CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION 1.1 Introduction. Malaysia, like any developing country, has always ...

306 Pages·2016·2.81 MB·English

CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION

1.1 Introduction.

Malaysia, like any developing country, has always been very responsive to the latest
developments in the media. The Malaysian government has implemented various
development plans as well as promoting human development, especially in today’s
environment of socio-economic change. Malaysia has also been particularly attentive to
the rapidly changing world of information and communication technology; but is at the
same time mindful of the effects of the information gap or the digital divide in the
Malaysian society.

The local media is inherently obliged and expected to act as an important supporting
system towards the ruling government since the days of the Malaysia’s fourth Prime
Minister, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, announced the Vision 2020 to transform
Malaysia into a developed country by the year 2020. The media has featured in the
forefront machinery in disseminating and promoting the government’s mandate of
Vision 2020 to the general public. This has spurred and bound the media to increase
their integrity to practice openness, transparency and accountability to the public in
communicating the media content pertaining to the Vision 2020 agenda to form a
caring, mature and democratic society equipped with the highest ethical standards;
synergizing the society to become collectivists rather than individualists which
encourages them to think and uphold that “society comes before self” (Zaharom, 1994
and Kaur, 2004). The vast potential of information and communication innovations such
as satellite and telecommunications systems, computer based communication network
1
as well as the Internet is indeed a blessing. However all these could exert varying effects
on the country’s social and developmental changes. Advances in information and
communication technology, particularly with the advent of the Internet, have also
brought about new challenges in the regulatory regime. Not only have these
technological changes improvised our way of doing business and media organisation; it
is also propels the Malaysian government to an e-government, along with the
information technological movement (Seng, Jackson & Philip, 2010).

Before the age of the new media and information technology, the government had
resorted to censorship in order to eliminate any unwanted or undesirable content so as to
protect the public. Such practices have been viewed as legitimate in Asian countries
because it fits the generally traditional and orthodox Asian values. However as years go
by from 1980’s from the introduction of video cassettes to the satellite-relayed
television, the content censorship is nowadays rather impossible to execute because it is
simply just impractical (McDaniel, 2002).

Then, came the Internet era which emphatically boomed in the mid 1990’s which
influenced Malaysia to strategize better upon moving into the new millennium by
transforming the country into a knowledge-based country; concentrating on intellectual
capital and intellectual property. The Multimedia Super Corridor (MSC) was a
government initiative introduced by Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad was hailed as the
strategic vehicle that is capable to drive the country into this direction. The MSC
promoted laws, policies and regulations with the necessary infrastructure to create the
most conducive environment in which the local multimedia, communication and
information technology (IT) industries are going to take shape. It also aspired to be the
regional IT hub in Southeast Asia in promoting open and free information access.
2
Consequently, this also meant that laws and censorship policies had to be modified
accordingly. It has also opened the Pandora’s Box to other kinds of online media which
purposely provide uncensored content that under the purview of upholding freedom of
speech (McDaniel, 2002).

The current national environment and cultural background affect our local media
practices as they promote the new regime of local media regulations, which constantly
portray and propagate national policies. The paradigm shift of such a regulated
environment to the new regime challenges the local broadcast media to revise and
perform new ethical, screening concepts, content development etc.; to ensure that the
industry is aligned to the national agenda. However, the full force of government
involved in regulating the media industries might impede the nation’s intention to feed
the information society. Therefore, there is a rise in media self-regulation practices
where the media is expected to be more accountable and responsible for the content in
ways that do not exploit the minors safeguarding diversity (Schulz & Held, 2004).

For these reasons, the researcher would like to propose the subject matter for his
Doctorate of Philosophy. The research will focus on the self-regulation of the Malaysian
media. In order to examine such a topic, it is necessary for the research to be
interdisciplinary in nature. This befits the researcher’s own background which includes
being a council member for the Communication and Multimedia Content Forum
(CMCF), a voluntary organization under the Malaysian Communication and Multimedia
Commission (MCMC) a university academic staff as well as being personally involved
in media practices. The supervisors’ background is also relevant with their vast
experience in media studies and media policies. In addition to these disciplines, this
3
research will draw on the political economy approach so as to support relevant data
findings and conclusions.

This research will present a study which attempts to fill the effects of social and
technological changes towards globalization to the Malaysian media players and
communities. It provides the regulatory basis for the standard media convergence,
consumer protection, industrial growth development, technical devices and content
development. This study also identifies problems and steps taken by the local authorities
such as several government agencies and local media industries to plan strategies and
implement such legislation and policies in order to uplift the media industry to become
more competitive and achieve world class standard.

Theoretically, the study yielded initial typology of the social policy development impact
through some implementation and strategies taken by the authorities. This is to ensure
that the rapid growth and technological modernization sufficiently balance the media
industry and wider communities in fulfilling the nation’s visions.

The type of research will enable the media industry, both at the provider and consumer
ends, to gain an in-depth knowledge of the processes in providing services which befit
the federal legislations, regulations and policies; in-line to promote nation building and
the creation of suitable local contents and services.

1.2 Problem Statement and Research Problem

Back in the British colonial era, all of the media, including the print media are subject to
licensing for reasons of political and economic interests. This was attributable to the
4
need to protect political situations where the media and the state were brought together,
and still remain bonded, in a symbiotic relationship. This relationship can be seen as to
accomplish the government’s desire that media should be used as important tools for
national unity and development through the concept and practice of development
journalism (Ramanathan, 2004 and 2006).

During the Mahathir’s era in 1980’s, the Malaysian government has announced that the
media should be full responsibility in delivering information to the public by projecting
positive mannerisms as a mean to promote national unity and harmony. In the 1980’s
and 1990’s, the government’s control over the mainstream print and electronic media
was further strengthened, again for the sake of political and financial stability. The
opposition and foreign media were substantially restricted in terms of their circulation
through legal restraints (Ramanathan, et. al, 2006). The roles of most Malaysian media
back then were limited to deliver information on national policies, enhancing people’s
support for the ruling government; especially during the elections where they neglected
the opposition’s criticisms over certain sensitive issues related to the government’s roles
and regulatory enforcements. The tight control of the mainstream media by Barisan
Nasional’s (BN) component parties and associated allies has led to an oligopoly- like
situation. More recent pronouncements of the mainstream media regarding Malaysia’s
woes, especially in the 1990’s have been attributed to the “blame it on others” syndrome
that was set in motion by Tun Mahathir (Zaharom, 2002).

Harun (2005) cited Ramananthan (2006) who indicated that the Malaysian Human
Rights Commission (SUHAKAM) had received numerous complaints and memoranda
from the public and media organisations that claimed they had been discriminatorily
denied renewal of their printing permits under the Printing Presses and Publications Act
5
1984. Others complained about restricted provisions under the Sedition Act 1948, the
Internal Security Act (ISA) 1960, the Official Secrets Act (OSA) 1972 and the
Defamation Act 1957 which glaringly created fear among the journalists and suppressed
the freedom to report issues of public interest in a creative way. The refusal of the
Malaysian government to allow the print media organisations to impose the self-
regulation practices had produced a paradox within the media industry. The formation
of the Malaysian Press Council has been approved by the government but yet to be
established and frustratingly remain under evaluation by the Ministry of
Communication and Multimedia.

However, the privatization of television (TV) stations and telecommunications
beginning from the second half of the 1980’s can be seen as a new government
approach to expand the local and international economies and market forces
(Ramanathan, 2006). The opening of the Malaysian skies with the advent of satellite
TV brought about changes in Malaysian laws with regards to broadcasting. It also led to
changes in the viewing habits of the Malaysian public who began to have access to
limitless information, virtually beamed straight into their living rooms. Information was
no longer the monopoly of state broadcasters. As satellite TV catered for a niche
audience, the state broadcasters found themselves edged out from their once dominant
provider of information and entertainment (Syafiq, 2004).

The present system of media system in Malaysia is fragmented; lacking transparency in
terms of media freedom of expression. The media reporting and publications are biased
towards the interest of media ownerships, stakeholders (most the media are owned by
political parties) and other entities that stand to gain benefits from media publicity
(Zaharom, 2011). The historical background of media systems during the colonial
6
command, are reflected in the current Malaysian media practices. The separation of
functions between the print media and broadcasting exists until now because they are
governed by different kinds of laws, legislations and regulations. For instance, the print
media is accountable to the Printing and Publication Act 1960, whereas the broadcasting
media is governed under The Broadcasting Act 1987 and the telecommunication
industry is answerable to The Telecommunication Act (1960) until the Communication
and Multimedia Act (CMA) was introduced in 1998 to replace both Acts
(Ramananthan, 2004 and 2006).

Since then, there remains a divisive gap between those media in terms of legislations,
regulations and enforcement, as they are controlled under different government
ministries. The print media is governed under The Ministry of Home Affairs while the
broadcasting and telecommunication media are monitored under the Ministry of
Communication and Multimedia (formerly known as Ministry of Information,
Communication and Culture). This gap, according to Zaharom (2012), is troublesome to
the media industry itself. The vast digital technology age ever since the establishment of
Internet revolutionized the global media system seemed to be denied by the
government. The local electronic media enjoyed the self-regulation practices after
governed by the new law, whereas the print media (which have been labelled to have a
higher reputation and influence among the public) are still administered under the old
legislation.

This paradigm shift of the media technology has created a new dimension of media
regulations and practices. As the media content become more important to the public,
media industries and the nation; it promotes new identities, characteristics and cultures
to the public and the local media environment. Unlike the Internet which acts as a ‘pull’
7
medium, the broadcasting is a ‘push’ medium in which the responsibility of the content
type falls under the broadcaster. Therefore, the Multimedia Super Corridor (MSC) has
established the Communications and Multimedia Content Forum (CMCF) to advocate
as a bureau that handles complaints among media players and also to enforce the
Content Code.

However, compliance to the code is voluntary among the non-members of Content
Forum or media players. Nonetheless, this move is seen as important because we are
living in a modern information age where the need for media players, particularly the
broadcasters to self-regulate is seen as very timely and relevant (Ida, 2003). Meanwhile,
Sharifah (2002) and Sarimin & Yigitcanlar (2011) reported that there imbalances still
prevail between the Malaysian government’s IT development vision (access to IT
services), IT capability and its practices. The argument is that some of the media players
involved under the MSC project are not aware of the latest development in federal
legislation and policies. Sharifah (2002) criticized that the Malaysian government and
local authorities have to educate the local media players to understand the concept and
implementation of the MSC; and how the media industry will benefit from the new IT
edge. It is important for media players to fully embrace and understand the MSC plans
and policies in order to be the ‘knowledge-based urban development’.

This study will be able to monitor this phenomenon continuously as it will be analysed
and interpreted to get to the root cause of this problem. Those policies that apply joint
information sharing between departments, ministries, media organizations and agencies
have yet to achieve similar successes. This is mostly because of the lack of cohesiveness
by the different organizational leaders to gauge and satisfy the needs of multilevel staff
and a wide spectrum of ultimate end-users. This factor would be challenged by the
8
creation and implementation of such legislations or regulations geared to cater for the
organizational needs and meeting the demands from the current industry environment
and consumer markets.

At present, there is no empirical data to support how the Malaysian legislation and
policies implementation would be able to build strategic new media development
successfully and to fulfil the Vision 2020. Ever since Malaya achieved independence in
1957, the ruling government has been perceived to be enforcing a rigid control over
media regulation via the public national broadcaster, Radio Televisyen Malaysia
(RTM). With the rise in new media and IT in recent years, the government has
introduced the MSC. The Internet itself is regarded as the escape hatch for freedom of
speech to acquire or express the oppositional political agenda and views. The
demonstration of BERSIH (meaning clean in Malay) and HINDRAF (Hindu Rights
Action Force) and the results of the 12th Malaysian public elections held on 8th March
2008 have proven that Malaysian citizens are clearly in need of less controlled of media
content as is currently provided by the government.

This has proven why the alternative media press on the Internet is seen as the preferred
choice by Malaysian citizens (Sankar, 2010). For example, because the government has
the right to control the broadcasting content, there are accounts in the Facebook listed to
be owned by “Kami Benci TV3” (meaning “We Hate TV3” in Malay). Such evidence
shows that the freedom of speech on the Internet has affected the broadcasting content.
The MSC’s media legislation, regulations and policies caused a new paradigm shift to
support the overall multimedia industry, the lay public, as well as local and international
media players. The regulations and policies were only introduced several months after
the MSC project was announced by the Prime Minister. This dilemma has created a
9
paradoxical thinking among media practitioners as they do not really comprehend how
those new policies could become a workable strategy to promote the well-being and
competitive environment for the multimedia technology in Malaysia. In addition, the
development of MSC project is still unfinished and is currently in its third phase of
development from 2011 until 2020 to develop a ‘knowledge society’ as manifested by
Vision 2020 (Sarimin & Yigitcanlar, 2011).

Syed Hussein (2001) noted that the overlapping of media regulations and practices
among local authorities and ministries would create a huge problem to the media
industry itself as the local broadcasting stations are forced to follow different kinds of
regulations from various authorities before they are able to air their programmes. Culter
(1997) reported that this phenomenon would jeopardize the existing media
development, thus creating an unhealthy environment to the local media industry
players. It is widely believed that there are double-standards in practicing the media
regulations and policies, as those online and multimedia players (Internet access
providers, search engines, web hosts or content aggregators) do not have full control
over the content which passes through their servers or websites. On the contrary, other
print-based publications have a bigger control in what they publish and distribute to the
general public. In other words, the regulation is easier to impose to the traditional media
as compared to the new media (Internet) that always seems to be less regulated
(McDaniel, 2002). Zaharom (1996) commented,

“If the interests of the information and culture producers and the powers that are
intertwined, a society's capacity for a democratic government is seriously undermined”
(Hamelink, 1994).

10