Asia Media Report 2009

"The Nobel-Prize winning economist Amartya Sen has observed, famously, that it would be impossible for famine to occur in a country where there is a free press. Even if the big media is neglecting its role to comfort the afflicted, that baton will quickly be picked up, given the rapid advance of information technology, by the     citizen journalist. Civil liberties will continue to be the domain of such journalists in troubled countries and regions, like Tibet. With the growing evidence of climate change throughout Asia, most of which is predominantly agricultural, the citizen journalist can only play a still bigger role in the years to come on reporting the situation on the ground, especially when it is remote and inaccessible areas."