Messengers under pressure as Asian news sours

Messengers under pressure as Asian news sours

By Chris Johnson

SINGAPORE (Reuters): Information and those who publish it are coming under pressure across Asia as the region experiences some of its biggest challenges in decades.

Financial crises, currency devaluations, stock market crashes and environmental disasters have prompted governments to try to tinker with the reporting of bad news and discourage officials from commenting on sensitive subjects.

Authorities argue they are protecting their countries by discouraging negative speculation and correcting mistakes. Political analysts and economists say limiting the flow of information is pointless because bad news always gets out and curbs on academic or press freedom ultimately damage the image and integrity of a country.

Like ancient military commanders receiving bad news in the field, some Asian governments are choosing to punish the messenger if they don't like the message, analysts say.

"There has been pressure on information flows as a result of this regional crisis, and governments have reacted with varying degrees of severity," said Bruce Gale, Singapore-based analyst at Political & Economic Risk Consultancy Ltd.

Many Asian governments have always kept a rein over local and international reporting of domestic issues.

Singapore, Indonesia, Vietnam and China all restrict the press to varying degrees, with measures such as state ownership of or controls on newspapers, censorship and secrecy rules, circulation regulations or veiled or blatant threats against foreign media, or through patronage.

But in the last few weeks it has been Malaysia and South Korea, two countries where the media are relatively unfettered, where the most intense pressure has been applied.

Malaysia cracked down in September on "speculators" and blamed foreigners for undermining the economy after the currency, the ringgit, fell on foreign exchange markets and the stock market lost almost half its value in a matter of months.

It threatened to use its powerful Internal Security Act, which allows for virtually indefinite imprisonment without trial, against those who undermined the economy.

"What we are experiencing is a kind of economic war," Deputy Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said in September.

The threats had an immediate effect on brokers and analysts with few working in Kuala Lumpur or in neighboring Singapore prepared to comment on the Malaysian economy.

A Malaysian government order last month also barred scholars from talking about the ill effects of the smog which has plagued parts of Southeast Asia since August.

The circular instructed professors, researchers and others working on the problem, stemming mainly from forest fires in Indonesia, not to discuss their work directly with the press but instead to present their findings to university officials.

The government says the order will prevent inaccurate information from reaching the public and stave off panic.

Environmentalists and academics said the order impinges on their freedom and the public's right to know.

"Dumbstruck" and "Gag Order Adds Insult to Injury" was the reaction of Malaysian newspapers to news of the order.

South Korea has reacted to negative reporting of its financial troubles. Its Finance and Economy Ministry at the weekend criticized the International Herald Tribune, the Asian Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg Business News.

Senior counselor to Finance and Economy Minister Kang Kyong- shik said an International Herald Tribune report, from Bloomberg, describing South Korea's problems as possibly dwarfing those in Indonesia and Thailand was unjustified.

The government has put pressure on stock brokerages to tone down their bearishness.

"Recently we are often told from the top not to make negative comments based on rumors. We are also instructed not to exaggerate the situation on the financial markets," said a broker at a domestic brokerage house.

But analysts and brokers dismiss such tactics.

"It undermines the country's credibility and it will be some time before that is forgotten," said Gale. "It is getting to the point now where even if genuinely positive news and information comes out of Malaysia, it gets heavily discounted."

"The problem for these countries is that, in psychological terms, they are in a period of denial," agreed a broker with a Singapore bank, who declined to be identified.

"Until they begin to accept reality, the problems will persist."