1st Edition
Press Freedom in Contemporary Asia
This book analyzes the constraints on press freedom and the ways in which independent reporting and reporters are at risk in contemporary Asia to provide a barometer of democratic development in the region.
Based on in-depth country case studies written by academics and journalists, and some who straddle both professions, from across the region, this book explores the roles of mainstream and online media, and how they are subject to abuse by the state and vested interests. Specific country chapters provide up-to-date information on Bangladesh, Kashmir, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam, as well as on growing populist and nationalist challenges to media freedom in the Philippines, India, Indonesia and Japan. The book includes a theoretical chapter pulling together trends and common constraints facing newsrooms across Asia and a regional overview on the impact of social media. Three chapters on China provide insights into the country’s tightening information environment under President Xi Jinping. Moreover, the legal environment of the media, political and external pressures, economic considerations, audience support and journalists’ standards and ethics are explored.
As an international and interdisciplinary study, this book will appeal to undergraduates, graduates and scholars engaged in human rights, media studies, democratization, authoritarianism and Asian Studies, as well as Asia specialists, journalists, legal scholars, historians and political scientists.
1 Introduction, Jeff Kingston; 2 Theorising Media Freedom in Asia, Tina Burrett; Part 1 - East Asia; 3 Social Media with Chinese Characteristics: Implications for Press Freedom, Anonymous; 4 Borrowing, Buying and Building Boats: How China Exerts its Influence Over the Press in Asia, Louisa Lim; 5 Press Freedom in China Under Xi Jinping, David Moser; 6 Japan’s Activist News Media: How and Why Reporters and News Organizations Became a Positive Force in Confronting a Negative Past, Andrew Horvat; 7 Fortress Okinawa: Japan’s Media and the US Military Footprint, Justin McCurry; 8 Press Freedom in South Korea, Hyunjin Seo; 9 External Threat and Internal Defense: Freedom of the Press in Taiwan 2008-2018, Jaw-Nian Huang; Part 2 - South East Asia; 10 The Indonesian Press: Between the State, Market, Politics and Society, Kevin Evans; 11 Press Freedom in Malaysia: An Awakening for the Media?, Gayathry Venkiteswaran; 12 Media Freedom in Myanmar: One Step Forward, Two Steps Back, Tina Burrett; 13 Press Repression in Myanmar: Aung San Suu Kyi, the Reuters Reporters and the Rohingya, Jeff Kingston; 14 Press Freedom in the Philippines, Shelia S. Coronel; 15 Press Freedom Chained in Thailand, Pavin Chachavalpongpun; 16 Vietnamese Media Going Social: Connectivism, Collectivism, and Conservatism, Giang Nguyen-Thu; Part 3 - South Asia; 17 Press freedom in Bangladesh: How to Kill the Fourth Estate in 48 Years or Less, Ikhtisad Ahmed; 18 Killing Press Freedom in India, Siddhartha Deb; 19 Muzzling the Press: Military Control and Journalism in Jammu and Kashmir, Farrukh Faheem; 20 Challenges of Press Freedom in Nepal, Dharmendra Jha and Narayan Ghimire; 21 Pakistan’s Media under Siege, Syed Javed Nazir; 22 Free and Fair Media: A Distant Dream for Sri Lanka, Rajan Hoole and Elijah Hoole; Part 4 - Internet Freedom; 23 The Polemics of Internet Freedom in Asia: Reality, Perception and Attitudes, Chuanli Xia and Fei Shen
Biography
Tina Burrett is Associate Professor of Political Science at the Faculty of Liberal Arts, Sophia University, Japan. She is also the author of Television and Presidential Power in Putin’s Russia (Routledge, 2013).
Jeff Kingston is Professor of History and Director of Asian Studies at Temple University, Japan. His recent publications include Contemporary Japan 2nd ed. (Routledge, 2019), Japan’s Foreign Relations with Asia (Routledge, 2018) and Press Freedom in Japan (Routledge, 2017).
