Tidbits of the region’s media

As a new year rolls in, a host of lists 'measuring' everything from poverty to literacy to mortality rates are doing their annual rounds. It is a depressing time for Southasians, whose countries are inevitably at the bottom of most such rankings. Chhetria Patrakar would like to begin by embracing the bad news on the media front. Pakistan bagged third place, followed by India, with Afghanistan, Nepal and Sri Lanka coming ninth as 'most dangerous' countries for journalists. While we could certainly quibble over methodology and placing, scribes do have a tough time in Southasia. With the high level of intimidation and insecurity in many parts of the region, the situation may well be more dire than the rankings make it out to be.

Journalists though, can at times be far from victimhood. For instance, the media fiasco that ensued during the Bombay attacks has by now been discussed ad nauseam. One welcome step in the aftermath is a self-imposed media guideline by India's News Broadcasters Association. According to the body, media will, in the future, be sensitive when showing graphic images of victims; not make contact with attackers and victims during rescue operations; and not report on hostage situations. Reasonable self-regulation is certainly better than the frenetic, uninformed 'reporting' seen of late. But with over 60 news channels, many of them new and struggling, fighting to get viewers' attention, sticking to the guideline may well be a tall order. Worse still, what no guideline seems to be able to control is the instantaneous finger pointing – of course at the usual 'suspect', Pakistan.

Over in Pakistan, however, reporters seem as vehement as their colleagues in India, filling the airwaves with unsubstantiated rabble rousing. The Indian media's knee-jerk reaction toward Pakistan has been much criticised, and justifiably so. Beyond that, much of the Pakistan press has fully embraced the kind of jingoistic, ultra-nationalist reporting it criticises the Indian media for. For instance, certain anchors are busy accusing RAW of meddling in the tribal areas, and supporting separatist movements including Balochistan. Without going into the truth of these allegations, it must be said that this is the same tack the Indian media takes, blaming the ISI for all of the country's woes.  Worryingly, the rhetoric on the importance of the army and the ISI in protecting Pakistani interests has strengthened considerably. It is times such as these that test the value of the much-touted rounds of Composite Dialogues and the stream of Confidence-building Measures. CP is sad to report that, at crunch time, these very important steps forward seem to have a minimal impact.

Many Internet users in the post-Bombay attacks period suddenly found their email accounts being suspended, especially by Google and Yahoo. The reason? 'Suspicious' subject lines like "terror" and "attacks". No wonder this magazine had trouble accessing its contributors' stories, photographs and artwork. Besides inconvenience to ordinary citizens, do such measures really stop armed youth from storming into crowded places and spraying innocent bystanders with bullets?

Even with the brand new Nasheed government at the helm, the practice of religions other than Islam continues to be controlled in the Maldives. The officials at the Ministry of Islamic Affairs were busy this month exploring alternatives to block a website, with material in both Dhivehi and English, about Christ with lyrics of Christian songs. The Ministry was silent about its reasons for this blatant censorship. But Sheikh Ibrahim Fareed Ahmed, a fire-breathing sermon maker, jumped into the fray to explain that the site, and others like it, would only further deteriorate the "weak" faith many Maldivians already have in Islam. Ah, well, CP can hardly condemn such a flawless argument.

In better news from the atolls, the Maldivian Women's Media Corp has just gotten off the ground. All the best to them!

When it comes to using the media to spread its message in the long-raging war in Sri Lanka, the LTTE has traditionally proven to be far more competent than the government. But Colombo seems to be catching up. Recently, the Defence Ministry posted a video on YouTube of a Tamil woman who, at a ministerial building, blows herself up, taking with her the political secretary of the minister. The logic behind posting the video, which has been watched many times, was a part of the government's effort to show the Tigers as 'terrorists' – rather than the 'liberators' they see themselves as. In fact, since 2006, the government has had an entire department – the Media Centre for National Security – to manage its information campaign against the rebels. At the end of the day, with contradictory information coming from the Media Centre and from the LTTE, the fact remains that Sri Lankans really have little reliable information about what is actually happening in their country.

After almost two years of a military-backed government, many hopes are riding on the outcome of the 29 December elections in Bangladesh. Though it seems journalists have little to look forward to, at least if one believes the recent report by the International Press Institute's mission to Dhaka. Not surprisingly, the report found that the interim government has used both emergency powers and supposed anti-terrorism laws to clamp down on the media. But whether the state of the media will improve, even after the now almost-assured departure of the interim government, remains questionable. To begin with, most of the major news outlets were found to be split along the political divide – clearly supporting either the Awami League or the Bangladesh Nationalist Party. And with appointments to the judiciary also politically motivated, journalists have no real recourse when they are slapped with the vague, but punishable, charge of "criminal defamation."

Over in Nepal, more than three years after the end of the peace agreement, attacks on media groups and staff continues to be commonplace. On 21 December, about 50 people including two well-know Maoist labour union leaders, attacked the office of the Himalmedia group, which publishes the English weekly Nepali Times and the Nepali fortnightly Himal Khabarpatrika. Twelve staff members were injured in the attack, in addition to damage done to the premises and the property in the building. The attackers reportedly called recent stories about Maoist excesses in both publications anti-Maoist, threatening staff for having written the stories. This is only the latest in a series of attacks in the last month when copies of Himal Khabarpatrika were set on fire, an office van was damaged and staff members were threatened. And on 23 December, the newspaper reading public in Nepal was greeted by blank editorials…a form of protest that was last seen during the days of former king Gyanendra. Where is the new republic heading?

Most publications go a long way to court advertisers, a necessary money lifeline. Not so with Prantik, an Assamese language fortnightly, that has decided to not print ads. According to the editor of the magazine, this is to keep the content uninfluenced by the demands of the advertisers. Impressive indeed.