PETALING JAYA: Malaysia's drop in the 2010 Press Freedom Index (PFI) rankings has come as a surprise to many local media observers.
The PFI rankings which take into account 178 countries, is prepared by French-based press watchdog Reporters Without Borders (RSF).
Malaysia's fall to 144th place was unexpected, especially when it had moved up a notch last year. This year, it dropped 10 notches to mark its lowest rankings in nine years.
“I am a little surprised,” said Southeast Asia Media Legal Defence Network (SEAMLDN) project coordinator H Dipendra, in response to Malaysia's drop.
“At the very least, I thought we would be able to maintain our ranking. However in the past year, the government has done little to suggest that steps are being taken to ensure and promote a freer press.
“All we have is a little lip service about 'free press',” he said adding that it would be difficult for Malaysia to rise through the PFI rankings, if it did not take steps to address the problem.
Centre for Independent Journalism (CIJ) executive officer, Masjaliza Hamzah, said the drop was predictable given Malaysia's consistency in the charts.
“Malaysia has always been at the bottom one-third of the Press Freedom Index,” she said.
Others have improved
Masjaliza said that other countries may have done better in terms of press freedom this year, pushing Malaysia (who has been stagnant) further towards the bottom.
“If other countries improved (in the PFI rankings), then you'll be pushed down,” she said.
Masjaliza also blamed the drop to non-state actors such as right-wing Malay rights NGO Perkasa and Jaringan Melayu Muda (JMM) and their repeatedly call to use the Sedition Act against media practitioners.
A few days ago, a group of Jaringan Melayu Muda (JMM) members demonstrated outside The Malaysian Insider's office in Kuala Lumpur.
The protestors were allegedly unhappy with the online portal's coverage of Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak and his wife, Rosmah Mansor.
This has prompted local regulatory body, Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) to initiate an investigation into JMM's claims.
Cyberspace attacks were also noted as common, with FMT and popular blogsite Malaysia-Today overwhelmed by hackers.
Dipendra said that it was difficult to justify if the government's current stance on the media was better than it was during former PM Dr Mahathir (Mohamad)'s era.
“The drop in index suggests that we are regressing rather than progressing,” he said.
More access now
However, Dipendra admitted that Malaysians had more access to information now than compared to Mahathir's era.
A thorn in many a newspaper's side, Mahathir's administration was peppered with media-unfriendly actions, including the infamous Operation Lalang, which saw the revoking of several publishing licenses.
“During Dr Mahathir's time, journalists were more afraid to push the envelope, therefore there were less violations against the media,” Masjaliza said.
She also said that it was unnecessary for Malaysians to muse if Najib's stance on the media was better than Mahathir's.
“We shouldn't be comparing Najib against someone who was in power for 22 years. We don't want to make comparisons where the benchmark is so low,” she said.
“When Najib first came into power, he said that the media was going to be (in a) better (shape),” she said.
“It's not necessarily better, although the rhetoric seems to be better.”
Joining in the rhetoric, Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin issued recently a warning to the media recently saying that it was not free to do as it liked. Ironically, he said this at a media liberalisation forum.
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