| Public critical of media content, want more independence |
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| Thursday, 04 September 2008 | |
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KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 4 - A public survey commissioned by a
media watchdog found that a significant majority of Malaysians want
media independence, with close to half believing the mainstream media
to be performing below the best of ethical standards.
Commissioned by the Centre for Independent Journalism (CIJ) with
funding from Friedrich Naumann Foundation, the survey was conducted by
Merdeka Centre for Opinion Research from 8 to 14 May 2008, through
phone interviews with 1,201 Malaysians who were randomly and
proportionally selected according to state of residence, ethnicity and
sex. CIJ also received partial support from the Southeast Asian Press Alliance (SEAPA), based in Bangkok.
Eighty-seven percent of those polled would like to see changes
leading to greater media independence: 26 percent wanted a more
critical media, 23 percent thought a complaint mechanism was the best
answer for the malaise affecting the media, while 19 percent wanted an
enabling environment for media plurality.
However, 35 percent believed that the onus for media reform was on
the government. Significantly, 79 percent were unaware of the role
civil society organisations in promoting media independence.
Seventy-eight percent agreed that media owners have a significant
impact on content and may therefore be a hindrance to media
independence. Half identified the government (53 percent of
respondents) and people/companies connected to the government (15
percent) as the owners of most media outlets.
The survey revealed that Malaysians were critically assessing the
content of the local mainstream media, upon which the majority relied
heavily as sources of information. Asked to rate the performance of the
mainstream media according to six indicators—ethical, variety of
opinions included, variety of issues covered, objectivity, fairness and
truthfulness—only 56 percent said they were all met; the figure
plummetted to 35 percent when it came to fairness of reporting.
Malaysians were also opposed to censorship of topics of public
interest: Eighty percent thought coverage of outbreaks of diseases
should not be censored, 69 percent felt strongly about exposing
allegations/implications of corruption, 58 percent wanted reports of
street demonstrations, and 48 percent did not think the identities of
crime victims and criminals should be kept hidden. The only censorship
that Malaysians overwhelmingly agreed to was on vulgarities, indecent
pictures, and lurid and obscene details.
CIJ Executive Director Gayathry Venkiteswaran said that the
survey pointed to the need to liberalise media control as media
consumers are becoming more savvy. Referring also to an earlier study
by CIJ and its partners, on election coverage by six publications,
Gayathry said both studies reflected a consistent level of crisis in
confidence in the traditional and big media houses.
For more information please contact CIJ Executive Director at 03 40230772. To view the report of the survey click here , for analysis, here
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