Exploiting freedom in cyberspace

Journalists in Asian countries where press freedom is relatively strong, such as Indonesia, the Philippines and Thailand, too often face the ultimate form of censorship for investigating organised crime and corruption -- murder.

But in countries with less press freedom, like Malaysia, journalists face other forms of censorship which are just as effective.

"There are 35 laws directly or indirectly impinge of press freedom," said Mr Gan, whose independent web site, Malaysiasinki.com, has become one of the top news websites in the country.

"The internet is the only democratic space left in Malaysia. The government had a complete monopoly on truth until the emergence of cyberspace" said Mr Gan, who said all press and broadcast media are controlled by the ruling party or those close to it.

The Malaysian government has pledged not to censor the internet, which allows Malaysiasinki to avoid the press licensing laws that are used to control the press in the country.

Nevertheless, it must be careful because of the country’s other draconian laws -- 35 or which directly or indirectly impinge on press freedom -- still apply.

"I tell my reporters, ’it is OK to miss ten stories, but don’t get one story wrong, because that will allow the government to come down hard on us,’" he said. "I don’t believe you can serve the cause of press freedom in jail."

Another chance for Indonesia

Indonesia now faces its third opportunity to truly become the largest Muslim democratic nation in the world.

The first two opportunities were lost shortly after the Sukarno and the Suharto regimes began sending journalists to jail.

It doesn’t bode well that Mr Harymurti was sentenced to one year in prison in September 2004, following libel charges brought against him by one of the most influential businessmen in Indonesia. He remains free during his appeal.

But under the new administration of Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, which defeated the previous president, Megawati Sukarnoputri, last year, Indonesia is once again experiencing a "honeymoon" with democracy and press freedom, said Mr Harymurti.

He described a system where even seeking shelter in a police station did not provide him with security when he was attacked by a that threatened to burn the Tempo offices if Mr Harymurti did not reveal the name of an unidentified source.

"I thought the police would be the safest place for me, what I didn’t know was that this police station was controlled by the mob. I was punched and harassed, " he said, showing a video of the violence.

"This is what happens when corruption effects the police and prosecutor’s office," he said. "The bad guy uses the law to harass his enemies."

Challenging the status quo

Mr Lian reeled off a litany of corruption cases that are famous in China: the case against former Beijing Mayor Chen Xitong, the case against former Congress Standing Committee Vice President Cheng Kejie, the Yuanhua smuggling case in which 700 officers were charged or jail, and several others.

"None of these cases were launched by the press, though many journalists had enough evidence to lead to prosecution," he said.

Because of China’s press laws, the government’s propaganda department tells newspapers how to cover such cases. No independent journalistic investigation is allowed.

But the rise of a market-oriented media is challenging the system, Mr Lian said in a detailed examination of the press freedom situation as it applies to corruption investigations in China today.

"The readers’ thirst for corruption-related news causes some media to search deeply and broadly many stories, even risking criticism of the government," said Mr Lian, who was suspended from his position as Managing Editor of the 21st Century World Herald after the newspaper published articles discussing political reform and the SARS epidemic. He is currently a research fellow at the Journalism School at Columbia University in New York.

Yet the press, "is fundamentally unable to change its role under the present political and journalistic circumstances," he said. What is needed is privatization of media, a free flow of information and reform of the legal system.

"You can never know the boundary (of what is permissible)," he said. "In recent years, we’ve pushed the boundary forward and more widely, but we can never know where the boundary is," he said.

"Quite frankly, I don’t know when China will realise press freedom," he said. "I do know that unless Chinese journalists keep on investigating corruption cases and reveal the nasty truth about corrupt officials, that China cannot gain real press freedom."

India’s press is getting soft

India’s mainstream press has become a "lapdog" to government manipulation of information and to a flourishing public relations complex that is for hire to anyone for a price, says Mr Thakur.

"The powers assume journalists to be their allies, if not their adjuncts," says Mr Thakur. "Profits in a consumer market as India is becoming more and more are not necessarily linked to the truth."

If the mainstream media are lapdogs, then Mr Thakur is a self-described dog that is urinating against the side of a building.

"Tehelka," which means "Sensation" in Hindi, is known for uncovering corruption scandals, the most famous one which documented, on film, defence officials and politicians taking bribes in return for defence contracts.

"Tehelka proves there is a hunger for old-fashioned journalism," says Mr Thakur. "There is respect for the reader and there is a hunger for news that other newspaper are not telling you."

"My country is a hard, grueling, disparate-ridden place," says Mr Thakur, yet most newspapers are content to produce "feel-good" news.

The newspaper, one-and-a-half years old, is largely funded by supporters who are deeply committed to issues of public concern. Circulation has jumped from 50,000 six months ago to 110,000 today.

Freezing Press Freedom

Mr Wagle feels lucky to be able to attend this press freedom roundtable. Several journalists had already been barred from leaving the country and Mr Wagle, editor of the country’s largest daily, was an easy target.

But he was allowed to leave, and he described a Nepalese press which is facing its biggest challenge in 250 years.

The Maoist insurgency is certainly to blame -- running a parallel administration in countryside, waging war with security forces, intimidating civilians, silencing opponents.

But on 1 February, things got even worse. King Gyanendra sacked the government and suspended civil liberties, including press freedom.

"The country took a surprise course, very different, very difficult and very opposite what the political parties, civil society, media and the donor countries were pushing for," said Mr Wagle. "We saw a typical coup in the 21st century. The king seemed determined to improve the ’corrupt’ system of multi-party democracy which, according to him, was unable to crush Maoists because the political leaders were corrupt. And he ’waged a war against corruption’. " But while the King veiled his coup in as a fight against corruption, it was, in fact, the Nepali media which was exposing corruption. We were successful in exposing number of dubious deals and irregularities," said Mr Wagle.

"Once the Constitution of 1991 guaranteed the freedom of press, the Nepali media scene changed dramatically," he said. "The vibrancy of the free press was there. And the newspapers championed the issues of corruption as their one of the biggest roles. "

Under present conditions, "the country has become more risky place for investigative journalists. But with the increasing pressure from the international community to remove the restrictions for media, there are some positive signs," said Mr Wagle.