Freedom of the press
Opinion
Opinion
2011-05-05 15:08
By LIM SUE GOAN
By LIM SUE GOAN
Translated by Soong Phui Jee
Sin Chew Daily
Malaysia has dropped from 141 to 143 out of 196 countries surveyed worldwide in the Freedom of the Press Index released by US-based Freedom House. It is categorised as "not free".
It shows that despite the efforts of several decades, Malaysia has not much improved in terms of press freedom.
It shows that despite the efforts of several decades, Malaysia has not much improved in terms of press freedom.
After the national independence, freedom of the press has never been included in the government's plan of improvement due to political, racial and religious sensitivities. If there is a ranking for different fields, politics would top the list, followed by economy while freedom of the press would be ranked the bottom.
During the administration of Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, the press lacked freedom and not much improvement had been made in Tun Abdullah Badawi's era. We thought that policies would be relaxed after the 2008 general election but freedom of the press has not been included in the Key Performance Index (KPI), National Key Results Areas (NKRA), Government Transformation Plan (GTP) and Economic Transformation Programme (ETP).
Our ranking is inconsistent with the status of a middle-income country. It is indeed shameful that Malaysia has been ranked below East Timor (77), the Philippines (93), Indonesia (108) and Cambodia (141) with relatively weaker economies.
There are three criteria to assess a country's freedom of the press:
Law and control: if there are many laws to control and restrain the media, the space of coverage will shrink. Media practitioners will naturally self-filter as they are fear of breaking the laws.
The government plans to amend the Printing Press and Publication Act but no action has yet been taken. However, the revised publications guidelines might control various information circulating on the Internet. If the law is tightened instead of relaxed, our ranking is likely to drop further next year.
The government plans to amend the Printing Press and Publication Act but no action has yet been taken. However, the revised publications guidelines might control various information circulating on the Internet. If the law is tightened instead of relaxed, our ranking is likely to drop further next year.
If the Home and Information Communication and Culture Ministries plan to establish a national media advisory council so that the government is empowered to lead and restrain the media, the outlook for press freedom will be more gloomy.
The status of the media: in a country with a high degree of press freedom, the constitution, courts and government will protect the media and therefore, the media enjoy a high status. For example, President Richard Nixon was prompted to resign during the 1972 Watergate scandal.
In Malaysia, the mainstream media are controversial. They might be accused of being intervened by politics or becoming a racial camp, and lose their credibility and status.
In Malaysia, the mainstream media are controversial. They might be accused of being intervened by politics or becoming a racial camp, and lose their credibility and status.
It is a tragedy on the Press Freedom Day when National Union of Journalists (NUJ) President Hata Wahari was dismissed by the Utusan Melayu.
The quality of news: if the media become a day-book reporting only what people have said, it will be empty in terms of value.
The Los Angeles Times won the Pulitzer Prize gold medal for public service this year for revealing official corruption in Bell. In Malaysia, instead of corruption revealing reports, award winning reports are general news. Who is responsible for such a situation?
If Malaysia wishes to become an advanced high-income country in 2020, freedom of the press is absolutely essential. Without freedom of the press, we will never be categorised as a developed country and social justice will drift further and further away.
MySinchew 2011.05.05
No comments:
Post a Comment