Asian Journalism

Asia is home to the full range of media organizational forms as it operates within diverse systems. Noteworthy features include some of the world's largest newspapers; highly commercialized television news and a lack of independent public service broadcasters; vibrant community media serving rural audiences; and the widespread use of mobile Internet services for news and information exchange. Most of the region's media operate in semi-free or unfree political environments. While there are still cases of brutal repression, the more common threats are economic, such as denying advertising to uncooperative outlets. Businesses, religious groups, organized crime, intolerant mobs, and media themselves can also thwart independent journalism. Asian media have been researched in normative terms, including through the conceptual lenses of “development journalism” and “Asian values,” which may have contributed to caricatured views of journalism in the region. More recent survey research and ethnographic studies have helped to shed light on how Asian journalists actually define good journalism and how they perceive their professional roles.