Characteristically, Lee bluntly defended such measures. Speaking to a conference of foreign editors and publishers after the closure of the Herald, he said, “Freedom of the news media must be subordinated to the overriding needs of Singapore, and to the primacy of purpose of an elected government.” Because the foreign press wasn’t subject to local printing laws, newspapers or magazines whose articles were viewed as defamatory either were sued or had their Singapore circulation cut. Among those thus punished: Time, for nine months during the late 1980s. In its latest press-freedom index, Reporters Without Borders ranks Singapore No. 153 out of 180 countries, partly because of the still restrictive regulation of media and a lawsuit against a local blogger.