Covers:
Siberian throat-singing punk band searches for its roots


5.6.7.8.'s - Bomb the Twist:
Three Japanese women play 1950's-inspired punk.


Gigantor Box Set Volume 1:
The original giant Japanese robot


Mao: The Unknown Story - by Jung Chang and Jon Halliday:
A controversial and damning biography of the Helmsman.

Recent Posts

recent comments

  • Falen: Michael, Are you trolling from one website to the next? How dare you to call Blues "anti-democratic"! I think...
  • Michael Turton: Both those commentors above are incorrect. Taiwan must have weapons to guarantee its own security,...
  • mahathir_fan: The source of the anger is probably because the Stephen YOung the unofficial "ambassador" to Taipei...
  • mahathir_fan: I want to applaud legislator Li Ao for his outspokenness on the arms procurement issue and for debating...
  • mahathir_fan: "A widening Chinese anti-corruption inquiry has targeted Beijing’s party leaders, in a sign that...

Sponsors

Your Ad Here

singapore

Malaysia

Indonesia

Phillippines

Vietnam

More from China

32 queries. 0.363 seconds