IHT, Financial Times circulation curbed due to CSJ article.
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Singapore Puts Circ Binders On 'Financial Times,' 'Herald Tribune'
By Mark Fitzgerald
Published: August 04, 2006 12:15 PM ET
CHICAGO Singapore announced it is imposing so-called "offshore newspaper" restrictions on the circulations of the Financial Times, the International Herald Tribune and other publications.
In the announcement posted Thursday on its Web site, the Ministry of Information, Communications and the Arts said it was lifting the "exemption" from the circulation conditions that had been granted to the two newspapers as well as to the newsmagazines Time and Newsweek.
Under Section 23 of the nation's Newspaper and Printing Presses Act (NPPA), "offshore newspapers" must meet certain rigorous conditions, including putting up a security deposit of S$200,000, the equivalent of US$127,000, appointing "a person within Singapore authorized to accept service of any notice or legal process on behalf of the publisher," and submitting to a cap on circulation inside Singapore.
The ministry also said it was reclassifying the Far Eastern Economic Review, a monthly magazine published by Dow Jones & Co., as an "offshore newspaper." Its circulation will be capped at 10,000 copies, the government agency said.
"The NPPA serves to reinforce the government's consistent position that it is a privilege, and not a right, for foreign newspapers to circulate in Singapore," the ministry statement said. "They do so as foreign observers of the local scene and should not interfere in the domestic politics of Singapore. Hence, foreign newspapers seeking to circulate in Singapore need to comply with the provisions in the NPPA."
In 1987, the Far Eastern Economic Review was "gazetted" as a declared foreign newspaper for "interfering in the domestic politics of Singapore," the ministry said. In 1990 it was classified as an offshore newspaper, but in 2004 those restrictions were lifted when it changed from a weekly to a monthly. But the ministry said it is an "anomaly" not to apply the same standards to the magazine that apply to its sister publication, The Wall Street Journal Asia.
As to the newspapers, the ministry said they "now regularly report on political issues in the region and Singapore , and have significant circulations in Singapore."
The changes imposed on the Far Eastern Economic Review will take effect Sept. 11, the ministry said. The newspapers and newsmagazines will be subjected to the new conditions when their current publication permits expire, it added. -
Singapore tightens rules on some foreign media
Fri Aug 4, 9:40 AM ET
SINGAPORE (AFP) - Singapore said it was tightening the rules on a handful of foreign publications previously exempt from part of the city-state's media code, which a watchdog ranks among the world's toughest.
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The government announced that Newsweek, Time, the Financial Times, the Far Eastern Economic Review (FEER) and the International Herald Tribune were the media outlets that would be affected.
Since 1990, offshore papers have been required to appoint a publisher's representative in Singapore who could be sued, and to pay a security deposit of 200,000 Singapore (126,500 US) dollars.
The exemption for those publications named by the information and communication ministry was lifted due to what it called a changing media landscape.
It also came after the FEER published an interview with Singapore opposition leader and vocal government critic Chee Soon Juan in its latest edition.
"These newspapers now regularly report on political issues in the region and Singapore and have significant circulations in Singapore," the Ministry of Information, Communication and the Arts (MICA) said late Thursday.
MICA said the press act "serves to reinforce the government's consistent position that it is a privilege, and not a right, for foreign newspapers to circulate in Singapore.
"They do so as foreign observers of the local scene and should not interfere in the domestic politics of Singapore."
In its July-August edition, FEER wrote about Chee's campaign for more democratic freedoms in the city-state and how the ruling People's Action Party have responded with a barrage of lawsuits.
Singapore has strictly regulated the foreign media, and foreign publications have paid heavy legal damages or suffered circulation restrictions after publishing articles critical of Singapore's leaders.
Ahead of general elections in May, the government imposed restrictions on political discussions on blogs and websites.
The city-state's founding father, Lee Kuan Yew, said in April he would not allow foreign journalists to tell his country what to do on domestic issues.
Paris-based Reporters Without Borders (RSF) last year ranked Singapore 140th out of 167 countries in its annual press freedom index, alongside the likes of Egypt and Syria.
Roby Alampay, executive director of the Bangkok-based watchdog Southeast Asian Press Alliance, noted that the latest move came ahead of next month's annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank (WB) hosted by Singapore.
"The truth ... has always been known that Singapore is intolerant of too many questions and prying eyes. The real context here, we believe, is the upcoming IMF-WB meeting in Singapore," he told AFP by e-mail.
About 16,000 delegates from more than 180 countries, including heads of government, finance chiefs, central bankers and chief executives of leading corporations, are expected to attend the meetings.
Alampay said foreign media will be "the only mainstream avenue for bringing out independent information" during the meetings because street protests are not allowed and political postings on the Internet are under close watch.
"Essentially we think it's housekeeping ahead of the arrival of very important visitors -- making sure the rooms are spotless, the kids are in their rooms, and nobody making any embarrassing noises," he said.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20060804/wl_asia_afp/singaporemedia -
More astounding decisions of the highest learned order.
Three cheers! Hip-fcuking-hooray!!
Just because our press does not have the means to report on the internal workings of other nations, or is muzzled, does not mean we should follow this primitive, not to mention outdated and partisan form of media landscape that is seriously causing rifts in its entirety. -
its nothing new, Far Eastern Economic Review also had its circulation curbed in the past due to it posting some unflattering articles about Mr LKY. Well, look at the bright side of things, at least it is not a total ban, so any criticsm of it being undemocratic will be basless.
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didn't they want to be "hip and happening"? the curbs are happening again.
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What's new.
Cynicism has its roots here. -
We dont need foreigner journalists to teach us how to govern our country.
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Do we have all the answers? I wish to comment on the politics of other nations and give my two cents worth too.Originally posted by TooFree:We dont need foreigner journalists to teach us how to govern our country.
This is reality. 50 years from now, you think sovereignty will still exist in this current state? It will be linkages of regional federations, with nation-state authority gradually being moved towards a more confederated exercise of regional power.
Globalisation means that everyone will have a say or two, including ourselves, in other nations' affairs. -
The exercise of regional power is on issue where participating countries have a common stake or benefits like regional security. It is never in the affair of domestic politics. The world can never be governed as one big continent but in sovereignties. Are you aware that the continents are drifting apart at 2cm per year.Originally posted by LazerLordz:Do we have all the answers? I wish to comment on the politics of other nations and give my two cents worth too.
This is reality. 50 years from now, you think sovereignty will still exist in this current state? It will be linkages of regional federations, with nation-state authority gradually being moved towards a more confederated exercise of regional power.
Globalisation means that everyone will have a say or two, including ourselves, in other nations' affairs.
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subscribe em online! iht has electronics version aside from the articles published on the website.
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What we cannot see in front of us, sometimes it is helpful for someone to point it out to us.
We can have a pimple on our nose, we cannot see it, so someone tells us it's there.
Should we shoot him just because he dared to say that it is there, even though we are still in the process of touching that nose?
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But we need them to listen to and learn about alternative views and how they work.Originally posted by TooFree:We dont need foreigner journalists to teach us how to govern our country.
Openness is all about the ability to listen to views and opinions from all walks of life. If the freakin' ruling party wants openness, then I say we start listening to the other opinions as well. Saying that we want openness in one breath and curtailing foreign media in the next is total hypocrisy.
And for goodness' sake... no one is forcing you to like those opinions. If you don't like those opinions, then don't listen to them! Forcing the masses to pander to only the opinions which are approved by the ruling party is the exact antithesis of openness.
Sheesh... which part of my last paragraph is so difficult to understand?