Malaysia's press freedom, indie journos, start a joke

Government "advisers" in a newsroom. I have a soft spot for the Centre for Independent Journalism. When Jeff Ooi and I were sued by a newspaper giant back in Jan 2007 (mine later became the first case of a newspaper dragging a blogger to court), it was the CIJ that initiated a campaign against the newspaper company. I can't say the same about a lot of my colleagues n the MSM back then, they were employees and they were friends of the people who were suing me, the same journos who recently got together in Kuala Lumpur to form a group to press for greater freedom for "independent" journalists. Hurrah! A new-found courage to fight injustices against journos, including against the police for beating up journos during the Bersih 3.0. Better late than never Still, I couldn't help wondering, where were they when their own newspaper and editorial bosses were beating bloggers up?

But I digress. What I wanted to do is draw your attention to a CIJ report on Press Freedom, as reported by the "financially indepedent (sic) state newspaper Selangor Times": 

.... Meanwhile, CIJ also credited the Selangor and Penang governments led by Pakatan Rakyat (PR) for demonstrating a greater understanding of civil liberties, especially by introducing freedom of information laws.

However, the media watchdog noted that Selangor had two advisers, who vet its content before it goes to print, in financially independent state newspaper Selangor Times, .

“Whether Selangor Times will be able to maintain its independence will be a good indication of how a potential PR Federal government would behave if it came to power,” said CIJ in its report.

 (Editor’s note: The Selangor government does not interfere in the operations or editorial content of the Selangor Times.)

Read full story here.

The CIJ should have told it as it is. Since the last General Election in 2008, Lim Guan Eng has declared war against the MSM in Penang, especially NST and Utusan Malaysia. In Selangor, Khalid Ibrahim has set aside millions on a state-controlled media network. Anwar Ibrahim, Teresa Kok, Azmin Ali and many other Pakatan leaders have filed multi-million ringgit suits against journalists and their organisations in this country. Freedom of Information? What freedom of information?


The CIJ should not beat around the bush. These people promised us greater freedom and their state governments should now walk their talk. 


Still, I'd like to commend the CIJ. If not for their good work, we would not have known that the Selangor state government stations two "advisers" on the Selangor Times editorial floor to "vet its content before it goes to print".


And the Editor says the Selangor state government does not interfere in its operations or editorial content. He should listen to the Bee Gee's I Started A Joke.


 Long live Robin Gibb.