The global press crisis -- can it get worse?

2025 was not a good year for the legacy media in Southeast Asia with the closure of Voice of America and Radio Free Asia compounding the damage already done by press-averse governments in countries like Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam. Vital funding for other besieged media outlets also disappeared with the closure of USAID and the reassessment of assistance priorities by other governments.

The news last week that the Washington Post, is laying off 300 journalists augurs poorly for the coming year. Last September, the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (IDEA) in Stockholm, which monitors 174 countries around the world, reported the largest fall in global press freedom in its 50-year existence. According to IDEA, Myanmar saw one of the three largest declines, while the US started backsliding in 2021.

Social media and artificial intelligence are among the commonly cited threats to the journalist profession. Indeed, this is what one AI search has to say about the situation:

“The global press is experiencing a profound, multi-faceted crisis characterized by a sharp decline in press freedom, widespread economic collapse of media outlets, and increased safety risks for journalists. Roughly 85% of the world's population has experienced a decline in media freedom, with rising authoritarianism, censorship, and disinformation campaigns severely limiting, independent journalism.

“Traditional media is losing revenue, leading to massive layoffs, widespread media closures, and the disappearance of local news, with fewer than 1,000 daily print newspapers remaining in the US by late 2025. Social media, which often monetizes outrage, has eroded trust in professional journalism, allowing misinformation to flourish and shrinking the space for independent, fact-based reporting.”

The FCCT will have a panel of flesh and blood journalists to ponder the gloomy situation. Confirmed panelists:

Keith Richburg has been a member of the Washington Post’s editorial board since 2023. His storied career as a foreign correspondent includes postings as the Post’s bureau chief in Beijing and Hong Kong. He was president of the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Hong Kong from 2021 to 2023.

British-American photographer Gary Knight was born in England in 1964, and launched his career from Bangkok in the late 1980s. He moved his working base to the former Yugoslavia in 1993, and was a contract photographer for Newsweek from 1999 to 2009. He cofounded the influential VII Photo Agency in 2000, and chaired the World Press Photo contest in 2008 and 2014. He has a long involvement in training young journalists, including with the UK branch of the Bangkok-founded Indochina Media Memorial Foundation.

Moderator, Dominic Faulder, FCCT board member and Nikkei Asia associate editor.

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Members who wish to book in advance should email info@fccthai.com or call the FCCT office on 02-652-0580.

Non-members can use this link.