Walk for Media Freedom

Details soon ……

from uk.youtube.com posted with vodpod

Silence of the Lamb(s)

By Johann Foo
11th May, 2008

We know that the 186-page report by the Royal Commission looking into the infamous Lingam Tape was handed to the King on Friday morning (9th May, 200 . Later the same day, the report was handed over to the Prime Minister whom we believe will present it to the Cabinet to decide whether it should be made public.

After 17 days of hearing and 21 witnesses that revealed a top judge’s holiday in New Zealand may have been arranged for the judge in question and that a RM10 million defamation judgment may well have been written by Lingam himself, there can be no doubt as to whether the report should be made public. In the meantime not one mainstream paper has called for the unconditional release of the report in the interest of transparency and public interest.

Do the editors in the MSM really think they will be thrown in jail or lose their job if they were to come out with editorials stating that the report must be released to the public to preserve our faith in the government and the judiciary?

I suppose I need not mention that no questions were asked as to why Grand Saga is allowed to build a barricade on state land at Bandar Mahkota Cheras or whether the police should show more restraint and respect for Members of Parliament and not treat them as common criminals.

We ask that readers at this blog highlight instances where the media have not served the people in ways that they should. Please share with us your thoughts if you can spare the time.

Thank you.

For Freedom of Information

Have you already signed the Petition for the Freedom of Information Act?

Read about the Petition

Sign the Petition

According to the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) Report for Q3 2007, Malaysia now has 1,229,000 broadband subscriptions and 3,910,000 dial-up subscriptions representing 4.5% and 14.6% penetration rates respectively. This translates into approximately 5,139,000 internet subscribers!

As of this writing, there is a sad total of 456 persons who have signed the petition?

Does this mean that Malaysians don’t care? I think not. Within a matter of hours, more than RM30,000 was donated by generous Malaysians who cared that dear Raja Petra Kamarudin had been jailed for alleged sedition.

So why have so few signed the petition? I suspect it’s because they don’t know about it. Test it yourself. Turn around and ask the person next to you… “Have you signed the Petition for Freedom of Information?”. A likely response could well be, “Huh? What?”.

Well, what can you do about it? Make it a personal mission to pass the word around. Post in your blog. Send out e-mail. Send out SMS. Call them on their office or home phones. Tell people personally.

If each person can reach 10 persons, get them to sign the petition, and reach out similarly to another 10 persons, the outreach will quickly multiply. Within a week, we should be able to hit the first target of 10,000 signatures.

So why are you still here? Get going.

…and BENAR was launched!

The success of the first day of the CIJ programme, Roadmap to Media Freedom (Saturday, 3 May), had set expectations. The exhibition on related matters had created the right mood. The preceding discussion about Media Law Reform had raised some interesting and eye-opening issues. What had begun as an audience of about 20 persons had swelled to more than 60. Additional chairs had to be brought in and still some had to stand, or sit on the stairs. Everything was primed for a grand official launch of the BENAR campaign.

The video presentation that Birdseye had laboured many hours over (assisted, of course, by other members of the BENAR team) was received with unexpected enthusiasm. Even the presentation of the animated BENAR logo received applause. We were off to a good start.

The audience warmed up to the central message of the campaign – we understood that the journalists wanted to write the truth. It was their editors who were directing them to do otherwise. But giving excuses would not bring any change. They had to be prepared to show their concern about the direction journalism had taken. The BENAR campaign was their opportunity.

In his address, Haris spoke about the importance of the journalist community standing up for their rights. He promised that if they were ready to march for Press Freedom, the people would march with them. He also promised that he would personally set up a legal defence team to support any of them should such support be required.

The audience was told about Minggu BENAR (1^st to 7^th June, 200 and people were invited to this blog to contribute their ideas on how we could prepare for the event. The target dates have been set. Some action targets have been set. Now it’s a matter of mapping out a strategy, working out the details and then executing the plan.

One of the first objectives on our action list is the Petition for the Malaysian Freedom of Information Act. As of now, the total number of signatures stands at a pathetic 402. We have a population of more than 20 million people. Can we not aim for a higher response rate?

Let us, for now, set a target of 10,000 signatures. If we can achieve that in the next week or so, then we can aim for a higher target. Go out there and tell people about this petition. Get them to sign. Then come back here and let us discuss what else we can do.

All of you are a part of this. Let us pool our efforts and make it happen. The ball is at your feet.

Media Berani Bebas

Despite the spring that is in the air following the 8^th March tsunami, we are distressed to note that the mainstream media (MSM) continue to slant news reports in favour of the BN parties and block news about PR or highlight unfavourable elements. The treatment of the events of 14^th April, 2008 in Kampong Bahru comes to mind as a vivid illustration.

More than this, the MSM in general appear to be more comfortable reporting what this or that person said instead of reporting what their reporters observe. They are also still hesitant about conducting investigative reporting that is fearless and penetrating.

The BENAR civil initiative has been formed to highlight this blight in our democratic process and to call upon all segments of society to demonstrate their concern. The rationale of the BENAR logo expresses our stance.

“The QUILL in yellow is our symbol for a media that will speak on behalf of the people with honour and integrity, without fear or favour.

BENAR in white represents the people’s desire for truth and fairness in the media. To this end, we call on the media to stand forth boldly against the dark forces that want to deny the people’s pursuit of justice and liberty.

We recognize it will be a daunting task for a media that shall DARE TO BE FREE but we, the people, will stand united with you and if our hearts were to bleed, we will bleed as one.

Go forth for your badge of honour.”

BENAR will be officially launched immediately following the conclusion of the forum on Press Freedom organised by the Centre for Independent Journalism (CIJ) to be held on 3^rd and 4^th May, 2008.

Time: 2:00 pm

Date: Sunday, 4^th May, 2008

Venue: Annexe, Central Market, Kuala Lumpur

We have invited both the local and foreign media to attend the launch and will explain to everyone our civil action initiative to promote Truth in Reporting. At the launch, we will also announce the Minggu BENAR of 1^st to 7^th June, 2008 during which week, everyone will be invited to do what they can to persuade those in control to remove the existing restrictions and allow our journalist community to carry out their responsibilities without fear or favour.

We will be challenging our local journalists to Dare to be Free. Civil society can only raise concerns and offer support. Any change has to come from within the journalist community. Minggu BENAR will be the opportunity for them to stand up or walk or do whatever is their preferred mode of expression, to visibly state their case.

We, the public, will stand shoulder-to-shoulder with them.

BENAR Organising Committee