SINGAPORE: Singaporeans generally prefer social stability to
freedom of the press. At the same time, more feel that government
or publicly-funded media are doing a "good job" in accurately
reporting news compared to privately-funded companies.
This finding was the result of a poll conducted by research firms
GlobeScan and Synovate that was commissioned by the BBC World
Service to mark its 75th anniversary. In the survey covering 11,344
individuals in 14 countries in October and November, Singapore was
one of the three countries along with India and Russia where
people considered stability more important than media that practise
free speech.
Forty-eight per cent of the Singaporeans polled believed controls
on the media are necessary to ensure harmony, while 43 per cent
felt a free press was very important. Despite the fact that the
media here was perceived "as less free than in any other country
surveyed", 36 per cent gave the local press a high freedom
rating.
Some 42 per cent of Singaporeans gave a "good job" rating to
government-funded media in accuracy and honesty, compared to 32 per
cent for non-government funded companies. However, 51 per cent of
Singaporeans were of the opinion that "ownership (of the media
companies) is a major issue because you often see owners' political
views emerge in the news".
The BBC poll revealed that the world was divided over the
importance of press freedom, with 56 per cent thinking that a free
press is very important to ensure a free society, while 40 per cent
were of the opinion that it is more important to maintain social
harmony even at the expense of a free press.
"While people generally support a free media, the Western view of
the necessity of a free press to ensure a fair society is not
universally shared across all regions of the world," said GlobeScan
head Doug Miller.
Surprisingly, those surveyed in the United Kingdom and the United
States widely considered bastions of free press were largely
critical of the accuracy of news reporting by both publicly and
privately funded organisations. Countries like India and Kenya
scored top points for accurate reporting.
Only 29 per cent in the UK felt that publicly-funded news
organisations had done a "good job" in the accuracy of reporting,
while 28 per cent felt the same for privately-funded news
organisations. The percentages were 28 per cent and 30 per cent,
respectively, for the US.
This result is a blow to the American corporate media, which like
to pride themselves as providers of the most accurate news, said
sociology professor Peter Phillips of Sonoma State University in
the US.
"With the corporate media coverage that increasingly focuses on a
narrow range of celebrity updates, news from 'official' government
sources, and sensationalised crimes and disasters, the
self-justification of being the most fit is no longer valid in the
US," said Prof Phillips.
The countries involved in the survey were Brazil, Egypt, Germany,
India, Kenya, Mexico, Nigeria, Russia, Singapore, South Africa, the
United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, the United States and
Venezuela. With additional reporting from agencies - TODAY/ra