KUALA LUMPUR, June 11 — News outlets in Malaysia will never truly be independent as long as their shares are held by Barisan Nasional (BN) parties, or even the present Pakatan Harapan (PH) government, veteran newsman Datuk A. Kadir Jasin asserted.
With the defeat of BN, which achieved about a third of the popular vote in the 14th general election, Kadir said media outlets owned by BN parties can no longer be considered as “mainstream” media.
“But to me, they are not qualified to describe themselves as independent media because they are still controlled and administered by Umno/BN,” he wrote in a recent blog posting.
He noted that these former mainstream media outlets are now increasing their coverage of PH parties and leaders.
But despite the increased coverage, he claimed the same media outlets still have a policy of being pro-Umno or pro-BN.
He alleged that their reports on the new PH government were intended to show that they have changed but were opportunistic and aimed to boost sales that had previously fallen due to their readers and audience’s hatred towards the previous Najib administration.
“Media owned by Umno/BN and that are pro-Najib will not achieve true and lasting independence if their shares and management are controlled by BN parties and pro-Najib entrepreneurs,” he said, adding that the issue of ownership was crucial amid the heavy losses suffered by many BN-owned media outlets.
Kadir also said Media Prima’s shareholders include government-linked investment companies (GLICs) such as the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) and Tabung Haji, noting reports where the federal government was said to own many shares in the company.
“If this is true, that means the shares now are owned by the PH government. Personally I think the government should not own shares in media companies,” he said in the same blog post.
“GLICs cannot continue to provide capital for companies owned by Umno/BN that have poor financial performance as this will give a negative impact to their contributors and shareholders,” he said, adding that it was time for the BN-owned media outlets to rethink their role amid the PH government’s commitment to freedom of speech.
