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."