.Asian Perspectives in Communication: Assessing the Search
The search for Asian perspectives in communication can be
divided into two parts:
1.
the search for Asian perspectives in
communication (from 1985 through 1993/Before 1993 Colombo Seminar on
Communication Ethics)
2.
the debate about Asian values in
journalism (since 1994/After 1993 Colombo Seminar on Communication Ethics)
The first part deals with Asian perspectives in
communication in general, the press systems in two major sub-regions: the
Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the South Asian Association
for Regional Cooperation (SAARC), and communication ethics in South Asian
countries.
The second part involves mainly the debate about Asian
values in journalism, press freedom and professional standards and the trends
and strategies of Asian communication in the future. The following is the
historical account of these major efforts.
Asian Perspectives in Communication: Assessing the Search
Xu Xiaoge
Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
INTRODUCTION
Asian perspectives in communication have been sought by
policy-makers, media practitioners, and academics over the years. The results
of the search have been recorded largely in the proceedings of the major
regional conferences or seminars although some of them have been published in
books. Few studies, however, have been conducted to examine the search for
Asian perspectives in communication. This paper is designed to fill out this
gap. Specifically, this paper addresses the following two research
questions: How has the
search evolved? What has driven the Asian search for its own perspectives in
communication? To address these questions, this study reviewed and interprets
the proceedings of these conferences or seminars. The assessment of the search
for Asian perspectives in communication proceeds with a chronological account
of these conferences or seminars followed by observations, discussion and
interpretation. The search for Asian perspectives in communication under
study refers to the one carried by the regional efforts only as recorded in the
proceedings of the major regional conferences or seminars. Therefore, the
national conferences or seminars searching for national perspectives in
communication are excluded except those presented at the regional conferences
or seminars.
PERSPECTIVE SEARCH REVIEWED
A search of the literature has located eight major conferences
held by Asian Media, Information and Communication Centre (AMIC) since 1985
(see Endnote 1). These conferences represent the major efforts in searching for
Asian perspectives in communication Asia as they deal with Asian perspectives
in communication in general, the press systems, press freedom and professional
standards, Asian values in journalism, and the prospects of Asian
communication.
The search for Asian perspectives in communication can be
divided into two parts: the search for Asian perspectives in communication
(from 1985 through 1993) and the debate about Asian values in journalism (since
1994). The first part deals with Asian perspectives in communication in
general, the press systems in two major sub-regions: the Association of South
East Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the South Asian Association for Regional
Cooperation (SAARC), and communication ethics in South Asian countries. The
second part involves mainly the debate about Asian values in journalism, press
freedom and professional standards and the trends and strategies of Asian
communication in the future. The following is the historical account of these
major efforts.
1985 Bangkok Symposium: Asian Perspectives in Communication
The regional efforts in searching for Asian perspectives in
communication can be traced back to the symposium jointly held by AMIC and the
Faculty of Journalism and Mass Communication, Thammasat University in Bangkok
in October 1985. Known as "Communication Theory: The Asian
Perspective," the symposium brought together 20 participants from Hong
Kong, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka,
Thailand, and USA. At the three-day symposium, 10 papers were presented to
explore Asian perspectives on communication theory, such as Chinese, Islamic, Japanese,
Indian perspectives and ways to indigenize Western communication theories to
suit Asian cultures. Specific suggestions were also made at the symposium
concerning the use of the characteristics of particular Asian cultures in
reconsidering the assumptions and hypotheses of the established communication
theories. Moreover, the role of religion and power politics in communication
processes and behavior in Asia were also examined and expounded. The symposium
marked the beginning of the regional efforts to search for Asian identities in
communication.
The results of the Bangkok Symposium were published in a
book entitled "Communication Theory: The Asian Perspective." The
Symposium and the publication of its proceedings have laid a solid foundation
as well as paved the way for further search of Asian perspectives in
communication. It has played a pioneering role in searching for Asian models or
theories of communication. It also has set the framework for the subsequent
conferences or seminars. The framework can be summarized as the following: Asia
should test further the applicability of Western communication theories in the
Asian contexts as well as the validity of emerging Asian communication models
or theories. One of the ways to accomplish this task is to modify and adapt the
parameters of Western communication theories to the various local conditions
and situations in Asia.
1988 Jakarta Consultation: Press Systems in ASEAN
Three years after the 1985 Bangkok Symposium, another major
conference entitled "Consultation on Press System in ASEAN" was held
in Jakarta during August 23-16, 1988. It was co-organized by AMIC and
Directorate General for Press Development and Graphics, Department of
Information, Republic of Indonesia. Among the 15 participants, three each came
from Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Indonesia. Out of the three participants
from each ASEAN state, one represents the media, another represents the
academic community, and the third represents the government. Although no
participants from Brunei, a paper outlining the press system of the country was
available to the participants. In addition to the 15 participants from five
ASEAN States, there were two AMIC representatives and other observers.
The conference examined the press systems of ASEAN states,
covering the historical events that shaped the country’s press system; the
legal and philosophical tenets of the press system; the role of the press in
society; access to and ownership of the media; media regulatory mechanisms;
restrictions on the media and their legal and philosophical foundations; and
the distinctiveness of the press system compared to other press systems (Mehra,
1988).
1991 Kathmandu Consultation: Press Systems in SAARC
The Jakarta Consultation was followed by another regional
consultation on the press systems in the states of the South Asia Association
for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) held in Kathmandu, Nepal in April 1991. Twenty
three participants from seven SAARC member states attended the consultation.
They include ministry secretaries of communication/information, editors, senior
journalists, media researchers, and academics.
Following the Jakarta Consultation, the Kathmandu
Consultation worked out a set of philosophical and legal tenets for the press
systems of SAARC states. The Consultation re-examined the role and
responsibility of the press in Asia, vis-à-vis Asian contexts and not against
the usual Western models and standards of the press (Menon, 1991). Since the
press is conditioned by the environment in which it operates, different levels
of economic development and different cultural milieus of the SAARC states
necessarily influenced the perceptions of press freedom and how the press
should operate in a given country.
1993 Colombo Seminar: Communication Ethics
During the period 1985-1991, three major conferences were
held to explore and examine the communication perspectives and the press
systems. However, they did not deal with communication ethics. This missing
link was remedied by the Seminar on Communication Ethics held during November
9-12, 1993 in Colombo, Sri Lanka, 1993. The seminar "Communication
Ethics from a South Asian Perspective" was co-organized by AMIC and the
World Association for Christian Communication (WACC) with the support of the
Freidrich Ebert Stiftung. The seminar brought together 20 senior editors,
journalists, scholars and communication professionals. The seminar program
included panel discussions and case studies of experiences from India,
Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Nepal.
Bearing in mind that values based on Western communication
theories could not be automatically applied to Asia, the seminar re-examined
Western theories and practices in the light of Asian cultures and traditions
(Menon, 1993). The seminar also examined the unique conditions in South Asia
that may inhibit some ethical practices and explored the particularities of the
social, political and cultural context of communication ethics in South Asia.
The seminar discussed the following topics: communication
ethics, media practitioners and institutions, environmental and cultural
factors affecting media ethics, the influence of policies and government on
ethical media practice, ethical standards, the role of the press councils and
journalists’ unions, and the communication environment and the teaching of
media ethics. Although no consensus was reached over these issues, the seminar
sharpened awareness and understanding of issues related to media ethics and
social responsibility in the South Asian region. It also widened awareness and
understanding of the social, economic, political, cultural and other
environmental factors that encourage or inhibit ethical and socially
responsible media practice.
1994 Hong Kong Asian Press Forum: Asian Values and the Role
of Media
The search for Asian perspectives in communication switched
to the discussion of the relationship between Asian values and the press since
the 1994 Hong Kong Asian Press Forum. As both a cultural and political concept,
Asian values can be historically traced back to the mid-1970s when academic
efforts were made in exploring the relationship between the fast Asian economic
development and the Asian cultural values. The concept has been debated largely
in the areas of human rights, democracy, freedom of expression, and the
relationship between cultural values and development. The concept of Asian
values was not debated in journalism until the 1994 Hong Kong Asian Press
Forum, The forum, held during December 1-3, 1994, brought 38 leading
journalists, publishers, academics and researchers from across the Asia-Pacific
area together in Hong Kong to discuss the topics of Asian values and the role
of media in society. It was sponsored by the Freedom Forum Asian Center in Hong
Kong in collaboration with the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Hong Kong.
Attended by more than 100 people, the forum was dominated by Western media and
the region’s English language press. The others, notably the Chinese language
press, was under-represented, according to the observations of the Hong Kong
correspondent of The Straits Times Mary Kwang (The Straits
Times, 1994).
The Forum marked the beginning of the debate that
specifically discussed Asian values in relation to the role of media in
society. The conference was devoted to the discussion and examination of
whether there exists an "Asian model" of journalism that could be
said to reflect Asian values as espoused increasingly by leaders of some Asian
nations, notably Singapore and Malaysia (Schidlovsky, 1996). Specifically,
the conference addressed the following questions: What are Asian values? Does
the Asian press cover Asia differently than does the Western press? Is good
Asian news coverage different in character than good Western news coverage? Are
there common characteristics of Asian society that should be, or can be,
reflected by Asian media? What is the role of the media in society?
(Schidlovsky, 1996). Answers to these questions differ among the participants.
Despite the differences over the concept Asian values in relation to the role
of the media in society, the participants seemed to agree on the need to
display cultural sensitivity when reporting from other Asian countries. They
also agreed on the need for journalists to immerse themselves in the language
and culture of countries from which they were reporting (South China Morning
Post, 1994).
The Asian Press Forum concluded without a statement on Asian
values, but it marked the beginning of the debate on Asian values in
journalism. It kindled a debate about whether Asian values exist in journalism
or whether there is an Asian model of journalism, which reflects Asian values.
1995 Kuala Lumpur Seminar: Asian Values in Journalism
The concept of Asian values was not fully examined and
debated until the 1995 Kuala Lumpur Seminar. In response to the 1994 Hong Kong
Asian Press Forum, AMIC organized a seminar in August 1995 in Kuala Lumpur,
Malaysia. This seminar was devoted specifically to discussion on "Asian
Values in Journalism." It was held, in the words of Vijay Menon, AMIC
Secretary-General, to "provide a corrective" to an imbalance
addressed by Malaysia’s former Deputy Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim
at the 1994 Hong Kong conference. In his statement, Anwar said: "We have
entered a more meaningful state of engagement between Asia and the West through
the current debate on Asian values. Ironically, the debate seems to be more
actively pursued in the Western international press than in the Asian national
media" (Menon, 1996, p. vii).
At the seminar, over 50 journalism practitioners, policy
makers and educators from 14 countries debated about the subject of Asian
values in journalism, "which is of interest to all thinking journalists,
far beyond Asia" and the conference "give[s] ample evidence that
there is no consensus within Asia, nor perhaps in any region within the world’s
largest continent, about what Asian values are, in journalism or in anything
else" (Masterton, 1996, p. 1). The seminar was designed to discuss
the concept Asian values in journalism, to increase awareness and understanding
of issues related to value formation in Asian journalism, to identify emerging
media trends and developments and their impact on media values in Asia, to
compare Asian and Western journalism values, and to develop actionable
recommendations on key issues identified during the seminar.
The seminar held six sessions, dealing with "Asian
Values in Journalism: Is There Such a Thing?" "Social and Cultural Influences
on Journalism Values in Asia," "Influences of Politics and Policies
on Journalism Values in Asia," "Changing Asian Media Environment and
Its Impact on Journalism Values," "Value Formulation in Journalism
Education in Asia," "Asian Values in Journalism: Idle Concept or
Realistic Goal?" At these six sessions, 21 papers were presented to
explore and examine Asian values in journalism. The participants were
widely divided over the concept of Asian values and the existence of Asian
values in journalism. Despite the wide disparity of views on Asian values, the
media professionals "reached a broad agreement on the need to identify
certain universal values which are rooted in the Asian context and to promote
them in the professional sphere" (Masterton, 1996, p. 171).
1996 Kuala Lumpur Conference: Press Freedom and Professional
Standards
After the 1995 Seminar on Asian values in journalism, the
search switched to the specific areas of journalism: press freedom and
professional standards at the 1996 Kuala Lumpur Conference. The conference
brought together over 60 participants from 16 countries in the region and
beyond to offer national perspectives on press freedom and professional
standards. They also examined the role of media monitoring mechanisms and explored
the impact of new multimedia on the press as well as the social and cultural
factors affecting press freedom.
The seminar was designed to discuss the concept of press
freedom in the Asian context, to examine the relationship between press freedom
and professional standards, to identify emerging media trends and developments
in Asia, and to develop actionable recommendations on key issues identified
during the seminar. It was held in the context of "many Western proponents
of pluralism seek to promote western-style press freedom in Asia,"
according to AMIC secretary-general Vijay Menon (quoted in AMIC Report, 1996).
The seminar held six sessions. The first session was on
"Press Freedom: Asian Perspectives," the second on "The Role of
Media Monitoring Mechanisms," the third on "Press Freedom and
Professional Standards: The Role of Press Councils and Journalists’
Unions," the fourth on "Social and Cultural Factors Affecting Press
Freedom," the fifth on "Press Freedom: Commonwealth
Perspectives," and the sixth on "The New Multimedia Environment and
Its Impact on the Press." (AMIC Report, 1996). The papers and discussions
looked into the various national perspectives on press freedom and professional
standards in Asia. The national perspectives on press freedom and
professional standards expressed at the Seminar supported what veteran
journalist T.J.S George said told the seminar in his keynote address. He said
that the concepts of press freedom and professional standards are not universal
and objective realities, but are relative to the social, political, economic
and cultural backgrounds in each country (AMIC Report, 1996). Although these
perspectives were nothing new, they did reinforce the contingency of press
freedom and professional standards.
The 1996 Kuala Lumpur Seminar not only scrutinized press
freedom and professional standards in major Asian countries but also came up
two sets of recommendations to deal with the existing issues in these two
areas.
1996 Singapore Conference: Trends and Strategies in Asian
Communication
After the 1996 Kuala Lumpur Seminar, the concept of Asian
values in journalism was discussed in relation to the trends and strategies of
Asian communication by some participants at the Singapore AMIC’s 25th anniversary
conference on Asian communications in the next 25 years. The 1996 Singapore
Conference, entitled "Asian Communications: The Next Twenty-Five
Years," was held in Singapore during June 1-3, 1996. Nearly 300
participants and speakers from 30 countries participated in the conference to
explore the current trends and developments in Asian communications and what
the future holds for Asian communication in the next 25 years (AMIC, 1996).
At the conference, the exploration of trends and strategies
of Asian communication in the next 25 years also touched on the relationship
between Asian values and communication as well as Asian ways to deal with the
challenges of new technology on communication. Judging by the papers presented
and the general tone of the conference, the AMIC 25th anniversary
conference can be regarded as a sign of confidence for Asian communication in
the next 25 years. This confidence, however, was shattered to some extent by
the Asian Economic Crisis occurred by the mid-1997.
1997 Asian Economic Crisis: Communication and Transparency
The Asian Economic Crisis occurred first in Thailand in the
mid-1997 and then spread to Indonesia, Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, and Hong
Kong. The crisis not only has brought about an immense setback to the regional
economy but also has driven the search of the causes for the Crisis. Among
others, the lack of watchdog functions of the press and of transparency of
Asian communication has been located as a major cause for the Crisis.
In response to the Asian Economic Crisis, governments in
Asia countries have taken different approaches and measures as far as
communication is concerned. While the press in Thailand, Indonesia and the
Philippines are striving for more freedom from the government control, the
press in Myanmar, Vietnam, Malaysia, Laos, Singapore and Cambodia continue to
operate under government constraint. These developments reflect different
government policies and media philosophies as well as the conflicts between
government and the press in terms of what the press should be and do in
society.
OBSERVATIONS AND DISCUSSION
A closer look at the search process and its historical
moments has found that behind the search lies a major driving force, which can
be a combination of economic success, cultural reassurance, political
independence, and incompatibilities of Western communication theories with the
Asian contexts. The explosive economic growth in Asia since the 1970s has
grabbed the world attention and aroused its interest in Asia. The remarkable
economic growth first in Japan, then in South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and
Singapore; followed by Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines, and the
coastal regions of China has enabled Asia to rise as a growing economic power
and a confident and promising region in the world. The rapid economic
development has been accompanied by democratization in South Korea, Japan,
Thailand, and the Philippines. Parallel to the rapid economic development is
also the rapid political reforms in China, Vietnam, Indonesia, and Malaysia.
The political landscape in Asia has changed considerably over the years.
In response to the economic and political changes in the
region is the reassertion of Asian cultures and values. The increasing
prominent international presence of Asian cultures is among the crystal
indications of the reassertion of Asian cultures and values. The other
indications include Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir’s "Look East"
policy the advocacy of Asian values by some Asian governments in debate about
democracy, human rights and freedom of expression.
The concept of Asian values has extensively been used by
Asian and Western politicians and academicians in the analysis of contemporary
events and issues. According to the advocates of Asian values, the concept has
been used as an icon of the efforts to reconcile their desire to maintain their
distinctive local cultures with the overwhelming forces of globalization. The
claimed Asian values include group orientation, filial piety, hard work,
community or nation above individuals, more emphasis on duties than on rights,
more emphasis on responsibility than on freedom, social stability and harmony,
and more emphasis on education, and respect for authority. Although these
claimed values are also universal, they tend to be more emphasized and more
widely shared in much of Asia as indicated by some studies.
Modernization in Asia, to some extent, has been equated with
Westernization as far as technology and management transfers are concerned.
With the inflow of Western technology and management, Western ideas and values
are flooding into Asia, influencing the ways of thinking and acting among
Asians and thus diluting the local cultures. To combat against the strong
influences of the Western ideas and values in their modernization process, many
Asian countries have been trying to retain their own cultural and political
identities. The search for cultural and political identities has become
more urgent with the increasing domination of Western media giants in the
transnational communication and the unbalanced global information flow. Coupled
with the imbalance of global information flow are an invasion of Western
cultures and the imposition of Western values. This has caused grave concerns
among some Asian leaders. Therefore, they resort to "Asian values" to
justify their calls to safeguard cultural identities in the battle against
Western cultures and values.
In their nation-building process, some Asian governments
have advocated that Asia should be different in running its various countries
instead of copying everything from the West since Asia is so diversified in
terms of languages, religions, races, cultures and economic growth. Human
rights, democracy and freedom of expression should be contingent on the various
national social and political structures, historical experiences, cultural
values and economic conditions. They are not only relative but also dynamic in
terms of time and space.
The search for cultural and political identities can be best
understood in the context of a two parallel process of globalization and
localization. Modernization has opened up Asia to the rest of the world and it
is part of the globalization process. The technology and management inflow has
enabled Asian countries to grow fast and thus more interconnected with the
outside world in terms of markets and resources. At the same time, however,
Asian governments have realized the importance of maintaining their cultural
and political identities in the globalization process. They have been
localizing the imported management and ideas from the West and making full use
of them to suit the domestic economic developments. To go global but stay local
has been one of the common strategies of most Asian governments in running and
developing their own countries.
Adapting Western models of modernization, concepts of human
rights, and patterns of democracy, Asian countries are searching for the right
direction and development to suit their own various contexts. That search has
also been extended into communication, as indicated in the exploration of Asian
perspectives in communication since the mid-1980s and the debate about Asian
values in journalism since the mid-1990s.
The search for the right direction and development in
communication has also been driven by the realization among media
policy-makers, practitioners and academics of the influence of Western
communication theories and their incompatibilities with the Asian contexts.
Asian communication including journalism has been greatly influenced by the
Western journalism in its early formative stages. The establishment of modern
newspapers and journalism schools, the training of journalists, and the
operation of the press as a whole are among the clear indicators of Western
influences on Asian journalism. Although Western journalism has played an
important role in the development of Asian journalism, it also has exerted
negative influences on Asian journalism, such as sensational approach,
adversary practice and entertainment orientation, which remain incompatible
with the Asian contexts.
Furthermore, Western communication theories have failed to
fully describe, explain or predict the communication phenomenon in Asia. For
instance, certain communication behavioral patterns in Asia may not be easily
explained by Western theories, such as face, seniority of age and status,
different philosophical and religious backgrounds (Gottberg, 1985). In
addition, Western communication theories had their own limitations, such as
overemphasis on quantitative methods, lack of focus and repetitiveness,
weakness in studies of structure and function of communication in societal
context, and the absence of culture as a critical factor in communication (Chu,
1985).
There has been "a widespread feeling among
communication scholars in Asia that there is a pressing need to re-examine
Western communication theories in the light of Asian cultures and
traditions" (Menon, 1988, p.ix). The need is generated by the fact that
Western models and theories have been accepted uncritically at the expense of
tradition concepts of communication in Asian cultures (Menon, 1988). The
realization of the incompatibilities of Western communication theories with the
Asian contexts has led to the need to modify or adapt the parameters of Western
communication theory to the various local conditions and situations in Asia.
Moreover, Western-oriented theories can be enriched by using Asian
communication processes, behavior patterns, and experiences. In their
search for Asian perspectives in communication, Asian scholars turn to their
own rich and long traditions in the fields of religion, philosophy and arts,
the core of great cultures. The magnificent cultures in Asia would not be
possible without their distinctive approaches to communication. Derived from
their rich cultural foundations and philosophical concepts, Asian press
philosophies can prove to be very productive in widening the discourse of
communication metatheory (Dissanayake, 1988).
The search of Asian perspective of communication theory
should be relevant, addressing issues in their socio-cultural context,
concrete, not obscure, observable and be backed by research using adequate, and
appropriate methods (Chu, 1985). The search for Asian perspectives in
communication does not necessarily mean the total rejection of Western
communication theories. It has involved the adaptation, accommodation and
preserving national sovereignties. Adaptation is an approach designed to
adapt the advantages of the new technologies to the priority needs of the most
underprivileged ones so that it can stop their values from being endangered
(Modoux, 1996). Accommodation is to accommodate and respect different cultures
in a peaceful co-existence environment (Naito, 1996; Gautier, 1996). Besides
the adaptation and accommodation strategies, another strategy is to preserve
national sovereignty in a global village (Nair, 1996).
Nation states are structured to define what is good for its
people and represent its people on issues beyond the efforts of individuals or
smaller social units to handle. They "have also systems to keep its
cultural differences, educate its younger generation on core values, and guide
its people to discriminate what is good and bad in the global information and
knowledge flow. Moreover, global institutions lack administrative resources,
while nation states use national resources as a direct means to influence
domestic and international events" (Nair, 1996, p. 9). Therefore, "we
will communicate not as global citizens but as citizens of a nation"
(Nair, 1996, p. 9).
In addressing the issue of national sovereignty and cultural
identities in a global context, the media should "examine the challenges
to the sovereignty of the state, explore some of the inherent tensions between
the nation and the state and the contradictions of a ‘national cultural
environment’ within a globalized context" (Sreberny-Mohammadi, 1996, p.
1). The above mentioned strategies, adaptation, accommodation and
preserving national sovereignty in a global village, among others, represent a
driving force in the continued search for Asian theories of
communication. It is against these historical, cultural and political
backgrounds that the search for Asian perspectives in communication has been
constructed and evolved. The 1985 Bangkok Seminar provided the general
framework for the search for Asian perspectives in communication. The framework
set out by 1985 Bangkok Symposium include modifying or adapting the parameters
of Western communication theory to the various local conditions and situations
in Asian countries, testing the validity of emerging Asian communication models
and constructs and constructing Asian communication theories in the social and
cultural contexts.
Within that framework, the three subsequent conferences
dealt specifically with the role, responsibility, and ethics of the press in
ASEAN, SAARC and South Asian states. Despite their variations, these
conferences share the following elements in terms of what the press should be
and do in society: to assist nation-building, to strengthen social harmony amid
diversity, to cooperate among member states in either ASEAN or SAARC and to
sharpen awareness and understanding of issues related to media ethics and
social responsibility in the South Asian region. These major conferences have
mapped out the directions and dimensions of searching for Asian models or
theories of communication.
From 1994 through 1996, the search for Asian perspectives
focused on the debate about Asian values in journalism, a continuation of the
search for Asian ways of journalism under the banner of Asian values in
journalism. Throughout the whole debate about Asian values in journalism, the
supporters or advocates of Asian values in journalism advocated that journalism
in Asia should not copy the Western model. Asian countries should have their
own perspectives on the government-press relationship, the role of the press as
well the concepts and practices of press freedom. The government-press
relationship should be cooperative instead of adversary for the sake of
national development or nation building. The press should play greater roles of
educator and catalyst of social and political change in society instead of
merely entertaining and informing the public. As far as press freedom is
concerned, it is not exclusive to the West but also one of the values held dear
in Asia as well. The press should be free and at the same time should be
socially responsible. The press in Asia is also expected to exercise greater
caution in covering issues sensitive to the social and political structures,
cultural values and economic conditions.
Throughout the decade long search, some Asian perspectives
in communication have been identified. They include the development values,
such as the desire for harmony or to avoid differences and conflicts, mild ways
of criticism of government, and the need of the press to be more mindful of the
cause and consequences of their news coverage. Other values include the
emphasis on the role of educator and catalyst of social and political change in
society, the dismissal of the adversary journalism as being incompatible with
the Asian societies, and the cooperation with the government in
nation-building. These perspectives or values have influenced the media
policies in much of Asia in terms of what the media should be and do in
society.
Despite their different responses to the Asian Economic
Crisis, Asian governments have learned, among other things, a big lesson in
communication management. Some governments exercise stricter control over the
flow of information while others loosen it to allow greater transparency.
Common to their strategies is the importance attached to the management of
communication and the continuation of searching for Asian perspectives and ways
of communication in light of their various historical experiences, social
structures, cultural values, political systems, and economic conditions.
Despite the continued domination of the Western media in Asia and their strong
influences over Asian communication, the search for Asian perspectives in communication
continues and will gain greater momentum after Asia recovers from the Asian
Economic Crisis.
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