Freedom from the Press: Journalism and State Power in Singapore

by Cherian George

For several decades, the city-state of Singapore has been an international anomaly, combining an advanced, open economy with restrictions on civil liberties and press freedom. Cherian George assesses why the PAP's "freedom from the press" model has lasted longer than many other authoritarian systems.

Given Singapore's unique place on the world map of press freedom and democracy, this book not only provides a constructive engagement with ongoing debates about the city-state but also makes a significant contribution to the comparative study of journalism and politics.

Genres: Politics, Nonfiction

336 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2012

About the author

Cherian George, born in Singapore in 1965, is a journalist-turned-academic who has written on Singapore politics for 30 years. After studying social and political sciences at Cambridge and journalism at Columbia, he spent the 1990s working at the Straits Times. He received his PhD in communication at Stanford in 2003 and is currently a professor of media studies at Hong Kong Baptist University.

Reviews

[Jo]

An excellent read. It’s the middle of three books on Singapore by Cherian George which I have bought and am ploughing through this year: ‘Singapore: The Air-Conditioned Nation’(2000), ‘Freedom From the Press’(2012), and the latest one, ‘Singapore, Incomplete’(2017), which is next on my list. It is quite fascinating reading books by the same author with 5-10 years between them, reflecting on the way things are here. You get a sense of the author himself developing, alongside a history lesson with an engaging sense of immediacy. George offers careful analysis based on a vast collection of research and stories. I come away from his books with a strange mixture of fear and awe. The ‘calibrated coercion’ of PAP hegemony in Singapore is matched only by its sophistication and cleverness. I was particularly fascinated by the discussion of new media and how the internet has begun to change the game.

[Andrew]

Essential reading for understanding contemporary Singapore, and the frighteningly sophisticated (and mostly indirect) apparatus of repression here.

[Dhevarajan]

meticulously researched and theory of calibrated coercion well grounded in evidence.

[Basil Chong]

Comprehensive overview of the uniquely Singaporean media landscape from a media scholar and insider. Balanced and insightful. Strongly recommended for Singaporeans and press freedom scholars.

[Margery Osborne]

important read

[T]

3.5 - Well researched but can be dry at times. Author’s background should be kept in mind when reading the book.