Archive for category Media
One Libyan Battle Is Fought in Social and News Media
Posted by Kit in Media, Middle East/Africa on Thursday, 24 February 2011
Middle East
By EMAD MEKAY
The New York Times
February 23, 2011
CAIRO — While Al-Jamahiriya, the Libyan state-owned television channel, was broadcasting nonstop patriotic songs, poetry recitations and rowdy rallies supporting the Libyan leader, Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi, on Tuesday, Al Jazeera, the Arabic satellite channel based in Doha, was showing images of angry Libyan demonstrators throwing shoes at a giant street screen carrying live pictures of Colonel Qaddafi’s speech.
The contrast highlighted a fierce battle between Colonel Qaddafi’s supporters, who were using the state-run news media, and Libyan protesters, who were turning to social media and the foreign news media, to win over hearts and minds, inside and outside Libya.
This tug-of-war has been going on since a public uprising started on Feb. 17 calling for Colonel Qaddafi’s ouster. His rivals have clearly made a global impression through multiple amateur video Web posts, visceral pictures, twitter posts and dozens of heartfelt interviews on Arab television stations telling stories of a ruthless repression unleashed by troops loyal to Colonel Qaddafi.
But the Libyan leader, who has ruled this tribal society unopposed since 1969, has demonstrated that he will not easily be outmaneuvered. His television channels appealed on Tuesday for amateur images showing support from his base and beseeched viewers to place them online, too.
Government channels have run a written appeal: “For the dear brothers whose hobby is photography and video taping, please put up videos online that show the massive support for our beloved leader.”
In Colonel Qaddafi’s all-out media counteroffensive, a sports channel and a music channel that are popular among the young have instead been showing 24-hour programs of poetry reciters eulogizing his achievements and films of pro-government rallies waving his pictures. Read the rest of this entry »
Malaysia’s Sorry Record on Press Freedom
Posted by Kit in Media, Najib Razak on Thursday, 24 February 2011
by Malaysia Center for Independent Journalism
Ruling coalition’s ‘multi-pronged approach’ to curb expression
Malaysia’s Barisan Nasional, or national ruling coalition, has gone to extreme ends to control freedom of expression and monopolize the dissemination of information, according to the Kuala Lumpur-based Center for Independent Journalism.
The NGO’s report, released Tuesday, says the Barisan “adopted a multi-pronged approach, using the myriad of laws at its disposal to curb expression. The Printing Presses and Publications Act 1984 was used to intimidate The Star, China Press and Special Weekly, among others.”
A summary of the report, furnished by the center, follows. It is the fourth such report the organization has released.
Read the rest of this entry »
Gordon Brown’s sister-in-law tackles corruption in Borneo
Posted by Kit in Corruption, Media, Sarawak on Wednesday, 23 February 2011
David Cohen
London Evening Standard
22 Feb 2011
In a flat above a restaurant in Covent Garden, an investigative reporter called Clare and a tribesman from Borneo covered in tattoos prepare to transmit their daily revolutionary radio broadcast deep into the Borneo jungle.
They make for an unlikely double act – she is a white, middle-aged Englishwoman, and he the proud grandson of a Dayak headhunter who broadcasts under the pseudonym Papa Orang Utan. Their aim is no less outlandish: to expose the alleged corruption of Taib Mahmud, chief minister of the Malaysian state of Sarawak on the island of Borneo 6,500 miles from London, and bring an end to his 30-year rule.
“This is Radio Free Sarawak,” begins Papa Orang Utan, donning his headphones to interview a village headman who has been forcibly removed from his land and who, quite remarkably, speaks to them on a mobile phone from the edge of the Borneo rainforest. Clare briefs Papa: “Make sure you ask if he knows that it’s chief minister Taib who has stolen their land? And get who he’ll be voting for!”
Until now the identity of the “pirates” behind Radio Free Sarawak has been a closely guarded secret – and for good reason. Scandal-plagued Taib, 74, is one of the world’s most ruthless and wealthiest men – richer allegedly than the Sultan of Brunei, whose independent country lies alongside – and locals who oppose him can feel the full force of his retribution.
But today is a watershed: the duo have bravely decided to out themselves ahead of the upcoming Sarawak elections, expected in April. Indeed, the Evening Standard can reveal that the mystery Englishwoman who set up Radio Free Sarawak four months ago and who brought out the tattooed tribesman – real name Peter John Jaban – to front her broadcasts is in fact Clare Rewcastle Brown, sister-in-law of former prime minister Gordon Brown. Read the rest of this entry »
Who’s off the rails, Bernama?
John Malott | Feb 20, 11
Malaysiakini
Bernama news agency recently commented that I have “gone off the rails” because of my article in the Asian Wall Street Journal.
Because Bernama is owned by the Malaysian government, it is no surprise that they would feel obliged to say something critical.
But who really is off the rails? It is too bad that Bernama went into attack mode before it did its homework. Indeed, the article reads like it was written by a PR firm, trying to spin the truth.
So let’s take a look at what Bernama said. Read the rest of this entry »
Guan Eng blames Umno for ‘misleading booklet’
Posted by Kit in Lim Guan Eng, Media, Penang Government, UMNO on Saturday, 5 February 2011
By Adib Zalkapli
The Malaysian Insider
February 05, 2011
KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 5 — Lim Guan Eng denied today that his Penang administration was behind a tourism booklet which Umno claimed has challenged the early existence of the Malays in the island.
The Penang chief minister also demanded that the Pulau Betong assemblyman Muhammad Farid Saad to apologise within a week for blaming the state government had distributed the “My Balik Pulau” booklet.
“To make matter worse, the Pulau Betong assemblyman and Utusan Malaysia through its reports have attacked the Pakatan Rakyat (PR) state government accusing us of publishing material containing historically misleading facts and insulting the Malays when it was Umno and the federal government that should be made responsible,” said Lim in a statement.
In an Utusan Malaysia’s report on February 1, Farid reportedly accused the Penang state government of twisting historical facts in an attempt to mislead the younger generation.
The Malay daily said that the booklet was published by the Penang Arts Education Society and sponsored by the Penang Education Council, which Utusan Malaysia claimed to be an advisory body for the DAP’s state government.
On February 3, the Umno-owned daily carried another report calling the My Balik Pulau booklet as dangerous.
The report quoted Penang campus of Malaysian teachers institute alumni president Abdul Said Hussain who claimed that the booklet was aimed at convincing the Chinese that their ancestors were the first to settle in Balik Pulau and not the Malays.
Lim revealed today that among the sponsors for the tourism booklet were Farid’s resource centre and other Balik Pulau Umno leaders. Read the rest of this entry »
MCA continues to tell lies in Tenang by-election through its newspaper Star – but good luck to Chua Soi Lek continuing as MCA President!
Today is polling day for the Tenang by-election, the fourteenth since the 2008 general election.
The outcome of the by-election should be left to the 14,753 voters but it is most regrettable that MCA continues to peddle lies and falsehoods through its newspaper The Star.
In its analysis report today headlined “Up to the voters now to choose who is best”, Sunday Star wrote:
“Never mind that the Barisan Nasional candidate Mohd Azahar Ibrahim is from Umno, it was the MCA that DAP, especially its adviser Lim Kit Siang, was after.
“A political observer viewed the DAP’s all-out effort to attack MCA as mainly an attempt to divert the community’s attention from the various breakthroughs the MCA has achieved since Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek became party president in March last year.
“’A stable and united MCA has always been a threat to DAP,’ reasoned a veteran MCA leader, pointing out that DAP’s survival hinged a lot upon MCA’s weaknesses as both parties banked on the support of the Chinese community.
“The fact that Dr Chua has adopted a low-key and personal touch in his campaign, such as personally meeting Tenang voters, has also put the opposition in a bind, remarked a political observer.
“As expected by many MCA supporters, Kit Siang had, in his ceramah in Tenang, challenged Dr Chua to step down if he failed to get the support of the Chinese community in the by-election.”
I had never in any ceramah in Tenang challenged Chua to step down if he failed to get the support of the Chinese community in the by-election.
Unlike the views of the majority of MCA leaders and delegates, I have no objection whatsoever if Chua continues as MCA President, regardless of the Tenang by-election result today. Good luck to him! Read the rest of this entry »
Egypt cuts off internet access
By Charles Arthur
Friday 28 January 2011
guardian.co.uk
Most of the major internet service providers in Egypt are offline following week-long protests
Egypt appears to have cut off almost all access to the internet from inside and outside the country from late on Thursday night, in a move that has concerned observers of the protests that have been building in strength through the week.
“According to our analysis, 88% of the ‘Egyptian internet’ has fallen off the internet,” said Andree Toonk at BGPmon, a monitoring site that checks connectivity of countries and networks.
“What’s different in this case as compared to other ‘similar’ cases is that all of the major ISP’s seem to be almost completely offline. Whereas in other cases, social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter were typically blocked, in this case the government seems to be taking a shotgun approach by ordering ISPs to stop routing all networks.”
The cutoff appears to have happened around 10.30pm GMT on Thursday night.
Only one internet service provider appears to still have a working connection to the outside world: the Noor Group, for which all 83 routes are working, and inbound traffic from its connection provider, Telecom Italia, also working.
Protests in Egypt at the government’s rule have been building all week, and Friday was expected to see the largest demonstrations so far.
An analysis by Renesys, which provides real-time monitoring of internet access, says that “every Egyptian provider, every business, bank, internet cafe, website, school, embassy and government office that relied on the big four Egyptian ISPs for their internet connectivity is now cut off from the rest of the world. Link Egypt, Vodafone/Raya, Telecom Egypt, Etisalat Misr, and all their customers and partners are, for the moment, off the air.” Read the rest of this entry »
Egypt blocks social media websites in attempted clampdown on unrest
Facebook, Google, Hotmail and Twitter among services blocked by government, report users
Charles Arthur, technology editor
Guardian UK
26th January 2011
Internet sites such as Twitter and Facebook were cut off within Egypt today as the government of President Hosni Mubarak tried to prevent social media from being used to foment unrest.
Many sites registered in Egypt could not be reached from outside, according to Herdict.org, a website where users report access problems.
Twitter, YouTube, Hotmail, Google, Chinese search engine Baidu and a “proxy service” – which would allow users to evade obvious restrictions – appeared to be blocked from inside the country, according to reports on the site.
Twitter said blocking was intermittent and some users were able to tweet while Bambuser, a Swedish site for streaming video from mobile phones, said it had been blocked after being used by some protesters this week. Read the rest of this entry »
Who are telling the truth – or who are telling lies – about government’s proposed censorship of online news?
Who are telling the truth – or who are telling lies – about the government’s proposed censorship of online news?
Could one of the country’s top civil servants like the Home Ministry Secretary-General Datuk Seri Mahmood Adam be openly and blatantly telling a lie when he was reported by Bernama yesterday as saying that the Printing Presses and Publications Act (PPPA) 1984 would be amended to expand its scope and include publications posted online and “plug loopholes”?
Mahmood had said that the Home Ministry was looking at the definition of “publication” and whether it should include Internet content, blogs or Facebook to expand the Act due to the changing landscape of the digital era.
Expressing the hope that the amendments will be tabled in Parliament by March this year because “we need to overcome weaknesses, especially those involving multimedia content”, Mahmood said the ministry was working with the Attorney-General’s Chambers to study the proposed amendments.
Read the rest of this entry »
MPs say press law changes will drive investors away
Posted by Kit in IT, Media, Najib Razak on Wednesday, 26 January 2011
By Clara Chooi | The Malaysian Insider
KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 26 — Opposition lawmakers piled criticism today on the government’s plan to regulate online media content, predicting that the move would see severe voter backlash and hamper investor confidence in Malaysia.
DAP advisor Lim Kit Siang told The Malaysian Insider today that the Najib administration’s latest attempt to quell online dissent was a clear violation of the Barisan Nasional government’s pledge not to enforce censorship on the Internet.
The promise, he noted, was made under the 10-point Bill of Guarantees (BoGs) of the Malaysian Multimedia Super Corridor launched in 1996.
“They should be aware of this violation and if they proceed with this, they will frighten away investors.
“If the guarantee is not honoured, investors will view Malaysia as losing its credibility,” he said when contacted.
Read the rest of this entry »
NUJ President Hata Wahari first victim of the hypocrisy of Najib’s 1Malaysia slogan in Malaysian media
Posted by Kit in 1Malaysia, Media, Najib Razak on Sunday, 16 January 2011
National Union of Journalists (NUJ) President Hata Wahari is set to be the first victim of the hypocrisy of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s 1Malaysia slogan in the Malaysian media.
What is Hata’s crime?
For taking seriously Najib’s 1Malaysia slogan of building a Malaysian nation premised on the concepts of unity in diversity in multi-ethnic, multi-lingual, multi-religious and multi-cultural Malaysia, inclusiveness, social justice and values including the culture of excellence, integrity, wisdom and humility!
It was in this 1Malaysia spirit that Hata, shortly after being elected NUJ President last September, called on “all mainstream journalists, especially of Utusan Malaysia, New Straits Times, Berita Harian and The Star to return to their true function as deliverers of objective information to the public, and not as tools of propaganda for the government, or any political party or individual, for their personal gain.”
Hata also noted that the drop in print media circulation figures also clearly proved that the people were “far too disgusted with what is served up by the newspapers, which not only fail to develop the mind, but are full of horrible propaganda”.
Hata’s call as NUJ President was fully in keeping with Najib’s 1Malaysia concept. Read the rest of this entry »
Utusan suspends senior reporter pending inquiry
By Shazwan Mustafa Kamal and Melissa Chi
The Malaysian Insider
KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 15 — Utusan Malaysia has gone ahead and suspended senior reporter Hata Wahari pending an inquiry for being highly critical of the Umno-owned daily’s opinion pieces.
It is understood that the suspension will officially take effect this coming Monday, January 17 which is the first day of the domestic inquiry.
“After taking into consideration the seriousness of misconduct allegations against you, the company has decided to suspend your service effective January 17, 2011 until the domestic inquiry on your actions has been completed,” said Utusan’s suspension letter addressed to Hata.
The letter, which was sent to Hata on January 11, stated that the senior reporter would be denied entry into any Utusan office throughout the course of the inquiry, and needed to seek permission from the company management if he wanted to enter the office.
“During the period of your suspension, you are required to be in a place where the company management can contact you, and you are not allowed to leave your neighbourhood,” said the letter.
Hata, who is also president of the National Union of Journalists Malaysia (NUJ) has been attacked by his own company for issuing statements to news portals The Malaysian Insider, Malaysiakini, Merdeka Review, and The Sun newspaper between September 21 and October 14 last year. Read the rest of this entry »
Talent Corpse
Posted by Kit in Economics, Media, Najib Razak, Teoh Beng Hock on Thursday, 13 January 2011
The late Teoh Beng Hock is a living symbol of the dilemma facing the millions of bright young expatriate Malaysians that Najib Razak is attempting to attract back home with his latest cynical political ploy, Talent Corp.
On the one hand many of them would dearly love to contribute their energy and skills to the growth and development of their homeland, and to enjoy its rich culture and fabulous food in the company of their families and old friends.
And on the other hand, most seem totally alienated by witnessing the plight of their contemporaries who, through courageous choice or force of circumstances, elect to stay in Malaysia under the deadly BN regime.
Admittedly the case of Teoh is an extreme example of the fate that awaits the best and the brightest in BN’s Malaysia. But his highly suspicious death while in the custody of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC), and the coroner’s bizarre finding that his demise was neither suicide nor homicide, are entirely symptomatic of the BN system.
Read the rest of this entry »
We have to speak up
Posted by Kit in 1Malaysia, Media, nation building on Wednesday, 12 January 2011
by P. Ramakrishnan
President of Aliran
12th January 2011
JAN 12 — We have every reason to be concerned. We wonder where this nation is heading for and what is in store for us.
From the civil servant to the Umno politician, it is the same story: The non-Malays are “pendatang” (immigrants) and don’t have any citizenship rights. The rights conferred by Article 8 of the Federal Constitution are not respected or protected.
When an extreme group like Perkasa questions the citizenship rights of the non-Malays, the national leadership does not take them to task.
When extreme elements in Umno berate and denigrate the non-Malays, the top Umno leadership does not chastise them.
When one Umno delegate at the recently concluded general assembly had the temerity to suggest that the non-Malays be given the right to do business but should be denied the right to vote, nobody pointed out that it was against the constitution and that he should not be talking through his nose!
It is this disturbing silence when atrocious things are said which affect our unity that is worrying. It is this unbecoming conduct that encourages the extreme elements amongst us to be outrageous in their conduct and prompt them to continue with their seditious remarks. Read the rest of this entry »
1Malaysia test of Najib’s Political Transformation Programme – get all BN parties to speak with one voice on 1Malaysia with Utusan Malaysia stop being the biggest enemy of the 1Malaysia concept
Posted by Kit in 1Malaysia, Media, Najib Razak, nation building on Monday, 10 January 2011
The Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak spoke of his new “transformation” programme after his meeting with Barisan Nasional Members of Parliament on Saturday – political transformation.
Since becoming Prime Minister 18 months ago, Najib has been drumming the “transformation” mantra, with a plethora of alphabet soup like Government Transformation Programme (GTP), Economic Transformation Programme (ETP) and now a Political Transformation Programme to gird his signature concept of “1Malaysia. People First. Performance Now.”
But sadly, the country had never been more divided in the nation’s 53-year history than in the 18 months of Najib’s premiership, highlighting the hollowness and hypocrisy of his 1Malaysia concept, precisely because the loudest voice against Najib’s all-inclusive 1Malaysia concept had come from none other than UMNO’s official organ, Utusan Malaysia, which had been churning out a daily staple of lies and falsehoods to stoke communal hatred and national division.
It is most shocking and outrageous that in the past 18 months, there had been no serious effort to ensure that Utusan Malaysia, as the Umno’s official organ, should spearhead the 1Malaysia concept instead of being its biggest enemy and detractor with the daily diet of lies and falsehoods poisoning inter-racial and inter-religious relations and fanning national divisions in the country. Read the rest of this entry »
Utusan Malaysia’s daily staple of lies and falsehoods to stoke communal poison and hatred the greatest disservice to Najib’s 1Malaysia slogan and nation-building
Posted by Kit in 1Malaysia, Constitution, DAP, Media, Najib Razak on Sunday, 9 January 2011
Utusan Malaysia’s daily staple of lies and falsehoods to stoke communal poison and hatred, sowing distrust and national disunity, is the greatest disservice to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s 1Malaysia slogan and nation-building.
Mingguan Malaysia today is again at its anti-national worst with its daily diet of lies and falsehoods to poison the political system and undermine the nation-building process when it made the completely wild and baseless charge in insinuating in its editorial that DAP is working towards the goal of making Malaysia a republic and the abolition of the system of Malay rulers.
In its Sunday editorial “Iktibar kemelut Selangor” by Awang Selamat, Mingguan Malaysia insinuated that the lesson to be learnt from the Selangor crisis is that Malaysia will end up a republic if PKR and DAP’s “rule of Selangor continues”, viz:
“Tetapi iktibar daripada kemelut di Selangor itu ialah jika PKR dan DAP memerintah, lagi banyak berlaku kemudaratan. Yang paling pasti, Malaysia akan berada di ambang republik.”
There is no need for me to reiterate the DAP’s public stand down the decades supporting the system of constitutional monarchy in Malaysia.
What Awang Selamat had insinuated are downright lies and falsehoods scraping the very bottom of gutter journalism. In seven paragraphs of “Iktibar kemelut Selangor”, Awang Selamat had told more than seven lies in its multiple objective to disseminate communal hatred and ill-will, even attempting to sow discord among the Pakatan Rakyat parties of PKR, DAP and PAS in the Selangor coalition government. Read the rest of this entry »
Sarawak activists, lawyer detained ahead of polls
by Keruah Usit
Malaysiakini
Jan 7, 11
Police detained four activists and confiscated ‘seditious’ CDs and VCDs containing video and audio recordings of TV Sarawak Bebas and Radio Free Sarawak late last night in Kuching and Miri in what appears to be coordinated arrests.
Kuching-based land rights activist and Sarawak Dayak Iban Association (Sadia) secretary Nicholas Mujah and Miri-based land rights lawyer and activist Abun Sui Anyit were both detained by Kuching and Miri police respectively.
The duo had their statements taken by the police. The other two, who were arrested by police in Kuching but without their statements taken, were social activist Ong Boon Keong and Sadia staff Nikodemus Singgai.
Six Home Ministry officials and a team of Special Branch officers raided Sadia office just past midnight and confiscated about 1,200 of CDs and VCDs. Also confiscated were two compact disc burners and some promotional leaflets.
Mujah, Singgai and Ong were subsequently taken to the Satok police station in Kuching.
A few hours later, Mujah was transferred to the Home Ministry office in Kuching for questioning after the confiscated materials were recorded at the Satok police station.
He was told that he is being investigated under Section 6 of the Film Censorship Act. Read the rest of this entry »
Malaysia slips down Democracy Index
Posted by Kit in Good Governance, Human Rights, Media on Friday, 7 January 2011
Aidila Razak
Malaysiakini
Jan 6, 11
Malaysia has taken a slight tumble down the Economist Intelligence Unit’s 2010 Democracy Index, slipping three places to number 71 out of 167 countries, with its overall score dropping from 6.36 points in 2008 to 6.19 last year.
This places Malaysia squarely in the “flawed democracy” category, along with 52 other countries that received overall scores of between 6 and 7.9 out of a maximum of 10 points.
Flawed democracies are countries that have “free and fair elections” and respect “basic civil liberties”, but face “problems such as infringements on media freedom”.
Such countries also have “significant weaknesses in other aspects of democracy, including problems in governance, an underdeveloped political culture and low levels of political participation”, the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) index shows. Read the rest of this entry »
Utusan Malaysia a daily reminder of the hollowness and hypocrisy of Najib’s 1Malaysia concept
Posted by Kit in 1Malaysia, Constitution, DAP, Media, Pakatan Rakyat on Monday, 3 January 2011
Utusan Malaysia is a daily reminder of the hollowness and hypocrisy of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s 1Malaysia concept as the Umno newspaper continues to peddle lies and poison to incite strife and hatred in Malaysia’s plural society.
Najib’s 1Malaysia talks about embracing “our diversity of ethnicity, religions and beliefs and, by being inclusive, build mutual respect and acceptance into a solid foundation of trust and cohesiveness” but Utusan Malaysia is doing the very opposite every day with its staple of lies and falsehoods.
The 1Malaysia Government Transformation Programme Roadmap released in January last year advocated the promotion of “an all-inclusive 1Malaysia media” and warned of the danger of greater national divisions and disunity when “some writers abuse the greater freedom of expression now available to use terms and feelings that are racist or inflammatory in nature and tone”.
It said:
“While censorship is antithetical to democracy, there is a need to introduce, instill and internalize a commitment to journalistic professionalism, a sense of responsibility and self-restraint, with sensitivity to the divergent views and feelings of the diverse communities in Malaysia.”
Unfortunately, this “commitment to journalistic professionalism, a sense of responsibility and self-restraint, with sensitivity to the divergent views and feelings of the diverse communities in Malaysia” is completely absent in Utusan Malaysia, which have become even more irresponsible and unprofessional in the past year, peddling lies, falsehoods and poison to incite strife and hatred in our plural society. Read the rest of this entry »
NUJ blames racist editors for Utusan’s circulation drop
By Adib Zalkapli
The Malaysian Insider
January 01, 2011
KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 1 – National Union of Journalists (NUJ) president Hata Wahari blamed Utusan Malaysia editors and what he called their racial rhetoric for the daily’s declining sale.
He also called on the authorities to act against Utusan Malaysia editors for fanning racial sentiment in its reports.
“Utusan Malaysia which used to enjoy daily circulation of 350,000 has now become government’s propaganda tool in playing up racial issues and creating discord among the people of various races,” said Hata (picture) in a statement today.
“NUJ Malaysia also calls on the authorities to act against the chief editor and other editors of Utusan Malaysia for undermining racial harmony in the country,” he added.
Audit Bureau of Circulations (ABC) figures for the full year ended June 30, 2010 showed that Utusan Malaysia’s circulation dropped from 181,346 to 170,558, or a drop of 5.9 per cent.
“NUJ Malaysia hopes that the chief editor and editors of Utusan Malaysia will revert to the objectives of the newspaper during the early days of its publication,” said Hata who is also an Utusan Malaysia journalist. Read the rest of this entry »
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