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- Dec 30, 2010
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The Straits Times's long-time editor Cheong Yip Seng provides us with some idea about how the mainstream media came to its present state[5].
▪ The government's policy responses to the media was determined by how it saw the media's impact on the electorate.
▪ The media was not the fourth estate. It did not have the right to be a power centre. The journalists, not being elected by the people, had limited privilege in the debate on national policies; they were not entitled to speak for on behalf of the people nor tear down government policies. Otherwise, the government could not govern effectively.
▪ The freedom of the press was subordinated to the overriding needs of the integrity of Singapore and the primary purposes of the government. The press should present Singapore's problems simply and clearly and explain how those problems could be solved, if the people supported certain programmes and policies.
▪ The mass media's power of suggestion was most dangerous to the government because people were imitative. The press should heed the government's request on what not to publish.
▪ The mass media's challenge was how to treat political news credibly without provoking the government, absent clear OB markers. The press must not be seen to be effusive about, or rooting for, the opposition.
The curious result is that the government thought that the press was not sufficiently pro-government while the public thought the press was too pro-government and not impartial enough.
Interestingly, NHK chairman Katsuto Momii recently sided with the Japanese government on the subject of comfort women during World War II because he believed he should support the government on international affairs. However, he was criticised for hewing the government line on foreign policy matters in that it demonstrated how out of touch he was with media norms and values[6].
Our mainstream media should heed this if it wants to be credible. The nation, the government and the ruling party are not synonymous.
- http://refocusing.blogspot.sg/2014/01/the-mainstream-medias-mission.html
▪ The government's policy responses to the media was determined by how it saw the media's impact on the electorate.
▪ The media was not the fourth estate. It did not have the right to be a power centre. The journalists, not being elected by the people, had limited privilege in the debate on national policies; they were not entitled to speak for on behalf of the people nor tear down government policies. Otherwise, the government could not govern effectively.
▪ The freedom of the press was subordinated to the overriding needs of the integrity of Singapore and the primary purposes of the government. The press should present Singapore's problems simply and clearly and explain how those problems could be solved, if the people supported certain programmes and policies.
▪ The mass media's power of suggestion was most dangerous to the government because people were imitative. The press should heed the government's request on what not to publish.
▪ The mass media's challenge was how to treat political news credibly without provoking the government, absent clear OB markers. The press must not be seen to be effusive about, or rooting for, the opposition.
The curious result is that the government thought that the press was not sufficiently pro-government while the public thought the press was too pro-government and not impartial enough.
Interestingly, NHK chairman Katsuto Momii recently sided with the Japanese government on the subject of comfort women during World War II because he believed he should support the government on international affairs. However, he was criticised for hewing the government line on foreign policy matters in that it demonstrated how out of touch he was with media norms and values[6].
Our mainstream media should heed this if it wants to be credible. The nation, the government and the ruling party are not synonymous.
- http://refocusing.blogspot.sg/2014/01/the-mainstream-medias-mission.html
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