Govt wants media to expose its wrong doings… really?

Sarawak Chief Minister Tan Sri Adenan Satem has been saying all the right things since taking office on March 1, 2014. And this has become especially so in recent months.

This is evident from Satem declaring that English now has the status of preferred official language in the state (with Bahasa Malaysia, of course), that non-Muslims are allowed to use the word "Allah", the recognition of the Chinese secondary school's UEC qualification, and also that Chinese are not "pendatang".

The latest "right statement" he made was his take on the media, as proclaimed at the presentation of the Kenyalang journalism awards held in Kuching last week.

At the event, Adenan told the media that it has the opportunity and responsibility to report and expose any shortcoming they observe so that a solution to the problem highlighted can be achieved. That was reported by Bernama, the government owned national news agency.

And the Sarawak CM went on to tell the media that it cannot remain silent upon seeing "a menace in society" or worse, "one that is in a state of denial and refuses to do anything about it".

There's more. According to Adenan, whether it is a matter of environment awareness or if there are "any irregularities even within the government", the media have a role to report it.

"The government in fact is encouraging them (the media) to do so ", Adenan was reported to have said.

All sweet music to the ears of many a news hound, including yours truly.

I have no reason to doubt the CM's sincerity in saying what he had said. But it is just that I have heard such encouraging words of advice and assurances many times before.

Uttered by senior politicians holding high positions in the federal administration. And some have even gone right up the pecking order, and are sitting high and mighty.

They have said the same words in the same tone to the media, in particular, those that are government-owned and government-friendly.

They have also done it openly in public functions as well as in closed door "briefing cum dialogue" sessions which I had the pleasure (or should it be displeasure) of attending when I was part of the so-called mainstream media some time ago.

There we were, told to be the watchdog, to be the conscience of the people and to be the heartbeat of the nation.

Yet, some news personnel (and media organisations) were known to have been reprimanded, to put it mildly , simply because they put into action what was preached upon them.

And the ones taking action were the very politicians who had earlier told the media to be bold and brave in exposing wrongdoings, even if it was by the government, and to discard the old propaganda way, as the rakyat can now see right through it all.

The preferred choice of reporting has obviously always been the sugar coating of the powers that be and the "attack" against its enemies in politics. Hence, the "reminders", subtle or otherwise, is for the media "to cover the opposition solely to dig dirt". Or create some, if necessary.

Failing which? Well, you know the answer.

Why then, do the local media (read mainstream pro-government) go through all this?

Well, one is that there are actually people in the media who believe they are doing the right thing. In following orders, so to speak, they are serving the nation. That is how they see it anyway. Never mind the rewards that come with it.

Then there are the media people who do it for fear of "retribution". Enough said.

When Datuk Seri Najib Razak took over as prime minister in 2009 he promised reforms (or in his case, "transformation"). For the media, it involved the "softening" of the Printing Presses and Publishing Act, or PPPA, which was to "unshackle" the Malaysian media.

Actually, the demand has always been for the government to repeal the act, not "soften" it. Anyway, back to Najib, the "big change" he made as PM was that the media would not have to renew their permit annually as required under the act all this while.

At a glance it looked good. But the fact remained the PPPA is still in place and the home minster is still empowered to revoke the permit anytime for "reasons he deem justified". Meaning, it is business as usual.

It's a long story, one which needs a book to "explain" everything (perhaps that should be my new year's resolution, write a book in 2016 ).

To cut a long story short, suffice to say the shackles are still there and are as strong as ever. It is stronger even, come to think of it.

Thank God there are in our midst, media folk who dare to push the envelope and take risks.

Yet according to a senior politician who was a member of the ruling elite some time back, to say the Malaysian media is not free is not correct.

I remember him saying years ago that the Malaysian media is "free to support the government ". Need I say more? – December 22, 2015.

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