| Monday February 12 Freedom of the press, or to oppress CHIAROSCURO MGG Pillai 1:23pm, Mon: Malaysia insists there is press freedom because journalists can interview cabinet ministers. Even the prime minister, Dr Mahathir Mohamed, is surrounded by them, unlike in Britain and the US, whose heads of government can only be interviewed, allegedly, from a distance. The inference then is that there is press freedom in Malaysia but not in Britain and the United States. The messenger for this view is the information ministry's new parliamentary secretary, Senator Zainuddin Maidin. Despite a lifelong career in journalism and retiring as editor-in-chief of Utusan Malaysia, he seems confused about what a free press is all about. Even more dangerous is that he is where he is to advise the government on the media. It is his way of explaining why the Internet newspaper, malaysiakini, is denied press accreditation. "Malaysiakini reporters are barred from covering the (sic) press conferences not because they are critical of the government but because their credibility is doubtful," he said. Why is its credibility doubtful? Because the Far Eastern Economic Review's spurious allegation that infamous international financier George Soro funds malaysiakini "proves" its "credibility is doubtful". Never mind that malaysiakini has denied it and the Review, having made a blooper, creatively wriggles out of it. He says he also has information, horror of horrors, that its chief editor Steven Gan once worked for a newspaper the government considered anti-government. (The only newspaper Gan had worked for in Malaysia was The Sun). Different views Several official explanations exist on why malaysiakini is barred, none bearing the ring of truth. It appears to me that the government and Zam, as Zainuddin is popularly known, least of all, know not what to do. It believes the press must be subservient to it, espousing only its views and, if possible, attack any with a different view. It does not believe in free debate. That even a respected journalist, Zam was could fall for this narrow view of the role of the press is more worrisome than in the piecemeal justifications when its arguments collapse. That there are newspapers and Internet sites which buck the trend of unalloyed and gratuitous support of the establishment and damning its detractors is neither here nor there. Abdullah Ahmad, in his jottings in the New Straits Times, says Asiaweek's three top positions are held by non-Asians. It must be since it is now in the Time magazine stable. But did not Dr Mahathir know this when he agreed to sit with them for an interview which damned him? Then why did he agree to the interview? There is not a cabinet minister who would not jump at the chance of being interviewed by the likes of Time, Newsweek, Asiaweek, Far Eastern Economic Review, or even the Straits Times of Singapore, but would not to a local non-establishment newspaper. Why? Dr Mahathir, in principle, would not allow local stringers of foreign publications to be present when its regional correspondent meets him. When the regional correspondent for the string of newspapers I once wrote for comes to interview him, it was always a condition of the interview that I be kept out. I am not alone. The local correspondents of foreign papers would not be allowed to interview the prime minister alone; it is a condition that reporters from head office or the region do so. The Asiaweek interview was conducted by the resident staff correspondent and two others from head office; all three, incidentally, are foreigners. Press freedom, in Malaysia and elsewhere, is a state of mind more than a set of legal rules. In Malaysia, the government from the earliest days of independence kept it on a tight leash, even shutting down newspapers when its political equanimity is challenged, arresting editors and journalists under the Internal Security Act and worse. It puts the fright into journalists and newspapers so that self-censorship more than reportorial independence becomes the guiding light. Far from free When all is said and done, press freedom in Malaysia is iffy at best. We have not moved so far as Thailand or Indonesia has. That the best-read Malaysian newspaper these days is the Harakah, the political organ of the opposition Islamic Party of Malaysia or PAS, underscores the divide in the Malaysian media. Even more, malaysiakini has given respectability for Internet newspapers. Malaysiakini has faults aplenty, it works on a shoestring budget, its reporters are almost all newcomers to the trade, but its reach is undeniable. It is now required reading for any who wants to know the trends in Malaysia. It has more "meat" in its still skimpy online newspaper than all the mainstream newspapers put together. More important, it has forced the mainstream newspapers to improve their coverage, with The Sun leading the pack. But it gets little or no local support. Rehman Rashid's AgendaMalaysia shut down when it ran out of funds. When newspapers die, for lack of money or whatever, a piece of a nation's history dies with it. But no business man, even those who contribute millions of dollars to charities if that comes with it the right to sup at the prime minister's table, would not even consider supporting malaysiakini. He certainly would not when Zam makes wild accusations about it as he did yesterday (Zam: Journalists free to cover ministers, Feb 11). Press freedom will come to Malaysia only when the government allows the right of all newspapers to report what they feel must be reported. It would not come when on "sensitive" topics, all the mainstream newspapers give up the ghost and depend on Bernama for coverage, but so placed that the reader thinks it is by the newspaper. Press freedom does not come because reporters are allowed to surround cabinet ministers to ask inane questions; nor when you deny accreditation because you do not like what the newspaper, Internet or otherwise, report; nor when political parties are disallowed their right to express their views except under controlled limits. Zam's comments extols this debilitating view of press freedom in Malaysia. |
| Zam: Journalists free to cover ministers KUALA LUMPUR: Information Ministry parliamentary secretary Senator Datuk Zainuddin Maidin yesterday refuted claims by certain quarters that there was no freedom for journalists in this country to cover ministers. Zainuddin, or better known as Zam, said that in Malaysia, the people could see that the prime minister and also other ministers, from the past leadership right up to the leadership of Datuk Seri Dr Mahathir Mohamad, being surrounded by journalists at close range. "On the other hand in Britain or the United States, we can see the British prime minister or US president being interviewed by journalists only from a distance and as though they are listening to speeches,'' he said. He said it was not proper to make such claims merely because journalists from the Internet portal Malaysiakini.com were not allowed to attend any press conferences involving cabinet ministers. "Malaysaikini (reporters) are barred from covering the press conferences not because they are critical of the government but because their credibility is doubtful,'' he said. Zainuddin said the latest report by the Far Eastern Economic Review dated Feb 8 which carried an interview with currency speculator George Soros, titled "Levelling the Field'' and quoting that Malaysiakini was a media organisation which received aid from the Open Society Fund owned by Soros, proved that Malaysiakini's credibility was doubtful. Zainuddin claimed that he also had information that Malaysiakini chief editor Steven Gan had once worked for a newspaper which was anti-government. On efforts by certain quarters to boycott the media which were claimed to be pro-government, he said the efforts appeared to be ineffective. "Now we see the viewership for TV3 and RTM had increased and the circulation of the major newspapers in the country had also gone up, this shows that these newspapers which employed ethical and professional journalists will continue to enjoy high credibility,'' he added.--Bernama |
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| From: cyberjihad@u... Date: Wed Jun 27, 2001 8:10 pm Subject: ZAM pecah rekod dunia: Promosikan Sajak Hina Bangsa! Zainudin Maidin dulu kerjanya pencatit berita. Kini sebagai Setiausaha Parlimen Kementerian Penerangan beliau berkejar kesana sini mengembangkan idea serta fahamannya perihal "membetulkan fahaman" rakyat yang kununnya telah diselewengkan oleh apa yang selalu dikatakan sebagai pihak pihak tertentu. Ketrampilan jurnalistik beliau tidak lah sehebat mana. Ia menjadi hebat hanya kerana permainan media dan promosi bohong akhbar seperti mana hebohnya penjual ubat dikaki lima atau pasar malam. Dalam keghairahannya membodek dan menunjuk nunjuk kebolehan kepada Tuannya, beliau telah melakukan sesuatu yang tidak wajar dan belum pernah dilakukan oleh mana mana badan penyiaran di dunia ini. Mulai 25hb yang lalu, beliau telah mengarahkan semua stesen penyiaran milik kerajaan menyiarkan sedutan deklamasi sajak Che Det selama satu minggu. Apa yang dikesalkan ialah kata-kalimat yang terkandung dalam sajak tersebut. Selama ini kesemua stesen penyiaran negara masih berpegang kepada etika dan moral "tidak menghina atau merendah- rendahkan mana mana bangsa atau kaum" di dalam siaran atau rancangan. Dengan tersiarnya sajak kelas murahan itu di TV dan radio, ternyatalah kini bahawa ZAM sebenarnya tidak tahu langsung adab, etika dan peraturan media apalagi tatacara hidup bertamaddun. Rakyat Malaysia dari semua kaum haruslah mengutuk perbuatan tidak bertanggungjawab ini dan mendesak supaya beliau memohon maaf dari rakyat Malaysia keseluruhannya, bukan setakat orang Melayu sahaja. Rakyat Malaysia yang cintakan keharmonian wajib mengutuk perbuatan ZAM yang melampaui batas dan norma hidup masyarakat berbilang kaum. [Kadir A Khatib] |