Malaysia Baru and its promise of media freedom

LETTER | It has been about 18 months since the new government has been at the helm of New Malaysia and within this timeframe, some notable changes have taken place.

Granted, promises pre-GE14 were made to ensure Malaysia is put on the right path again but, unfortunately, the new government met with unexpected challenges in terms of extremely high national debt.

Notwithstanding the debt issue, the strategy by the government to put in place the right foundation and best practices must be applauded. It is an ongoing effort that serves to either eradicate or rectify past anomalies in governance and biased practices. This is important especially now that the global business landscape is fast revolutionising with the advent of digital and new technology.

Where the media is concerned, in April this year, it was reported that Malaysia jumped a significant 22 places to 123rd in the latest World Press Freedom Index, compiled by Reporters Without Borders (RSF). It was also noted that the general environment for journalists is much more relaxed and we, the readers, are able to enjoy a more nuanced and balanced range of viewpoints compared to the stringent controls and censorship that was common in the past.

As part of the changing media landscape, the government recognises the importance of media independence and initiated the formation of a Malaysian Media Council and a guiding code of conduct. Its formation is being spearheaded by an alliance of Malaysian senior journalist groups. This was one of the pledges by the Pakatan Harapan government. There is a need for media independence to ensure its business sustainability. For this to happen, the media must be apolitical.

Take for instance Utusan Malaysia, which was highly dependent on the government for revenue, through advertisement placements. Its income stream came to an abrupt halt when the federal government stopped spending. The media went through difficult times, undertaking a separation scheme for its reporters. But there is talk about a revival of the newspapers.

Media Prima, another big name in the media fraternity is also going through changes after incurring substantial losses in 2017. Despite its positive results last year, the conglomerate undergoing restructuring – due to declining circulation and viewership on traditional media channels.

The Star Media Group has also been revamping its operations, ceasing its printing operations in Penang as part of its rationalisation plan and its drive towards digitalisation.

For Malaysia’s state broadcaster, Radio Television Malaysia, proposals have been received to transform the public broadcaster into an internationally recognised media broadcaster.

While these proposals are reviewed, the broadcaster had also begun revolutionising operating protocols, such as transitioning from analogue to the digital landscape in high and standard definition broadcasts. The broadcaster is also implementing its transformation plans for programme services in line with the industrial revolution 4.0 era.

Citing the recent digital news report 2019, commissioned by the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, RTM stands in first place as the most trusted media organisation, beating out Astro Awani and NTV 7 in second and third place respectively. It is important to note that in 2017, RTM came in ninth place under the same category. In addition to the significant jump, under the category of top news sources, RTM came in fifth, edging out key local and foreign media titles such as NST, BBC News, CNN and Sin Chew Daily.

This can largely be credited due to the ongoing efforts by the ministry to foster the transformation and evolution of the first broadcaster in Malaysia. RTM’s transformation process is an effort that has been implemented and executed in planned stages with the final expected outcome being a modern integrated broadcasting facility and infrastructure to boost the quality of its services.

In addition, this is also a testament that when the right talent and leadership is at the helm, a positive outlook is certainly on the horizon for the entity and even the overall Malaysian media industry.

Plans to reform the media fraternity has long been outstanding. This is a new age of transformation and media players would be expected to experience changes that would augur more independent as well as digitalised reporting in the future.

VP CHRISTIAN is a former Research Institute director. 

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysiakini.