AS MALAYSIANS go to the polls on Sunday, May 5, the Southeast Asian Press Alliance (SEAPA) has expressed concerned that voters are being denied their rights to fair and credible sources of information.
A network of independent media organizations in the Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand, and Malaysia, SEAPA in an alerts report said that, “for any electoral process to be meaningful in a democracy, citizens must be able to access fair and accurate information, from diverse sources, so that they can make informed choices.”
The PCIJ, the Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility (CMFR), the Thai Journalists Association (TJA), the Alliance of Independent Journalists of Indonesia (AJI) and the Institute for Studies on the Free Flow of Information in Indonesia (ISAI), and the Centre for Independent Journalism (CIJ) in Malaysia comprise the SEAPA network. Journalists’ associations in Timor-Leste, Cambodia, Vietnam, and Burma are SEAPA partners.
In its report, SEAPA noted that the 13th general elections in Malaysia on Sunday “has been described as a tough election” between the incumbent ruling coalition, Barisan Nasional, which has governed the country for more than 50 years, and the Pakatan Rakyat coalition led by former deputy prime minister Anwar Ibrahim.
SEAPA, through its Executive Director Gayathry Venkiteswaran, cited preliminary results from a media monitoring activity undertaken by the University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus and the Centre for Independent Journalism. The study found “mainstream media coverage of the elections campaigns were significantly biased towards the incumbent, Barisan Nasional.”
However, online portals “were found to be more balanced in the number and slant of stories of the contesting parties and candidates.”
“Yet, even with a high internet penetration rate of over 60 percent in the country,” SEAPA said, “there are large segments of society that do not have regular and affordable access to online information.”
The downside is, according to SEAPA, “the broadcast and print media, which have wider reach, are strongly controlled by the government.”
“The state broadcaster, Radio Television Malaysia (RTM), mainly broadcasts campaign information for the incumbent government. Giving in to public pressure, it offered 10 minutes of broadcast time for political parties in the opposing coalition, for the first time, to air their pre-recorded party manifestos,” SEAPA reported.
“Political parties in the Pakatan Rakyat coalition have rejected the offer, saying it made a mockery of fair and adequate media access to all parties contesting in the elections.”
SEAPA also expressed concern about “incidents of intimidation of journalists in the run up to the elections.”
Citing reports from the electoral reform group, Bersih, SEAPA said at least four reports of intimidation or obstruction in the work of the media workers, notably:
* “8 April: A reporter, who made inquiries about vehicles belonging to the Information Department that were reported to have facilitated the launch of Barisan Nasional’s command center in Kuala Lumpur, was threatened by a party official.”
* “22 April: Media personnel covering nominations for the Sibuti parliamentary constituency in the state of Sarawak, were allegedly prevented from entering the nomination centre despite showing their official media passes.”
* “24 April: A reporter with the Chinese daily Nanyang Siang Pau said she was attacked by BN party workers at an operations centre in Kuantan, Pahang. The police had not only refused to take her report, they also told her to delete photographs she took of the attacks.”
* “25 April: A photojournalist from China Press was punched by a man from a group of motorcyclists wearing blue 1Malaysia T-shirts who were disrupting a public talk organised by the Democratic Action Party (DAP) in Bukit Gelugor, Penang.”
SEAPA urged all the media outlets in Malaysia to “apply the highest standards of professionalism and ethics in their coverage of the general elections and the campaign.”
It also called on members of the National Union of Journalists of Malaysia to heed a resolution passed at its Extraordinary Delegates Conference on 3 March 2012, “to subscribe to fair reporting which is also in line with NUJ’s Code of Ethics, and endeavour to ensure that balanced reports are published.”
SEAPA likewise urged the Election Commission, and the political parties, candidates, and their supporters to “respect the rights of the journalists in their duties to report during the elections and refrain from using any means of intimidation, harassment or violence towards media personnel.”