Gov't wants newsrooms free of political control - minister

Any government policy to regulate media ownership by political parties will be aimed at freeing newsrooms from the indirect control that has resulted in "slanted" news reports.

Communications and Multimedia Minister Gobind Singh Deo said more than just calls for political parties to reduce their stakes in ailing media companies, the bigger issue was how much control was wielded in determining the news agenda.

"There are concerns that reports made by certain media are politically slanted because of ownership.

"But actually, if you look at it, the concern is more that there is control," Gobind told reporters after a discussion session held as part of the Finance Ministry's "Malaysia, A New Dawn" conference in Kuala Lumpur today.

He said such concerns have triggered calls for the new government to facilitate the creation of a system that will allow the media to carry out its duties independently.

"So the question is whether or not ownership alone is something that determines how news reports will come out.

"Some people argue that no, it's not just ownership, it's also control. And I think that is true so we're looking at it," he said.

Gobind also clarified the government had yet to make any decision on a policy to regulate ownership of media and this included whether to allow political parties to only hold a minority stake.

"So it's not a hard and fast rule about whether we allow a 10 percent (stake) or eight percent or some other suggestion.

"What do we want? We want to create an environment where there is no interference in reports produced by a free and independent media," he said.

Media council

In the past, media outlets were often forced to toe the government's line either due to fear of legal repercussion, licensing requirements or through political control exercised via direct or indirect ownership.

At present, there are growing calls for Umno to let go of its majority stake in Malay-daily Utusan Malaysiaafter a long period of financial losses which resulted in a highly-criticised voluntary separation scheme for 800 of its 1,500 staff.

Local press freedom groups have also revived calls to establish an independent media council as part of the industry's overall reform agenda.

Communications adviser to the government Abdul Kadir Jasin last week reiterated Putrajaya was in the process of engaging the relevant stakeholders towards expeditingthe establishment of an independent media council. - Mkini