JOURNALISTS FRUSTRATED BY PRESS CONTROLS

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 SINGAPORE 000061

SIPDIS

STATE FOR EAP - M. COPPOLA
NEW DELHI FOR J. EHRENDREICH

E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/14/2029
TAGS: PGOV SOCI PREL SN
SUBJECT: JOURNALISTS FRUSTRATED BY PRESS CONTROLS

REF: A. SINGAPORE 1143

B. SINGAPORE 1067

Classified By: By DCM Daniel Shields for reasons 1.4 (b and d).


1. (C) Summary: Singapore journalists say they are
increasingly frustrated with GOS-imposed limits on their
domestic reporting. Political leaders put pressure on the
Straits Times (ST) staff to ensure that the paper's domestic
coverage follows the government line. Reporters say they are
eager to produce more investigative and critical reporting,
but they are stifled by editors who have been groomed to tow
the line. Some reporters seek an outlet for their
journalistic passions by serving as overseas correspondents,
where ST allows reporters much greater latitude; others
consider plying their trade elsewhere. Given that media
restrictions are no greater now than in the past, reporters'
increasing frustration may reflect this generation's rising
expectations. End Summary.


2. (C) Comment: The traditional media in Singapore are
certainly no more restricted today than they have ever been,
and other than on race and religion, online speech is
generally unrestricted. That raises the question why
reporters seem to be complaining more, or at least more
openly. We suspect this reflects in part a generational
shift; younger Singaporeans are accustomed to having more
latitude, and it likely grates on reporters not to be able to
say in print the kind of things people routinely say in cafes
or online. It may also be that the leaderships, own
frequent suggestions of the need for (incremental) political
reforms may be raising expectations that so far have not been
met. End Comment.

Government Ensures Positive Local Press Coverage
-------------- --------------


3. (C) Singapore journalists tell us they are increasingly
frustrated with the obstacles they face in reporting on
sensitive domestic issues. Reporters have to be careful in
their coverage of local news, as Singapore's leaders will
likely come down hard on anyone who reports negative stories
about the government or its leadership, Chua Chin Hon
(strictly protect),the new Straits Times (ST) U.S. Bureau
Chief (former China Bureau Chief) told Poloff January 6.
There is a growing disconnect between ST's reporters and its
editors, with the reporters wanting to do more investigative
and critical stories than the editors will allow. Chua
lamented that the ST editors have all been groomed as
pro-government supporters and are careful to ensure that
reporting of local events adheres closely to the official
line. Chua said that unless one of the editors is a "Trojan
Horse," someone that for years has successfully concealed any
non pro-government leanings, none of them has the courage to
publish any stories critical of the government.


4. (C) The government exerts significant pressure on ST
editors to ensure that published articles follow the
government's line, Chua said. In the past, the editors had
to contend only with the opinions of former Prime Minister
Lee Kuan Yew (now Minister Mentor) and former Deputy Prime
Minister Goh Chok Tong (now Senior Minister). However, a
younger generation of government ministers is now vying for
future leadership positions and one way for them to burnish
their credentials with the old guard is to show they can be
tough with the media, Chua said. As a result, several
current ministers and second ministers (Chua did not say
which ones) routinely call ST editors to ensure that media
coverage of an issue comes out the way they want it. While
Chua admitted that he knew of no editors who had been fired
or otherwise punished for printing articles critical of the
government, he said that is because all of the them have been
vetted to ensure their pro-government leanings.


5. (C) Chua speculated that while Lee's eventual passing may
encourage the media to open up, the current crop of ST staff
would only dare to buck the government's line if it were
clear that the majority of Singaporeans were already opposed
to the government's policy. Even then, the media would tread
carefully as the government has an established track record
of using the press, the ST in particular, to shape public
opinion.


6. (C) Chua admitted that domestically focused ST articles

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often read like Public Service Announcements. Chua noted
that how the government intends to push a certain policy is
often foreshadowed by extensive media coverage (published
before the official policy announcements). As an example,
Chua pointed to the government's recent decision to assist
retirees who lost investments in "mini-bonds" following the
collapse of Lehman Brothers (ref A). That decision followed a
spate of media coverage casting the retirees, plight in
sympathetic terms.


7. (C) In contrast to the informal restrictions placed on
domestic reporting, ST reporters are given wide latitude in
their coverage of international events. Chua said he enjoyed
a great deal of freedom during his stint as ST's China Bureau
Chief, and he expects to enjoy similar freedom during his new
assignment as U.S. Bureau Chief. However, due to the
expectations placed on editors, Chua said he would likely
never advance higher up the ladder at ST.

ST Reporter Confirms Local Media Restrictions
--------------


8. (C) Lynn Lee (strictly protect),a reporter for ST,
confirmed the disconnect between editors and reporters. Lee
highlighted the internal debate over the amount of coverage
that the paper would dedicate to opposition icon J.B.
Jeyaretnam (JBJ) following his death in September 2008. Lee
said that while the editors agreed with reporters' demand for
extensive coverage of JBJ political career and funeral (ref
B),they rejected reporters' suggestions to limit the amount
of coverage devoted to (relatively long) eulogies provided by
Singapore's leaders. The leaders' statements took up a
significant portion of the allotted space, Lee lamented.


9. (C) Lee also admitted that reporters practice
self-censorship. Recalling the case of a journalist in
Malaysia who was arrested for reprinting a politician's
racially charged comments, Lee noted she would never write
about any racially sensitive issues. However,
self-censorship is not really needed as most censorship is
done by the editors, Lee said. Lee, who is now one of ST's
Indonesia correspondents, echoed Chua's comments about having
greater freedom to report stories (without censorship) while
abroad. Highlighting her discouragement with her life as a
Singapore journalist, Lee said she considers her current
Indonesia assignment as a one-year test case that will
determine whether or not she stays in the profession.

Novice Journalists Also Wary of System
--------------


10. (C) Singapore's journalism students think twice about
building careers at home in the first place, according to
online student journalist Chong Zi Liang (strictly protect).
Chong and two classmates in the journalism school at Nanyang
Technological University started their own online newspaper,
The Enquirer, to write free of editorial interference after
the existing University-funded student newspaper refused to
cover a campus visit by opposition politician Chee Soon Juan.
When asked how he would reconcile his journalistic ideals
with the realities of a career in Singapore, Chong told
Poloff that he feared it would be too "stifling" to remain
here. Instead, he foresaw spending one or two apprentice
years here before working somewhere else. Many of Chong's
journalism-school classmates think the same way, he said.

Visit Embassy Singapore's Classified website:
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/eap/singapore/ind ex.cfm
HERBOLD