You are as free as you want to be

The recent action against newsweekly The Heat has incensed a section of journalists in the country, especially those working in the “freer” Internet media.

I can’t help observe that a big number of these angry journalists were once working for government broadsheets, and were in the thick of the action at the height of the Malaysian media’s descent into press fascism in the eighties and especially in the late nineties, when all journalism ethics were suspended, nay discarded.

Some have even called for the formation of an alternative journalist union to fight for press freedom, frustrated that the majority of the existing members of the National Union of Journalists are not committed to press freedom and have failed to protect the plight of journalists.

I am not sure if the problem of press freedom in Malaysia is something that can be championed. The fact is we are as free as we want to be, and this applies not only to journalists. 

It is the journalists themselves who should decide to be free, without fighting for it from the authorities. As long as they are free to type their words and are not bothered about what happens later, they have honoured their profession.

Of course, some will say this is utopian. But this is the age of the touchpad, and one does not need a permit to be able to put one’s thoughts across to the whole of humanity.

If one is arrested or charged, and jailed or fined, does it mean it is the end of press freedom? Similarly, just because a newspaper is closed, we should not think freedom is dead.

There is nothing to stop someone from speaking out, provided he is ready to pay the price and ready to face the consequences after speaking out.

Should a writer exercise his God-given freedom to speak out only when he feels safe knowing that there is a union of journalists ready to defend him? Does that mean he is truly free in speaking out?

As such, I really think our state of journalism, and not the various draconian laws limiting press freedom, is to be blamed.

Some ten years ago, I was asked to briefly pen my view about Malaysia’s state of the media. This is what I wrote, and I still stand by it:

The problem with the media in the country is within: the journalists themselves. It is not so much the control of the press by the government but their lack of self-esteem. They consider their vocation just a job to earn a living and they are prepared to sell themselves for a pittance.

When they began writing they were idealistic and set out with some commitment to change the world, but gradually their belly takes over their brain and mind. Then they stop thinking and produce mediocre articles and reports that are acceptable to their political bosses. They begin to measure success by the figures in their pay cheque.

Journalists must remember that there will be no output without input. The quality of the output also depends on the quality of the input. For instance, if our input is mainly the mediocre speeches of our ministers, then our output must be trash marketable only with the mainstream newspapers.

Some of the best journalists in this country are financially very, very poor, but they can walk with their heads held high.

An analytical mind, clear thinking acquired from an early age and the moral courage to call a spade a spade – these are the qualities which make a journalist a journalist.

In a democratic system, journalists play a role similar to that of ulama (religious scholars) in an Islamic system: to speak for the people. In Islamic parlance, such ulama who support the government while distorting Islamic principles are called “ulama sultan” (court ulama). Similarly, journalists who disregard democratic principles are “court journalists”. – January 1, 2014.

* This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insider.