Malaysia: media company merger could jeopardize press freedom
Posted by Jean Yves Chainon on December 4, 2006 at 4:45 PM
Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi confirmed the announcement that The New Straits Times Press (NSTP) and Utusan Melayu Berhad, two of the country’s main (formerly rival) newspaper companies, were considering a friendly merger. This worries press freedom activists, who are concerned by the tightened grip this might give the Malaysian government over the media.
"There are two major concerns. One is the increasing concentration of media
ownership in Malaysia," said the executive director of the Kuala Lumpur-based Centre for Independent Journalism, Sonia Randhawa. "The other is the increasing direct political control the merger brings with it," she told AFP.
The real problem comes from the fact that Media Prima, Malaysia’s largest media holding company, already owns 43% of NSTP’s capital. Media Prima is itself owned in majority by State-linked agencies: owners who basically follow the government’s line of thought. Even more worrisome is the fact that Media Prima has been recently engaged in the aggressive acquisition of rival media companies, and is progressively constituting a media monopoly. For example, Media Prima owns the four free-to-air television channels.
What about the other newspaper group, Utusan Melayu? It’s owned in majority by the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), which has ruled Malaysia since its independence.
To make things worse, “the government-controlled media have a poor record in allowing the exchange of opinions, ideas and information," the Southeast Asian Press Alliance declared in a statement on the issue.
Hopefully, historic habits will give way to moral considerations, to avoid a serious drawback of press freedom in Malaysia. As put by General Secretary for the National Union of Journalists Malaysia, Hong Boon: “"If the final shareholder is UMNO, they should leave the running of the newspaper to journalists and editors rather than politicians."
Source: AFP
ownership in Malaysia," said the executive director of the Kuala Lumpur-based Centre for Independent Journalism, Sonia Randhawa. "The other is the increasing direct political control the merger brings with it," she told AFP.
The real problem comes from the fact that Media Prima, Malaysia’s largest media holding company, already owns 43% of NSTP’s capital. Media Prima is itself owned in majority by State-linked agencies: owners who basically follow the government’s line of thought. Even more worrisome is the fact that Media Prima has been recently engaged in the aggressive acquisition of rival media companies, and is progressively constituting a media monopoly. For example, Media Prima owns the four free-to-air television channels.
What about the other newspaper group, Utusan Melayu? It’s owned in majority by the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), which has ruled Malaysia since its independence.
To make things worse, “the government-controlled media have a poor record in allowing the exchange of opinions, ideas and information," the Southeast Asian Press Alliance declared in a statement on the issue.
Hopefully, historic habits will give way to moral considerations, to avoid a serious drawback of press freedom in Malaysia. As put by General Secretary for the National Union of Journalists Malaysia, Hong Boon: “"If the final shareholder is UMNO, they should leave the running of the newspaper to journalists and editors rather than politicians."
Source: AFP
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