Club Lunch: Media and Power in Singapore: Seeing Beyond the Paradox

Speaker: Cherian GEORGE
Visiting Associate Professor, Journalism & Media Studies Centre, Hong Kong University

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 8, 2013
12:45PM – LUNCH
1:15PM – ADDRESS
1st FLOOR

Topic: Media and Power in Singapore: Seeing Beyond the Paradox

For decades, Singapore has been an oddity in the developed world, a thriving metropolis where press freedom and civil liberties remain in the backwaters. Mr. George analyses how this system has been entrenched and argues that Singapore may be less paradoxical than most commentators assume. Instead, it may be paradigmatic of an emerging authoritarian norm, in which regimes use coercion, markets and responsiveness to public opinion in ways that consolidate their power.

Cherian George is a Singaporean academic and journalist. He is the author of three books: Freedom From the Press (2012); Contentious Journalism and the Internet (2006); and Singapore: The Air-Conditioned Nation (2000). His research focuses on journalism and politics, including freedom of expression, alternative media and censorship. He worked as a journalist at The Straits Times before joining academia. He is currently on leave from Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, where he is an associate professor at the Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information and serves as Director of the Asia Journalism Fellowship.