BANGKOK/MANILA -- Myanmar has closed off an entire section of the country to reporters. Cambodia is shutting down news organizations. The Philippine president has casually discussed murdering journalists. And the Thai government has suggested the press needs some "attitude adjustment."
Hopes for constructive, healthy tension between Southeast Asia's increasingly authoritarian governments and the media have degenerated into mutual contempt and increasingly naked repression. Indeed, some journalists and bloggers have effectively been designated enemies of the state.
