Civic groups decry media control

They lament the “political control of information regarding the incumbent state government”.

PETALING JAYA: Civil society groups have decried Barisan Nasional’s heavy control over information as the Sarawak state election approaches.



The Centre for Independent Journalism, Charter2000-Aliran and the Writers’ Alliance for Media Independence released a statement today that spoke of “a pattern of political control of information regarding the incumbent state government in an environment that already heavily favours them”.


It said that while urban residents in the state had no trouble getting information from opposition parties, their rural counterparts were not so lucky.

“Much of the population is in remote areas reachable only by boats, a communications option that is further limited by the 10-day campaign period set by the Elections Commission.

“The poor infrastructure and physical difficulties posed by the mountainous terrain mean that the media with the biggest reach is radio, which is under the government’s licensing control.”

The statement also pointed out the denial of airtime to opposition candidates.

At the same time, it added, critical issues such as the alleged rape of Penan women and those touching on native customary rights and Chief Minister Taib Mahmud’s alleged corruption had been under-reported, if not altogether censored.
The statement also quoted an April 13 report by Malaysiakini alleging that Umno-linked TV stations were ordered not to broadcast footage of heavily-attended opposition talks.

It also pointed out the punishment meted out to Sarawak Tribune executive editor Paul Si, who was suspended from his job for questioning Taib’s retirement claim.

The statement denounced the barring of activists such as Steven Ng, Wong Chin Huat and Haris Ibrahim from the state.

“While the Sarawak government has the power under Section 65 (I)(a) of the Immigration Act 1959/1963 to control who enters the state, this power has been abused to prevent non-Sarawakian activists critical of Taib from direct engagement with the people,” it said.

The groups also condemned the massive cyber attacks on websites critical of Taib’s reign, including whistleblower Sarawak Report and news portal Malaysiakini.

They urged the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission to investigate and act against the perpetrators of the attacks.

By Patrick Lee

Musa turns up heat on media

FMT

Sabah Chief Minister comes down hard on publications reporting news detrimental to his administration.

KUALA LUMPUR: Sabah Chief Minister Musa Aman has shown his vicious iron fist to come down hard on the local media and journalists in the state.

They are feeling the heat from chief minister’s office for doing what they have been hired to do and what their bosses and readers expect of them – reporting news without fear or favour.

Several said they were instructed to write in a certain way and not to highlight Barisan Nasional (BN) problems and to play down criticism of his administration.

Various “arm-twisting” methods have also been employed, according to sources, by the chief minister’s press officers to force newspaper owners to comply with his ‘rules’.

“The feeling is that Musa wants everyone to adhere to the New Sabah Times (controlled by Musa) style of reporting,” said a journalist.

“How are we going perform if we not allowed to our jobs… that is to report the news fairly and accurately? We can’t suppress opposition news and views,” said the journalist.

Musa’s wariness of bad press comes in the wake of renewed criticism of his administration from within his own BN coalition. He has been accused of taking on a dictatorial stance and playing one coalition party against the other.

Most of the local media have gone to town with the reported self-destruction within the ruling coalition.
In an effort to rectify his recent missteps, Musa has reportedly asked his officers to stop the newspapers from publishing ‘negative’ reports about his decisions.

Talk is that even the forestry department has been roped in to enforce the chief minister’s ‘censorship’ demands.

According to a story making the rounds, a senior forestry department official had a ‘quiet talk’ with the boss of local newspapers about their coverage.

It was perceived as a threat to the newspaper company which also has a sister outfit granted a ‘Forestry Management Unit’ or FMU by the state after approval by the forestry department.

Rewarding party-hoppers

KTS Plantation Sdn Bhd, the sister company of See Hua Marketing Sdn Bhd which publishes Utusan Borneo (Bahasa Malaysia), See Hua Daily News (Chinese), Borneo Post (English), is among those granted an FMU at Segaliud Lokan Forest Reserve by the government.

Musa, who is the state BN chairman, came under criticism from Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and even MCA leaders for rewarding ‘party-hopping’ within the coalition and appointing Yee Moh Chai of Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS) as deputy chief minister.

The news was highlighted in the local papers along with severe criticism of the decision much to the government’s embarrassment.

PBS leader and deputy chief minister Joseph Pairin Kitingan was forced to defend Musa for elevating another member of his party to deputy chief minister at the expense of LDP.

But Musa has also taken flak for keeping two BN members, Raymond Tan and Peter Pang, both of who were former deputy chief ministers who quit their parties, in his cabinet.

While Tan quit SAPP after it left the ruling coalition in 2008, Pang quit LDP after the party had a quarrel with Musa.

He recently joined peninsula-based party, Gerakan, just as Tan did earlier and was retained as a minister by Musa in his recent Cabinet reshuffle.