"The paper looks at how journalists and press councils in two very different media systems in the same region – Indonesia and Malaysia – have addressed the question of journalism ethics in the face of a changing media environment. The Indonesian Press Council, set up within the move to democracy ... in Indonesia, which – although a statutory council – works independently of government has recently been dealing with complaints from the public as well as criticisms from politicians about ethics on the Internet. Some internet coverage is being perceived as harmful and journalists and the press council find themselves having to strike a balance between concerns expressed and issues of free expression. In Malaysia, several internet-only based news-sites have been at the forefront of pushing restrictions on press freedom in the country. At the same time, there is concern expressed about excesses on the Internet. The paper compares these two on-going developments. It includes interviews with journalists from both countries. It will draw conclusions on what type of self-regulatory structure is best placed to deal with new media ethics in new or emerging democracies in South-East Asia while also addressing problems of transferring structures from one media systems to another." (Abstract) more

"Large parts of media development work have focused on providing support to create privately owned, independent media in transition and developing countries. The accepted logic of many donor organisations has been that creating external pluralism, i.e. having many different private media companies o ... perating in one country, is the best way to build democracy and to provide access and voice to citizens. Often the model of choice was the one that has dominated the media landscapes of the United States and Europe since the Second World War: privately owned media funded through advertising and sales revenues. But as advertising income dwindles for traditional media and as newspapers close at alarming rates, the question arises whether promoting this business model in the developing world is the right way forward. In developing a response to this question, this article explains how media assistance has developed, identifies the main characteristics of the current crisis in journalism in the developed world and indicates how some of the experience gained in media development can help to provide answers to the current crisis. Media development itself has come a long way in recent years and today adopts a more holistic approach that focuses not only on building private media but recognises the need for legal reform, civil society involvement, enhanced professional capacity, strengthened institutions that support media freedom and development of technical media infrastructure." (Abstract) more