Two Three issues have recently arisen in local journalism:
1. The Malaysiakini-Najib manifesto debacle
News portal Malaysiakini reported a manifesto purported to be from Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak’s office. The “fake” manifesto included the statement that Najib intended to defend the supremacy of the Malay race till the last drop of his blood, if given the mandate to be Umno party president next year. The Malaysiakini article also quoted Najib as saying he had promised his late father (second prime minister Tun Abdul Razak) that he will fight till his last drop of blood.
Malaysiakini’s journalist and editor, Wong Choon Mei, resigned immediately following the debacle. Wong, an experienced journalist, admitted she did not verify the contents of the manifesto with Najib’s office after receiving it, and had just uploaded the contents without the standard double-checking by a second editor.
Malaysiakini has since apologised for the error, calling it a “serious misjudgment”. Najib has since accepted the apology.
Meanwhile, Home Minister, Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar, was reported to have said that investigations into the matter will only take place if there is a police report lodged against Malaysiakini. Syed Hamid, unlike Najib, said Malaysiakini’s apology was not good enough, as it should be accountable for its publication.
Deputy minister, Datuk Wan Ahmad Farid Wan Salleh, added that:
Whether you are the so-called mainstream media or alternative media, the basic thing is the same, and that is responsible journalism…and responsible journalism dictates that you must verify a statement before you publish it.. This is lacking,
2. The Utusan debacles
Well, I’ve written enough quite a lot about this one.
Click here to read more.
Compare and contrast the two cases.
By the way, according to Home Minister, Syed Hamid Albar, Utusan has been given a warning. However, he was reported not to have elaborated further.
3. Berita Harian barred from Kelantan State Assembly
Malaysiakini reported that Berita Harian’s reporters have been barred from covering the Kelantan state assembly proceedings, as the Malay language daily has failed to publish a correction on a piece the Sultan of Kelantan. Berita Harian’s piece, entitled ‘Sultan murka kerajaan PAS gagal tadbir Kelantan’ (Sultan angry PAS government fails to administer Kelantan), is said to be inaccurate.
Speaker Mohd Nassuruddin Daud said that as he found no correction been made in relation to the article, published 21st Oct, he disallowed the newspaper’s journalists from the proceedings. Dr Zainuddin Awang Hamat (PAS-Limbongan) had demanded Berita Harian to apologise for the article and its journalists be prohibited from covering the proceedings on the date of the offending piece’s publication.
Berita Harian’s reporter, Khairul Anuar Abdul Samad, who was ordered by the security personnel to leave the premises, said that, ”This decision (to bar Berita Harian from covering the state assembly’s proceedings) is actually a loss for the state government,”
Well… state assemblies have been know to give live web telecasts of their proceedings, so…
Meanwhile, the NST reports that Commonwealth Journalists Association (CJA) warned nations against arresting, torturing or killing journalists. CJA President, Hassan Shahriar, also said that the CJA opposed to the use of draconian laws against journalists writing the truth.
Hassan said reporters in Commonwealth countries should file complaints with their CJA chapters, which in turn would submit the complaints to its headquarters in Canada. This was said in reference to the detention without trial of Sin Chew reporter, Tan Hoon Cheng.
October 26th, 2008 → 04:58
[...] this premise, Malaysia might possibly need a media policy and a regulatory body, as there has been allegations of several alleged breaches of journalistic ethics this year alone, including non-verification of facts and alleged hate [...]