EYE ON ETHICS

The author is a journalist based in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

The article tackles how journalists operate in heavily-controlled press societies such as Malaysia.
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On two different occasions this year, a leading English daily in Malaysia was caught in a dilemma—it did not know which way to sway. The top editorial leadership was unsure if the daily should swing towards the government-of-the day as it has always done, or to lean towards the “government-in-waiting”.

The first one became an option when the newsrooms waited for the general election results to come streaming in on March 8 this year.

Most journalists expected the ruling coalition National Front (Barisan Nasional) to win but with a reduced margin given the aggressiveness of the opposition parties this time around, primarily due to Anwar Ibrahim’s fiery speeches that were reverberating in the Internet. No one in their wildest moments ever thought that five out of 14 states would fall to the opposition—and that too, these would be the most progressive of the states. The opposition parties then had formed a loose coalition, and the de facto leader of this coalition was Anwar.

The forlorn look on a senior editor that evening when the results came trickling in at midnight said it all. The editorial team of the daily was lost, probably as lost as the Badawi government. No ruling coalition or government official was giving the editors instructions as to what to front-page, whose pictures not to use, what sort of headlines to write.

The media had become so accustomed to taking orders, verbally or otherwise, from the ruling coalition and its officials. The media have always depended on these instructions and followed them to a tee. There are 47 pieces of legislation curbing freedom of speech that can be invoked by the government against a media organization at any time and topping them is the onerous clause in the Printing Presses and Publications Act 1984 that requires annual renewal of printing licenses, which the government has been holding like a noose around the neck of the press.

The English daily in our story had been so accustomed to leaning towards one side, as in the case of other publications and television and radio stations, that it had forgotten how to be objective. All media organizations in Malaysia are linked to the ruling coalition, and the ruling coalition has always been dictating terms.

The editors of the daily decided to take a chance and to be as objective as they could under the circumstances, because the paper sold the most in the states now held by the opposition parties.

Several weeks later, a call came from Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi himself cautioning the paper to toe the line, or else. So the paper went back to its pre-March 8 stance, not wanting to risk closure.

Just about that time, on April 16 to be exact, the printing license of a vernacular daily was not renewed, but after much persuasion and a week later, the license was granted.

Makkal Osai is the youngest and the most vocal of the three Tamil language newspapers in Malaysia. The paper ceased publication for about a week when its management received a letter saying that its publishing permit would not renewed by the Home Ministry. No reason was given, but many believe the permit was not being renewed because the newspaper was giving a lot more coverage to the opposition parties rather than the Barisan Nasional.

The second time the English daily felt the jitters was when Anwar’s power seemed to be waxing and Badawi’s waning sometime in May when Anwar said he was ready to take control of the government from Badawi.

News of defections from the ruling coalition to the opposition parties were rife, and the general public felt there was a slight possibility that Anwar might be the prime minister by the end of September. That was about the time when an ex-aide claimed that Anwar had sodomized him and Anwar was then arrested in the most aggressive of fashion.

An editor was heard cautioning a sub-editor on the way a story, on reports of recent sodomy allegations against Anwar, was played up. “He may be the next prime minister,” he said.

Apparently, the daily was trying to be cautious as to how far it would lean towards the Badawi administration lest revenge be taken on it by Anwar should he be the next prime minister. It can be a tricky task, trying to be objective when your political masters want you to show allegiance to them.

The actions of Anwar-linked parties were also putting fear on this daily.

On June 20, the new government in Selangor, one of the five states that the ruling coalition lost, stopped subscribing to Utusan Malaysia, its Sunday edition Mingguan Malaysia, and all publications under the Utusan group of companies.

The Utusan Group is currently the publisher of twelve magazines, five newspapers, two electronic newspapers, and one local educational portal—all in Malay. Its Sunday edition is the highest circulated weekly newspaper in the country.

The decision to end the subscription was due to the “unfair reporting and its choice to play the racial card,” according to state government officials.

Even the newly elected state governments are playing the same game—allowing politics to determine the way the media report events in Malaysia.

It will be a long time before politicians in Malaysia feel unthreatened by the media and understand that the media are not to be controlled but to be allowed to freely function as the bridge that offers a communication line between the people and its government. Until then, however, for the media it is a matter of practicing the art of being biased creatively for the sake of survival.