Singapore's Constraint of the Press

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One major factor hindering Singapore’s media development is a governmental barrier (Parsons 56). According to Freedom House, Singapore is classified as “not free” (Freedom House); supporting this conclusion is Singapore’s rank as 141st free out of 169 in Reporters Without Borders’ “Worldwide Press Freedom Index 2007” (Reporters Without Borders). The company MediaCorp, which has state ties, holds a monopoly over the media (McDaniel 167). Media strives to “support government policies for nation building” (Goonasekera 232).

In 1988, Goh Chok Tong, the then First Deputy Prime Minister, set “Five Shared Values” in order to establish unity as a state in everyday life; these values, which are upheld by the media, are “nation before community and society before self; family as the basic unit of society; community support and respect for the individual; consensus, not conflict; and racial harmony and religious harmony” (Moeran 84). These values imply to the media that dissent is not acceptable and that media that is dispersed should agree with governmental policies. People have taken to these values; 51.8% of internet users in Singapore are concerned about the internet’s political content being uncensored and 42.1% of non-internet users agreed (Kuo 55). The government justifies this media control by saying “Freedom is relative, not absolute, not universal and not ‘inherent’. There is no freedom without responsibility” and that “It is the government, elected with the mandate of the people, which defines the responsibility of the press and limits of its freedom” (Goonasekera 223).

These stats make the country seem much like a small China. As the Chinese speaker Jing Ning spoke about in our Global News class, people are so ingrained with this ideology that they feel it is normal and do not speak out against it. In addition, Singapore even secures its ideologies by giving its supporters 200 times the managerial power in news rooms through licensing under the Printing Presses Act of 1974 (Goonasekera 234).

One can see, for example, that in the May 7 Singapore headlines for Channel News Asia, all stories present Singapore in a positive, nation-building light:

• Singapore sends off first batch of relief supplies to Myanmar
• Witness says Myanmarese were simply not prepared for cyclone
• Disruptions to Myanmar networks leave S'poreans anxious about loved ones
• Interpreters now have new certification that sets industry standards
• Ministry says no Singaporean hurt or killed in Myanmar
• Singapore companies in Myanmar working to resume operations
• COEs drop sharply across the board, except for motorcycles
• Radio presenter's death comes as a shock
• SSC launches campaign to get more people involved in sports
• Jamu, turtle eggs seized from ship
• 18th European Film Festival opens

I wonder how and when Singapore will be able to break this cycle and open their public sphere.

By: Brittany Behrman

Sources:
Goonasekera, A., Ito, Y. (1999). "Mass Media and Cultural Identity: Ethnic Reporting
in Asia". London: Pluto Press.
Kuo, E.C.Y., Choi, A., Mahizhnan, A., Peng, L. W., Soh, C. (2002). "Internet in
Singapore: A Study on Usage and Impact". Singapore: Time Academic Press.
Moeran, B. (2001). "Asian Media Productions". Honolulu: University of Hawai’i Press.
Parsons, P. (2004). "Barriers to Media Development". In Merrill, John C. and de Beer, Arnold S. (Eds.), "Global Journalism: Topical Issues and Media Systems" (4th ed.) (50-65). Boston: Pearson Education Inc.