Journalism and Democracy in Asia

What are the issues surrounding freedom of the press, new media, citizenship, power and politics in Asian countries? How do democratic and authoritarian governments interact with journalists and media outlets? And are these affected by things such as professional training, the openness of the information culture and the politics of gender and sexual identity?

Journalism and Democracy in Asia answers these questions with a focus on contemporary Asia, looking especially at China, Japan, Korea, Indonesia, Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan, Cambodia and India. The authors take varying approaches to questions of democracy. Some study the power of Asian governments versus that of citizens and civil society organizations to affect public judgements and policies, and the role of the news media as a broker or challenger of the status quo between the state and society. Several explore how efficiently news and news organizations function in providing the public with information that allows them to act as competent citizens within a democracy; this includes exploration of the absences and silences in the news in relation to issues of concern to rural citizens, women and homosexuals, among others. Other contributors consider whether the internal operations of the news media themselves are democratic. These chapters explore whether news organizations operate in the autonomous and socially responsible fashion as businesses, as employers and as significant civil society organizations that are often honoured with the titles of being the `fourth estate' and the `watchdog' of government.

With contributions from highly regarded experts in the region examining a broad range of issues from across Asia, this book will be of high interest to students and scholars in political communications, journalism and mass communication and Asian studies.

Angela Romano is Senior Lecturer in Journalism at Queensland University of Technology. She conducts research on journalism and politics in Australia and Southeast Asia, particularly indonesia and East Timer. She is secretary of the Journalism Education Association (South Pacific) and has worked as a journalist in Australia and Indonesia.
Michael Bromley is Professor of Journalism at the University of Queensland. A former practicing journalist, he has taught at a number of UK and US universities and has published widely on journalism.