A senior staff member of Singapore's largest newspaper admits there's "significant government pressure" on its editors to follow the government line, according to a newly released WikiLeaks document.
As a result, reporters within the paper are "increasingly frustrated" with the restrictions on what they can report and often seek overseas postings where restrictions are less.
The document, which appears to be a written minute taken in 2009 at the Singapore Embassy, highlighted the private views of two Straits Times journalists and a then-journalism student.
Chua Chin Hon, who is currently the US bureau chief for The Straits Times, was quoted as saying that reporters have to be careful in their coverage of local news, as Singapore's leaders will "likely come down hard" on anyone who reports negatively about the government or its leadership.
He also added that the government exerts significant pressure on ST editors to ensure that published articles follow the government's line, citing examples of how several ministers at the time "routinely call ST editors" to ensure that media coverage of an issue "comes out the way they want it." Full story
Read the entire wikileaks' cable here:
http://wikileaks.org/cable/2009/01/09SINGAPORE61.html
