Fact Checking on Press Freedom/Stability in Singapore

Recently, an article from Channelnews Asia talks about Singapore's press freedom. The main gist of the article is to indicate that Singaporean citizens have a stronger preference for stability over press freedom as compared to the other countries in the world. This claim was based on a finding conducted by research firms GlobeScan and Synovate and was commissioned by the BBC World Service to mark its 75th anniversary. A few interesting findings are conveyed through the local press, for e.g. "Some 42 per cent of Singaporeans gave a 'good job' rating to government-funded media in accuracy and honesty, compared to 32 per cent for non-government funded companies. However, 51 per cent of Singaporeans were of the opinion that "ownership (of the media companies) is a major issue because you often see owners' political views emerge in the news'" (quoted from ChannelNews Asia article[2]). Of course, if you go to BBC [2,3] and download the actual report, you find that the local press did not report some additional information. So, what did they leave out?

Here is the section on Singapore from the actual report:

Fewer Singaporeans consider their media as “free” than any other nationality. They do not express strong views on the accuracy and honesty of news reporting in their country and are divided on many issues concerning media freedom.

Singapore is one of three countries, along with India and Russia, where those who believe stability is more important than press freedom outnumber those who believe in freedom first. Fifty percent of Singaporeans (versus 40% globally) agree that controls on the media are sometimes needed to preserve stability, while 42 percent (56% globally) agree that press freedom is non-negotiable. The media in Singapore is perceived as less free than in any other country surveyed – only 36 percent give a high freedom rating, compared with 56
percent overall. However, views seem anodyne rather than strongly negative, as 32 percent give a mid-point rating that is neither free nor not free, compared with 22 percent globally. Views on the performance of news organisations are not particularly strong. Forty-two percent of Singaporeans (versus 39% globally) give a “good job” rating to government or publicly-funded media, in terms of the accuracy and honesty of their news reporting. A further 43 percent give an average rating. Perceptions of private news organisations are even more neutral, with nearly half the population (49%) giving an average rating. People in Singapore are divided on the issue of growing concentration of private media ownership. Fifty-one percent agree that “ownership is a major issue because you often see owners’ political views emerge in the news”, while 34 percent do not think ownership is an issue “because media owners do not interfere with the news content”, and a further 15 percent did not answer. Views are also divided between 47 percent who think “it is important that people like mw have a say in what gets reported in the news” and 44 percent who think “decisions as to which stories get reported in the news are best left to news organisations”.

Now let us go back to the actual reporting from BBC [2], I often believe that a picture paints a thousand words:

Of course, our press has managed to report everything except telling us that Singapore is ranked the lowest in terms of media freedom among the 14 countries that was surveyed.

The most baffling part is to compare the following statements from Channelnews Asia and the BBC report:

Some 42 per cent of Singaporeans gave a 'good job' rating to government-funded media in accuracy and honesty, compared to 32 per cent for non-government funded companies. (ChannelNews Asia)

Forty-two percent of Singaporeans (versus 39% globally) give a “good job” rating to government or publicly-funded media, in terms of the accuracy and honesty of their news reporting. (BBC Research Report)

I was trying hard to work out where that 32% came from but I think that it's taken from a few lines back in the actual research report. One intepretation of the statement is that the reporter who wrote the article, is trying to imply that Mediacorp (being owned by the government) is better than SPH (which is supposed to be a private limited company). Still, I am confused by what the reporter was trying to tell us in the article.

In any case, this is a good example of exercising some skepticism and doing some fact-checking with the actual BBC article.

Related Links:

1. Singaporeans prefer social stability to freedom of press: poll, ChannelNews Asia
2. World 'divided' on press freedom by Torin Douglas, BBC News.
3. Research Report: BBC World Service Poll: World Divided on Press Freedom [1MB]

Comments

[Thought Provoker]

I discussed the very skills of our media that you mentioned in an earlier post entitled 'Creative Journalism'. I believe there is hope yet for us all...

The article can be read at http://beyondsimplicity.blogspot.com/2006/05/creative-journalism.html