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"This oppressive media environment makes it almost certain that the ruling coalition will be returned to power that Mahathir will continue to dictate the direction his country will take." Bangkok -- Despite more than a year of political unrest and widespread calls for greater openness and press freedom, the Malaysian government is unlikely to change the rules of the media game during the current snap election campaign. And why should it? After all, Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad's National Front coalition enjoys a tremendous edge by controlling virtually the entire mainstream press. Mahathir called the polls on Nov 12, leaving just 18 days of campaigning before the general election. The government's overwhelming ability to intimidate the mass media, dictate coverage and enforce a self-censorship regime on most newsrooms raises doubt that Malaysia can enjoy free and fair elections. And the turmoil that resulted from the September, 1998, arrest and subsequent prosecution of former Deputy Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim (on corruption and sodomy charges) seems only to have stiffened Mahathir's resolve to leave the media shackled. Mahathir's dominant political party, the United Malays National Organisation (Umno), and its coalition allies directly own or control the major newspapers, radio and television stations in the country, making it virtually impossible for alternative voices to gain widespread access to the public. Meanwhile, government officials are taking full advantage of the tilted media playing field to tout their own accomplishments. As one local journalist put it: ''Suddenly ministers who have never been quoted before in the media are appearing and essentially campaigning using their government positions.'' The sweeping Printing Presses and Publications Act of 1984 allows the government to shut down so-called subversive publications and requires publishers to renew printing licences every year. The licences dictate the language each publication is allowed to use (English, Malay, Chinese or Indian, to reflect the racial mix of the country) and the frequency with which they are allowed to publish. On May 3 of this year, World Press Freedom Day, 581 Malaysian journalists signed a petition calling for the repeal of the act. The petition was presented to Deputy Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi who told the journalists, ''I shall read it. I will let you know.'' They are still waiting to hear from him. Independent journalists and publishers have found it nearly impossible to secure licences to operate daily newspapers under the act, especially since a 1987 crackdown in which Mahathir shuttered several newspapers and moved Malaysia sharply to the right. There are a few small, independent weekly tabloids, and one major political party newspaper, Harakah, the party organ of PAS, the Islamic party, has mushroomed in popularity since Anwar's arrest by publishing opposition-oriented stories. But despite its success, Harakah is a party organ, rather than an independent newspaper. Meanwhile, critical voices are virtually excluded from the electronic media. There are two private television stations, but both have close ties to the government and are unlikely to give much coverage to the opposition. And even before the election was called, the government said the opposition would have no access to the state-owned Radio Television Malaysia, the country's oldest TV station. Speaking in July, Deputy Information Minister Suleiman Mohamed said opposition parties had been allowed to use state TV channels to voice their policies during past elections but often broadcast ''disturbing'' material. Suleiman suggested that opposition parties wanting access to television could buy a station of their own and apply for a broadcast licence. At times, the government's efforts to shut out opposition voices has taken on absurd tones. Entrepreneur Development Minister Mustapa Mohamed told Parliament that his ministry would revoke the licences of taxi drivers who criticise the government. Mustapa said cabbies had been warned not to play tape recordings of anti-government speeches or display pictures of opposition leaders in their vehicles, according to the official Bernama news agency. "Don't expect the media to be fair," wrote journalist Steven Gan in an editorial published on Wednesday in Malaysiakini.com, a new alternative news website launched this week in Kuala Lumpur. "[There is] not a ghost of a chance. The media is notorious in distorting news -- sometimes it is subtle, at other times, more blatant. It is especially true now that the elections are around the corner." Gan, who formerly worked in the mainstream press, is providing alternative news coverage online, taking advantage of the fact that Malaysia has few restrictions on the Internet because of Mahathir's vision of turning the country into a centre for high-tech research and investment. But Gan says it will take years before the Internet can be an effective mass medium to counter the power of the major media. ''Like it or not, the Internet is only getting through to a minority of the voters,'' Gan said. ''A huge majority still depend on mass media for their news. Which is why the elections will be unfair.'' Many journalists who work in this environment are frustrated by the compromises they have to make. In the aftermath of the Anwar affair, a large number of reporters reportedly left their jobs at major dailies to protest restrictions placed on them by pro-government supervisers. A senior editor at a major daily said recently, ''For me it is always a battle to get a story into the paper. You have always to think about political considerations.'' Many journalists fear their phones are tapped; most refuse to be quoted on the subject of press freedom or working conditions at their papers. ''We are all afraid of losing our jobs if we go too far,'' said one reporter. ''It is not worth the risk.'' For those who do take the risk, there is always the cautionary example of Murray Hiebert. In September, Malaysia became the only Commonwealth country in half a century to jail a reporter for contempt of court when Hiebert, at that time Kuala Lumpur bureau chief for the Far Eastern Economic Review, was sent to prison for four weeks as a result of a story he wrote that was critical of the Malaysian judiciary. The ordeal of the two-year trial and appeals process -- during which Hiebert was barred from leaving the country -- made him Malaysia's press freedom poster child. ''Why are they doing this?'' Hiebert asked rhetorically one afternoon in his office before he lost his appeal. ''I think they want to send a message to reporters not to go too far in this country.'' This oppressive media environment makes it almost certain that the ruling coalition will be returned to power on Monday and that Mahathir, Asia's longest-serving elected leader, will continue to dictate the direction his country will take. Until now, Mahathir's legitimacy has been based on his ability to guarantee political and economic stability. Papering over Malaysia's ever-widening political cracks by muzzling the press will help neither the prime minister's mandate nor Malaysia's future prosperity. A Lin Neumann is the Asia program consultant at the Committee to Protect Journalists and an advisor to the Southeast Asian Press Alliance in Bangkok. |
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Malaysian Press remains shackled before elections