THE FIGHT for media freedom in Malaysia remains controversial despite ongoing efforts to realise a self-regulatory body to oversee the fourth estate, following distrust among practitioners over possible administrative influence in its drafting.
Journalists, media associations, industry experts and members of the public continue to express concerns that the Malaysian Media Council (MMC) will become another form of government control, especially after a relaunch of the code of ethics for journalists by the government in February and the plans to table the MMC Bill as a government bill.
They say the latter two run counterintuitive due to alleged government interference in matters veering towards media freedom.
“The government should maintain a critical distance and cannot dictate or determine the council’s composition, mechanism and administration of the code of ethics,” says former Malaysian Press Institute member Prof Datuk Dr Ahmad Murad Merican, who drafted and co-authored the first media council proposal in 2002.
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Nevertheless, the issue now lands on a discursive plate where a few of those involved in the council’s pro tem committee say there are several parameters in the Bill to ensure MMC’s independence. However, they remain cautiously optimistic about the government’s commitment to abide by pledges to establish independence.
The formulation of the law to set up the council was first initiated in 2019, but “was on the backburner due to several changes in government” according to Communications Minister Fahmi Fadzil.
His deputy Teo Nie Ching had on Jan 18 said a draft Cabinet memorandum on the Bill had been prepared to be sent to the Attorney-General Chambers for approval.
The Bill is now expected to be tabled in June.
Objectivity concerns
A heavy government influence over a body supposed to champion media freedom can lead to biased appointments of unqualified members as council committees; influencing reportage ethics involving government sensitivities and; overall stifling of media freedom.
An example of a media council heavily influenced by the government is in Somalia, where Reporters Without Borders (RSF) Sub-Saharan Africa bureau director Sadibou Marong in March says the appointments “include six information ministry advisers or former parliamentarians, a lawyer who is reportedly close to a member of the government and only one journalist”.
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While the formation of the MMC has yet to portend such an outcome as the exact parameters for independence have not been spelt out, Ahmad Murad reminds the responsible party that any form of a self-regulatory mechanism for the journalistic media should ideally pursue the function of an independent press.
“By independent here I mean insulated from state interference and other external influences upon the profession.
“(Ultimately apart from protecting the media interest) the media council also protects the public. It acts as a conduit for public complaints.
“One must not forget that a newspaper or online portal may be partisan and ideological. But that does not preclude good and quality journalism in its practice,” Ahmad Murad says.
His views are shared by National Union of Journalists Peninsular Malaysia (NUJ) general secretary Teh Athira Yusof, who alludes to the government’s move to relaunch the code of ethics for journalists.
“Recent developments have shown that the government is interested to have a ‘shadow’ of influence on the council. It must be highlighted that the local media companies with active union members have been adhering to certain codes of conduct for years based on international standards.
“We hope to see that the Bill promotes press freedom and independence rather than serving as a tool for censorship. Engagement and opinions by the pro tem committee of the MMC must be heard.”
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Teh Athira says the government’s involvement in the formation of the council should be limited to providing a legal framework that guarantees press freedom, transparency and independence.
“The government should respect the autonomy of the council and refrain from influencing its operations or decisions.”
Cautious optimism
On the other side of the divide, Gerakan Media Merdeka’s (Geramm) spokesman Radzi Razak is cautiously optimistic that the council will be realised as aspired if it is formed as agreed upon between the government and pro-tem committee members.
“The council will not end up as another form of control by the government if the latter abides by the draft formulated in 2019, following discussions between media and government representatives.
“In the draft Bill, there are plenty of parameters embedded including the independence of the board and council itself, as well as powers to issue censure and determine their code of ethics.
“So if the government is maintaining the draft Bill to the day of its tabling, the council will emerge as an independent body.”
Radzi stresses that the government’s involvement in tabling the Bill at the parliament is necessary.
“It has been agreed upon that the Bill will be tabled this year.
“That is the involvement of the government (providing legal framework) so far in the formation of the council as we need them to table the Bill to ensure its independence based on law.”
Nevertheless, still high on the list of possible government interference lies in the council’s committee line-up.
Teh Athira says parameters ensuring the independence of the MMC should include provisions for diverse representation from media organisations and civil society with experience in the industry.
“There should be a transparent selection process for council members, which safeguards against interference in decision-making.
“If there is a need for a ‘government’ representative to the committee, those from public broadcast agencies or local news agencies can play such a role.”
Ahmad Murad, however, takes a stricter stance by urging for the council to be made exclusive to newsmen and neutral parties.
“The constitution of the council must spell out that there must not be any representative of the government or political parties as members.”
‘Self-regulation works’
Meanwhile, the Communications and Multimedia Content Forum of Malaysia (Content Forum), an independent industry body which oversees content on electronic networked medium, says it is a successful model of self-regulation.
“We believe that industry self-regulation can work, as is evident by how it has been working well in the Content Forum.
“It’s proven effective by bringing together industry players to uphold high standards in content distribution and ensuring that community issues are also given fair consideration, through representation by civic group members,” says Content Forum to the Sunday Star in a statement.
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It says through collaboration and a commitment to transparency, Content Forum demonstrates how self-regulation can foster responsible conduct in the communications and multimedia industry by addressing complaints fairly and swiftly.
“The Content Forum houses a Complaints Bureau that ensures transparency and accountability by addressing complaints, mediating disputes, adjudicating cases and imposing sanctions, when necessary (not exceeding RM50,000), providing an additional layer of consumer protection and industry oversight.”
It says there have been several cases specifically relating to news content that were reviewed and decided by the Content Forum’s Complaints Bureau over the years.
“For example, complaints over allegedly communist content, complaints over the dressing of a newscaster and complaints over alleged fake news.
“Each of these complaints was resolved either by a dismissal or a warning or a sanction, and in all cases, the broadcasters respected the decision of the Complaints Bureau and complied with the necessary.”
*Sunday Star has reached out to Communications Minister Fahmi Fadzil but he has declined to comment.
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