Managing the media in the wake of the Asian economic crisis

Associate Professor Garry Rodan

The Asian economic crisis has created an interesting experiment in which 'selective corporate and fiscal forms of transparency are countenanced' by the governments of Singapore and Malaysia, but at the expense of restrictions on press freedom, according to Murdoch University political scientist Associate Professor Garry Rodan.

"Singapore and Malaysia, being 'highly-internationalised economies', have moved to reassure international business that fiscal and corporate reforms are high on their agendas through combinations of massive public relations campaigns and tighter management of the media," Professor Rodan says.

Both nations have made a number of concrete reforms '... particularly within the banking and financial sectors to enhance information and data availability', but there are still constraints on the press which, he says, inhibit critical and investigative reporting.

Nevertheless, political and social activists hope to harness the idea of greater transparency to democratisation, suggesting that the case for extended citizenship rights can now be argued on the grounds of economic necessity.

After the economic crisis hit Malaysia, a National Economic Recovery Plan (NERP) was released (August 1998), placing emphasis on the need for better public relations, targetting: "Relevant strategic audiences... with the message that Malaysia should be differentiated from other emerging countries in various ways, including economic fundamentals, finance sector resilience, political stability and its commitment to act on reforms."

Professor Rodan says: "Malaysia's 'communication team' (set up under the NERP) heralded an unprecedented move in that nation towards sophistication in trying to promote positive images through media management.

"The PR strategy included private briefings of fund managers and other prospective and existing investors.

"Public relations motives notwithstanding, the new approach has brought some gains to the quality, range and availability of information relevant to market decisions."

There have also been developments involving corporate transparency and governance, with both Singapore and Malaysia tightening disclosure rules for banks soon after the financial crisis hit.

But Professor Rodan believes policymakers and bureaucrats view control over information as crucial to economic strategic management.

"The Asian economic crisis has focussed minds more sharply on the extent, quality and timeliness of information," he says. "But thus far all we have witnessed is a consolidation of existing relations between state and media.

"This is not withstanding challenges by way of alternative media including the internet."

Nevertheless, he sees the move on the part of the Singapore and Malaysian governments to embrace (albeit limited) transparency as giving activists in both countries the opportunity to engage their governments and the general public in debate on the wider application of this principle.