Press Freedom

Report from FreeMalaysiaKini (July 26, 2011) :

CIJ says the ruling government should let media regulate themselves on their own. Following a lukewarm from mainstream media top editors, a media watchdog today described the proposed media consultative council by the government as a “media propaganda council” which would serve as another layer of media control. “If the ruling government is serious about fostering media freedom, it should repeal or amend all ( media-related) laws and let media regulate themselves on their own, with input from civil society and in the interests of the public,” said Masjaliza Hamzah, executive director of the Centre for Independent Journalism (CIJ). Hence she called on all press people who were invited to the closed- door meeting chaired by Information, Communication and Culture Ministry secretary-general Kamaruddin Siaraf(right) yesterday, especially the National Union" of Journalists (NUJ), to reject this government-led initiative. “The public deserves an independent media which puts public interest first, rather than answer to the political masters of the day,” she said. According to those who attended the poorly-represented meeting yesterday, the editors were “about 100 percent” against government involvement in the council, worrying that the council would further muzzle the already battered mainstream media.

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