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Media credibility : a case study of RTM channel 2and TCS channel 5 english‑Language newsbroadcasts

1995

Media credibility : a case study of RTM channel 2 and TCS channel 5 english‑Language newsbroadcasts. (1995). In AMIC‑FES‑ABU Conference (1995 : Kuala Lumpur). Singapore: AsianMedia Information & Communication Centre.

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Media Credibility : A Case Study Of RTM Channel 2 And TCS Channel 5 English-Language News Broadcasts

By

Roy Rampal

ATTENTION: The Singapore Copyright Act applies to the use of this document. Nanyang Technological University Library

ABU-AMIC-ITU-UNESCO Conference on the Impact of New Information Technology on Broadcasting, National Economies and Social Structures

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, February 22-24, 1995

Media Credibility: A Case Study of RTM Channel 2 and TCS Channel 5 English-Language News Broadcasts

By: Roy Rampal, Ph.D. Senior Fellow

Mass Communication Programme National University of Singapore

10 Kent Ridge Crescent Singapore 0511

Abstract

This paper evaluates media credibility in Malaysia and Singapore through a case study of Radio Television Malaysia's Channel 2 and Television Corporation of Singapore's Channel 5 English-language news broadcasts. A qualitative content analysis of the two stations' news broadcasts over a week-long period indicates mat whereas in the developmental journalism framework the two broadcasts appear to be credible, they may not measure up to the watch-dog or Fourth Estate journalism criteria of credibility. Implications of new information technology for "guided" media systems are considered. The study was done within the framework of media ideology in the two countries.


Media Credibility: A Case Study of RTM 2 and TCS 5 English-Language News Broadcasts

By: Roy Rampal, Ph.D. Senior Fellow, Mass Communication

National University of Singapore

The credibility of a medium is the most precious attribute it can have. No matter

what their ideological orientation, mass media's effectiveness in carrying out their

mission — whether it is to serve as watch dogs or to mobilize public opinion in support

of national development programs — depends on their credibility. With literacy rates on

the rise in developing countries, especially in ASEAN nations, today's readers,

listeners and viewers are looking for accurate and objective information from their

newspapers, radio and television. Such an expectation takes an added significance in

view of the fact that the Communication Revolution has brought alternative sources of

information at the fingertips of increasing number of media consumers. Computer on-

line news agency services, availability of a choice of international media through

computer data banks, news and public affairs programming via cable and satellite

television, flow of uncensored information via the telefax, and increasingly affordable

international telephone conversations have all but removed the barriers to the free flow

of information and raised the people's expectations of their own media.

This paper addresses the issue of credibility of two important domestic sources

of information in Malaysia and Singapore — Radio Television Malaysia's Channel 2

and Television Corporation of Singapore's Channel 5. The English-language news

programs of RTM 2, broadcast at 8 p.m., and TCS 5, broadcast at 7 p.m., were

analyzed for a one-week period from February 5 to 11, 1995, by applying the

measurable criteria of credibility.

Before we proceed with this study and its findings, however, we will briefly

look at the ideological framework within which media, especially broadcasting, operate

in these two countries. For, it must be underscored that even though today's educated

2


media consumer may disregard ideological/political constraints on news selection and

presentation in his/her search for credible information, a media credibility study cannot

ignore the ideological underpinnings of the media. Journalists, after all, have no choice

but to work within the ideological/political framework of their country, which

invariably influences, at times even shapes, the nature of the media also (Siebert, et al,

1956). So while there may be a temptation to measure media credibility by Western

watch-dog media standards, it would be more accurate to look at credibility within the

framework of the unique operational ideology adhered to by a given media system,

whether or not the researcher agrees with that ideology. After we assess credibility

from that perspective, we will look at how the credibility of the two stations' news

broadcasts might measure up if it were to be held against the watch-dog press criteria.

Media Ideology: Writing on press policy in ASEAN countries, Lowe has

said that "the strongest ire is reserved for reports of political wrongdoing such as

corrupdon and conflicts of interest among elites. Government spokesmen claim that

these reports are either unsubstantiated, will lead to political instability and/or will lower

the self esteem of their population" (Lowe, 1987, p. 14). In Malaysia and Singapore, he

added, "the media have been subjected to considerable additional legal controls erected

on top of repressive press laws first designed to serve the needs of the colonial

governments which did not want its rationale for governance undermined" (p. 15).

Speaking of the specific role of the press in this region, Lowe says that "there is

deliberate and sustained use of the media for official purposes.. . . Media are made

mouthpieces of government information, without media professionals being allowed

any mediatory effect or any inteipretive role" (p. 17). Leaders of Malaysia and

Singapore, however, view the role of their press differently.

Malaysian Media Ideology: Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad

said in a speech in 1985 that the media must be given freedom, but this freedom must

be exercised with responsibility. This view parallels the one advocated by die American

Commission on Freedom of the Press in 1947. The Commission, which was set up in

response to the public's concern that the American press was highly sensational, argued

3


that while freedom of the press must remain in tact the press had an obligation to

provide quality information to the public to serve the interests of democracy. Indeed,

the Commission prescribed five specific functions to the press to behave responsibly in

a democratic society.

Dr. Mahathir adds, however, that press systems, like political models, cannot

be successfully transplanted from one country to another. "It is essentially up to each

country to choose for itself what is the proper system to adopt or the proper tradition to

follow... . [T]he proper, appropriate system must depend on the objective condition

of a society, its aspirations and state of development" (Mahathir, 1989, p. 108). He

clearly leaves the implication that the role of the press is linked to or determined by the

level of development of a given society. The importance of the role of media in

promoting national unity and development is elaborated by two Malaysian media

scholars. Dr. Syed Arabi Idid sees the media as helping to preserve ethnic and national

unity within the larger national philosophy of Rukunegara (Idid, 1989, pp. 41-56).

Zaharom Nain notes that the Malaysian media have been given the agenda of building a

"caring society," a "mature, democratic" one "with the highest of ethical standards"

where "society comes before self" (Zaharom, 1994, p. 181). In the interests of

achieving these objectives, notes Zaharom, "It is evident that the Malaysian state and

the media have been closely intertwined for quite some time now . .." (p. 181).

This media ideology is reflected in the operating policy of RTM Channels 1 and

2, which states the stations' mission as follows:

1. to explain in depth and with the widest possible coverage the policies and the

programs of the government in order to ensure maximum understanding by the public;

2. to stimulate public interest and opinion in order to achieve changes in line

wifJi the requirements of the government;

3. to assist in promoting civic consciousness and fostering the development of

Malaysian arts and culture;

4. to provide suitable elements of popular education, general information, and

entertainment;

4


5. to aid national integration efforts in a multi-ethnic society through the use of

the national language (Zaharom, 1994, p. 185).

Singapore Media Ideology: In an address to the American Society of

Newspaper Editors in April 1988, the then-Prime Minister of Singapore, Lee Kuan

Yew, said that "One value which does not fit Singapore is the theory that the press is

the Fourth Estate. And in Singapore's experience, because of our volatile racial and

religious mix, the American concept of the 'marketplace of ideas', instead of producing

harmonious enlightenment, has, from time to time, led to riots and bloodshed" (Lee,

1989, p. 120).

Basskaran Nair, writing in his capacity as Senior Assistant Director (Planning),

Ministry of Communications and Information in Singapore, breaks down the specific

role of the country's media as follows: 1) It has a great role to play in nation-building,

i.e. to educate Singaporeans not just with facts, but also in terms of national education

and values; 2) It must not only cater to the elite, but also to the masses. Journalists must

have the ability to put complex matters in readable and simple terms; 3) The Singapore

press should never allow itself to be overawed or coerced into accepting the judgments

of others; 4) The government must be open. It should tell no lies, and asks the press to

tell none. It can explain all its actions, although some issues may be sensitive; 5) The

press must carry the debates and dissent, often adequately covered, in Parliament. If a

journalist wishes to go beyond having a point of view, and wants to campaign for an

issue, the right place is not in his newspaper but in the political arena (Nair, 1989, pp.

88-89; See also Holaday and Kuo, 1993, pp. 199-201).

Nair says that the press system in Singapore is based on three realities: 1)

Singapore wants social cohesion at any cost; 2) Singapore has experienced

communalism and Communism at their worst and has no intention of repetition; and 3)

Singapore inherited laws from die British colonial system which have been modified to

suit local situations. Yet, just as quickly, it should be said that Singapore wants its

people to keep abreast of developments and to conduct business in the modern

economy of a global city (pp. 85-86).

5


It is clear from the foregoing that the media in Malaysia and Singapore are seen

as playing a developmental rather than the Fourth Estate role. Media ownership

structure and laws ensure that the developmental role would be carried out. Although

both Malaysia and Singapore have seen privatization in the broadcast media, RTM

Channels 1 and 2 in Malaysia are owned and operated by the government. The newly

established Television Corporation of Singapore, which runs Channels 5 and 8, is

controlled by Singapore International Media, a fully owned government company

(Hukill, Forthcoming).

Regarding media laws, Lowe says that under the two most stable ASEAN

governments, those of Malaysia and Singapore, "the media have been subjected to

considerable additional legal controls erected on top of repressive press laws first

designed to serve the needs of colonial governments . . . The transition of colonial to

independent regimes has seen a strengthening rather than a lessening of such press

restrictions" (Lowe, 1987, pp. 15-16).

The ideological, ownership and legal structure of the media in Malaysia and

Singapore is clearly designed to support the politics of national development in both

countries. The politics of national development is the politics of leadership control — a

process of establishing, exercising and maintaining power over whatever the leadership

deems necessary to forge the country ahead. Media objectivity, and even neuttality,

could not be expected to be the operational characteristics in such a society; indeed,

media would be expected to actively serve as agents of the government in realizing the

developmental objectives. In the context of such a developmental media philosophy,

credibility would be associated, at least by the respective governments, with the

following media functions: to promote government viewpoint and, ipso facto , de-

emphasize opposition viewpoint; promote consensus and de-emphasize discord;

promote societal achievements and de-emphasize societal ills; and, cooperate with the

government and de-emphasize confrontation with the government.

Whether or not today's educated and discriminating media consumer associates

these media characteristics with credibility, media have no choice but to perform these

6


functions in view of the ideological, ownership and legal constraints. Our two-pronged

analysis of the credibility of the two stations' news broadcasts would take into account

the above-mentioned credibility criteria inherent in the developmental role of the media

in Malaysia and Singapore, and then we will consider the stations' credibility within the

context of the Fourth Estate role of the media.

Research objective and methodology: This study is designed to

investigate the credibility of RTM Channel 2 and TCS Channel 5 English-language

news broadcasts at 8 p.m. and 7 p.m., respectively. The author applied the definition

of credibility associated with media operating under the Fourth Estate philosophy in

evaluating the news broadcasts of the two stations: a) The news organization has the

necessary autonomy in order to be able to select, prepare and present news in a credible

manner; b) The news organization sticks to professional news standards of timeliness,

accuracy, objectivity, balance, relevance and independence from government control.

As our research propositions below will state, the stations' news broadcasts are

expected to reflect credibility associated primarily with the developmental role of the

press rather than the Fourth Estate role.

Our discussion of the ownership structure of the two stations indicates that

neither RTM 2 nor TCS 5 is an autonomous news operation in view of the government-

mandated news framework within which the stations have to operate. An excellent

example of a publicly owned broadcasting system having necessary autonomy is the

British Broadcasting Corporation, whose editorial autonomy is ensured by a Board of

Governors even though the BBC is financed by the taxpayers. Secondly, the Malaysian

and Singapore governments maintain financial conttolling interest in the respective

stations in the two countries. Although true autonomy may never be possible, privately

owned and commercially operated media are generally believed to be more autonomous

than the ones in which governments maintain financial controlling interests.

Part B of the definition of credibility was operationalized as follows: Since

accuracy of information is linked to the quality of its source, a credible news item must

provide documentation of sources. In addition, the objectivity of the source reflects

7


upon both the probable accuracy as well as the objectivity of the broadcast itself. In

situations where an objective source is not available, a credible news item will cite

competing sources to achieve balance whenever possible. A second presumption is that

a credible news service will broadcast news stories in proportion to their relevance.

Excessive and/or weak coverage of issues gives an indication of inappropriate selection

criteria and less than professional operation of the medium. A third presumption is that

an autonomous news service is most likely to present news in a factual and balanced

manner. Autonomous news organizations provide relevant and factual information

without supporting any faction as a standard procedure. When unbiased sources are

unavailable, the independence of a station will be reflected by the extent of balanced

coverage given to the conflicting sides.

The above presumptions, which link elements of credibility to variables

measurable through content analysis, provide the basis for empirical analysis of the

credibility of two stations.

Research propositions: Given the official intentions of the state in both

Malaysia and Singapore reflected through the structural make-up, legal controls, and

prescribed news ideology for the two stations, some propositions that will help in

understanding the credibility issue can be made.

Proposition 1: "Hard" news items about local/national issues will primarily or

exclusively reflect the government viewpoint and de-emphasize or ignore the opposition

viewpoints.

Proposition 2: Stories that are not politically sensitive, "soft" news stories and

features will be tteated in a more objective manner, providing opposing viewpoints on

the central issue in the news.

Proposition 3: News broadcasts will not take the Western style watch-dog

approach to issues and instead stress the positive aspects of their respective nations to

maintain citizen morale and their faith in their respective governments.

8


Proposition 4: "Hard" news items on international issues will reflect opposing

viewpoints on the issues unless a given issue has a special relevance domestically, in

which case its treatment would parallel the government outlook on the issue.

The news broadcasts of the two stations were content analyzed for one week

from February 5 to 11, 1995. Content analysis is a research technique for the objective,

systematic, and quantitative description of the manifest content of communication. The

author applied a qualitative approach to analyzing the content analysis data.

Variables of analysis and procedure: Three different codings were

completed to determine the level of credibility of the two stations' news broadcasts. The

codings were done of each news story broadcast on the two stations during the

specified period. Analysis was done in the following categories:

1) News sources: All references to sources in hard news stories were identified

as government, opposition and/or neutral/objective source. All references to sources in

soft news stories were identified as "Pro," or official spokesperson on the issue;

"Con," or a spokesperson of the camp taking opposing viewpoint on the issue; and,

"Independent," or a neutral/objective view on the issue. These codings permitted

checks both on the proportion of sources in the three categories and balance in reliance

on sources.

2) News content: News content orientation of national hard news stories was

identified as linked with some government/establishment action or initiative, opposition

action or initiative, or providing a balanced treatment. News content orientation of

international hard stories was designated as "Pro," or official/government viewpoint on

the issue; "Con," or opposition's viewpoint on the issue; and, "Balance," meaning

taking a two-sided view on the issue.

3) Coverage of Issues: Each news item was labeled as a developmental, watch-

dog or straight news/information story.

Results: On average, there were 22 news items per news broadcast on TCS

Channel 5 and 26 items on RTM Channel 2. Total number of stories over the week,

story themes and percentages are given below:

9


Table 1

Total Number of Stories and Story Theme

Theme RTM 2 Percentage TCS 5 Percentage

a) Current Events 61 33.5% 21 14% National

b) Current Events

International 41 22.5% 38 24.57c

c) News Features 9 5% 11 7%

d) Feature Stories 14 8% 40 26%

e) Sports 14 8% 16 10%

0 Business/Finance 30 16% 20 13%

g) Medicine/Health 6 3% 5 3%

h) Other 7 4% 4 2.5%

Total 182 100% 155 100%

The story themes were defined as follows:

Current Events - National: Late-breaking issues, "hard" news pertaining to domestic matters.

Current Events - International: Late-breaking issues, foreign policy, international relations, "hard" news.

News Features: Human-interest story angle with some "soft" newsworthy information.

Features: Human-interest stories without any "hard" or "soft" news dimension.

Sports: National and international sporting events.

Business/Finance: Business developments, stocks/shares, currency exchange, etc.

Medicine/Health: Wellness, hospitals, procedures, etc.

Other: Items that did not fit into any of the above categories.

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Table 2

Hard News or Current Events -

Source Orientation

- National

Government Opposition Independent

RTM2 45 6 10

TCS 5 16 1 4

Table 3

Soft News - News Features and Features

Source Orientation

Pro Con Independent

RTM 2

TCS 5

18

35

14

28

16

25

Table 4

Current Events -- National

News Content Orientation

Government/ Opposition Other stories Establishment Action

Action

RTM 2 53 0 8

TCS 5 20 0 1

11


Table 5

Current Events -- International

News Content Orientation

Pro Con Balance

RTM2

TCS 5

6

8

5

2

30

28

Table 6

Current Events -- National

Coverage Orientation

Watch dog Developmental News/Information

RTM 2

TCS 5

0

0

35

8

26

13

Table 7

Soft News -- News Features and Features

Coverage Orientation

Watch dog Developmental News/Information

RTM 2 3 14 6

TCS 5 18 25 8

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Discussion: The above data reveal a number of interesting points. Hard news

items about domestic issues make up a relatively short component of the news

broadcasts of the two stations. Singapore's 14% is substantially less than Malaysia's

33.5%, although the former situation could be partly explained by the fact that

Singapore is much smaller in size than Malaysia and, therefore, is unlikely to generate

as much news on a daily basis. However, considering that even Malaysia's hard news

component is only one-third of the total news items, one wonders whether the news

ideology and structural constraints in both countries are discouraging a greater focus on

hard news. As much as 60% of the half-hour news broadcasts on network television

news in the United States, for example, is devoted to domestic hard news. A serious

viewer turning to RTM 2 and TCS 5 for hard news may feel disappointed with the

news fare. To the extent that credibility is associated with the "serious, hard news"

purpose of a news program, the credibility of both stations may be suspect, although

RTM 2 would obviously fare better in view of its greater focus on hard news.

Domestic hard news stories in both countries convey primarily the viewpoint of

government or official sources, as indicated in Table 2. This is consistent with the

developmental journalism philosophy in both countries and a viewer sharing that

philosophy may find the information credible. From the viewpoint of watch dog or

Fourth Estate journalism, however, the primarily exclusive reliance on government

sources would be considered inappropriate and the credibility of the news item would

be suspect, especially on issues that would naturally lend themselves to opposing

viewpoints. As Table 2 indicates, RTM 2 tended to refect the opposition and

independent viewpoints slightly more than was the case with TCS 5.

Interestingly, soft news, meaning news features and straight features about

issues other than major political, societal and economic concerns, mostly reflected a

two-sided viewpoint on the issues, often integrating a third independent, or expert,

source as well as seen in Table 3. Such an approach to the treatment of feature stories

is, of course, consistent with watch-dog journalism but also very compatible with

13


developmental journalism, which encourages debate on developmental issues in the

socio-cultural arena. Treatment of soft news issues, therefore, appears to be credible

within die framework of both news ideologies.

In the area of news content orientation in the coverage of domestic current

events, news items were almost exclusively initiated by the actions of the respective

governments or other establishment bodies, as shown in Table 4. Surprisingly, neither

RTM 2 nor TCS 5 earned a single news item during the week which arose as a result of

some opposition action or statement. It is difficult to believe that no such news item

emerged from the opposition during the entire week. The news orientation reflected

would be held consistent with developmental journalism, which promotes consensus

and de-emphasizes discord on key national issues. The news orientation, however, is

not consistent with the watch-dog journalism philosophy, which would not hesitate in

running a news item necessitated by some opposition action. Whereas the news

orientation of the two stations may be seen as credible from developmental viewpoint, it

would not be considered so from the standpoint of watch-dog journalism.

International news stories, by and large, were treated in an objective manner on

both RTM 2 and TCS 5, carrying at least two sides to the issues presented. There were

some stories on both stations, as indicated in Table 5, that appeared to be one-sided,

however. For example, RTM 2 ran a story on February 8 that simply stated that the

European Union had proposed to link trade with labor issues. The story made no

reference to the specific concerns of the EU, which have been broadcast on the BBC

World Service, for example, in regards to the use of labor. The story went on to say

that Malaysia rejects any linkage between trade and labor matters. By the same token,

TCS 5, in a story on February 9 on the U.S.-China trade dispute over alleged piracy of

U.S. products in China, gave only the Chinese viewpoint on the issue. In view of the

balance in the treatment of most international stories, these two examples could be

considered as not significant to adversely affect the credibility of international news on

the two stations. However, if a pattern were to emerge that indicates that international

stories with special domestic relevance play up the national "self-interest" angle, then

14


even the credibility of international news on the two stations would become suspect.

The BBC story on ttade and labor linkage had mentioned, for example, that the U.S.

and the European Union had expressed concerns about labor rights in ASEAN

countries, among others. RTM 2, however, chose not to include that view and simply

announced the Malaysian government's rejection of any linkages. TCS 5's focus on

only the Chinese viewpoint on the piracy issue may suggest a Sino-centric treatment of

issues pertaining to China in view of Singapore's deep roots in China.

None of the hard news stories on either RTM 2 or TCS 5 took what would be

considered a watch-dog news angle, meaning identifying a significant problem or

concern associated with a public issue as seen by informed, opposing viewpoints on

the issue (Table 6). Such a story can originate with an expert or influential source, or

from reportorial research. The absence of such hard news stories could be attributed to

the developmental media ideology in the two countries, as explained earlier. This view

is confirmed by the fact that a substantial number of hard news stories were presented

within the developmental journalism framework. A special report on TCS 5, for

example, went into some detail to show that access to public and commercial buildings

for handicapped people was constantly being improved without going much into the

extent of the problem faced in Singapore. RTM 2, on February 8, carried a story on a

government policy to curb "violence, horror and sex" in entertainment programming

without identifying the specific nature and extent of the problem in Malaysia. A number

of stories, as indicated in Table 6, fell in the "news/information" category, usually

purveying governmental announcements with some news aspect to them. The coverage

orientation of hard news, therefore, appears to be credible from developmental

journalism perspective, but not from the watch-dog perspective.

Interestingly, TCS 5 carried a number of soft news stories with a watch-dog

journalism orientation. For example, a stoiy reported that a number of people were

unhappy with the quality of furniture sold by some retailers in Singapore and how the

furniture industry was responding to address this concern. Indeed, soft news stories

appear to be the most credible portion of the TCS 5 news broadcasts if one were to

15


associate credibility with a significant news angle treated in an objective and balanced

manner. RTM 2, which devotes a larger section of its half-hour newscast to hard news

as compared with TCS 5, correspondingly carries less soft news stories, which are

mosdy treated in a developmental journalism fashion although there was occasional

evidence of watch-dog oriented soft news stories.

Conclusion: The qualitative content analysis in this study supports

Proposition 1 that hard news items about local/national issues will primarily or

exclusively reflect the government viewpoint and de-emphasize or ignore the opposition

viewpoints. Such a treatment may be considered credible from the standpoint of

"developmental" journalism, which aims for national consensus and stability in the

interests of nation-building. From the watch-dog journalism perspective, which aims

for identifying societal problems and addressing them in an objective and candid

manner, the treatment of hard news about local/national events may not be considered

credible.

The analysis supports Proposition 2, which says that stories that are not

politically sensitive, soft news stories and features will be Seated in a more objective

manner, providing opposing viewpoints on the central issue in the news. Both RTM 2

and TCS 5 provide substantially greater objectivity and balance in covering such issues.

Since the developmental journalism philosophy accommodates debate on soft news

issues (because it does not see any threat from such a debate to the larger needs of

maintaining consensus and stability at the national level), the treatment of soft news

issues appears to be credible both from developmental journalism and watch-dog

journalism orientations.

Proposition 3, which says that news broadcasts will not take the Western style

watch-dog approach to issues and instead stress the positive aspects of their respective

nations to maintain citizen morale and their faith in their respective governments, is

upheld vis-a-vis the coverage orientation of hard news about domestic events. This

proposition, however, is not upheld in regards to the coverage orientation of soft news,

where the watch-dog approach is often evident, especially on TCS 5. So, the coverage

16


orientation of hard news may be held credible from developmental journalism

perspective only, whereas the coverage orientation of soft news appears to be credible

both from developmental and watch-dog journalism orientations.

Proposition 4, which says that hard news on international issues will reflect

opposing viewpoints unless a given issue has a special relevance domestically, in

which case its treatment would parallel the government oudook on the issue, appears to

be valid in view of the examples indicated earlier. Coverage of international news when

no domestic self-interest of Malaysia or Singapore is involved appears to be credible,

although the coverage of issues where some domestic interest is involved may raise a

credibility concern from the watch-dog standpoint, if not from the developmental

journalism perspective.

Since the credibility of the two stations' hard news within the framework of

watch-dog or Fourth Estate journalism philosophy appears to be questionable, its

implications in this age of Communication Revolution cannot be ignored. As mentioned

at the beginning of this paper, today's educated media consumer expects objective and

balanced information on issues of significance. And if he does not get such information

from domestic media, he will turn to alternative sources of information which, thanks

to the wonders of modern technology, are increasingly available.

Take the example of India. Although India has a free and vibrant print media,

broadcasting was a protected government monopoly for more than four decades since

India's independence in 1947. Operating within me developmental journalism

philosophy, broadcast news essentially purveyed the government viewpoint, often to

the dismay of opposition political parties. A variety of studies indicated that the

credibility of broadcast news in India was low compared with that of the print media

(Rampal, 1984, pp. 3-20). As satellite television became available in India in the late

1980s, people increasingly turned to CNN International and BBC World Television for

news, which were seen as providing a more candid and balanced coverage of news

developments in India. As a result, ratings of the news broadcasts of Doordarshan, the

government owned-and-operated television network, plummeted.

17


Since the Indian government could not keep satellite television out of the

country in view of the constitutional right of the people to have free access to

information and the sheer size of India, which would make it logistically difficult to

enforce a ban on the reception of such television, Doordarshan was left with no choice

but to adapt in order to compete. Consequently, not only its news has become more

balanced, but now it also carries specially produced investigative news and public

affairs programs such as "News Track," which are highly popular with the Indian

viewers. The government-run Doordarshan, therefore, has wisely chosen the course of

competing with foreign news broadcasts rather than trying to revert the tide of what is

apparently here to stay, the Communication Revolution.

The adapting to compete with alternative news sources does not necessarily

have to be done at the expense of developmental mission of national news broadcasts.

Guided media systems, such as those of Malaysia and Singapore, do not have to

change their news values from "developmental" to "watch dog" to compete with

alternative news sources. But while choosing a journalistic philosophy and news values

within that philosophy is their prerogative, carrying out the news values chosen in an

accurate, objective and balanced way is their obligation. It is in the latter arena that real

competition for credibility lies, for the media consumer is willing to accommodate

varying news values but not inaccurate, one-sided and self-serving treatment of news

issues.

In addition, the sensibilities of today's media consumer are fine-tuned enough

to tell a real "news" story from a "publicity" story. Developmental journalism cannot

get away wim primarily "publicity" stories any more and has to search for "news"

stories that are significant and meaningful to people's lives. If people do not find issues

of significance and their treatment in an accurate, objective and balanced manner in the

national media, they are bound to become apathetic toward such media and turn

elsewhere to satisfy their news and information needs.

Turning elsewhere has been made easier by the Information Revolution. One

can bypass the traditional "gatekeepers" of information in one's country — publishers,

18


editors and even journalists — and go straight to wire service stories and a choice of

international media available through a variety of computer on-line services, including

the Internet. Direct access to wire service stories has also enabled media consumers to

compare the original story with the one that was published in a national medium and

determine whether the story's objectivity was affected through the "editing" process of

the gatekeepers. So it appears that the Information Revolution will do to protected and

guided media systems what free competition and the open market philosophy have done

to protected economies — improve the quality of the "protected" product.

There is a lesson to be learned as to the influence of new technologies on social

structures as well. Although there continues to be a legitimate concern of many

governments and people in Asia that the portrayal of permissive Western values and

sex-and-violence oriented programming on satellite television would adversely affect

the delicate social fabric of Asian societies, such television is not entirely without any

redeeming value in the social arena. For example, the huge popularity of the Hindi-

language programming earned by STAR-TV for its Indian viewers is promoting Hindi

across the country, a development that the Indian government is bound to welcome.

The government has wanted to make Hindi the national language, but this language is

spoken by just over 40 percent of the population. The Education Ministry's effort since

the 1960s to promote the "Learn Hindi" campaign has faced stiff resistance in parts of

multi-lingual India, where understandably people hold a special affinity for their own

vernacular language. Since entertainment programming brought by satellite television

does not appear to have any hidden agenda, it is apparently contributing to the solution

of a sociological problem that the government policy has not been able to solve.

In any case, it looks increasingly certain that politically guided media systems

will lose their relevance in view of the diverse and quality information available as a

result of the continuous advances in the technology of information. As Microsoft's Bill

Gates, speaking in Singapore in January 1995 to the highest officials of the land, said,

"The Information Revolution will break all barriers to the free flow of information."

Already the size of satellite dishes has come down to about 18 inches in diameter with

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the introduction of direct broadcast satellite television, a development that would make

it difficult for governments to keep foreign television out. And, then, there is the

Information Superhighway, which is opening up access to wide-ranging information

on thousands of topics. News and discussion groups on Internet, for example, are

attracting ever-increasing number of participants to a free marketplace of ideas. The

Economic Revolution taking place in the ASEAN region has implications for local

media also. The outward-oriented economies of this region send thousands of their

citizens abroad each year, whose international exposure is bound to raise their

aspirations for believable and reliable information.

The new dynamics of information flow and consumption created by

technological and economic developments are, no doubt, putting pressure on guided

media systems, such as RTM 2 and TCS 5, to live up to their consumers' expectations

in this age of Information Revolution. The most compelling question facing such media

is how they can balance the media role espoused by political leaders with the one

expected by today's alert and sophisticated consumer of information.

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