'101 East' team facing unprecedented level of attack, says Al Jazeera

INTERVIEW | Having been based in Kuala Lumpur for 14 years, international broadcaster Al Jazeera's '101 East' weekly current affairs programme team is no stranger to challenges in reporting from the region.

The latest series of attacks that follows its 'Locked up in Malaysia’s Lockdown' episode is however unexpected, according to Al Jazeera English Channel's managing director Giles Trendle.

"The ‘101 East’ team have covered some tough stories in the past," Trendle said in a phone interview from Al Jazeera's head office in Qatar.

"We did a film called ‘Murder in Malaysia’ about the murder of the Mongolian woman [Altantuya Shaariibuu] and one of our journalists was deported from Malaysia before that episode went out.

"There have been issues in the past but nothing at this level that we are currently facing," he said.

Trendle was referring to Australian journalist Mary Ann Jolley who was abruptly deported in 2015 after the Home Ministry deemed her activity as having a "potential negative effect on the image of Malaysia".

Al Jazeera English was set up in 2006 as an extension of its Arabic language programming and Trendle said Kuala Lumpur has been the right location for its ‘101 East’ production team which covers "untold stories" from the Asia-Pacific region.

At the same time, he cited Al Jazeera's concerns over a rapidly shrinking media freedom, particularly on the criminalisation of journalism.

"Yes, we are concerned about media freedom in Malaysia. We are concerned with journalists being treated as criminals. One of our slogans is journalism is not a crime," said Trendle.

Seven Al Jazeera staff (below) were summoned to Bukit Aman for questioning earlier this month and Trendle said the management is still waiting for an update on the status of the case.

"We are concerned that journalists are called in for a criminal investigation. We don't believe we have done anything wrong. We are ready to stand up and say that our journalism is fair, balanced and impartial," he said.

Since the release of 'Locked up in Malaysia’s Lockdown', netizens have taken to the social media to call out alleged misrepresentation of facts in the report, with demands for the reporters to be deported.

Aside from online attacks and a police probe, Al Jazeera is also under the scrutiny from the Communications and Multimedia Ministry, with the National Film Development Corporation (Finas) declaring a licence is required for the production of its show.

Amid backlash over licensing requirements under the Finas Act 1981, Communications and Multimedia Minister Saifuddin Abdullah yesterday affirmed the government’s commitment to media freedom and individuals' rights on social media.

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Meanwhile, Trendle cited the ongoing contempt of court trial against Malaysiakini and editor-in-chief Steven Gan as the reason behind Al Jazeera's move to disable viewers' comments section on the July 3 episode.

"Al Jazeera was criticised for not enabling comments on the website of the film page but we disabled the comments because of Malaysiakini's case.

"We do not want to be liable for any offensive or racist comments that might be seen as being critical and therefore be in a situation like Malaysiakini is at the moment," he said.

Overall, he reiterated Al Jazeera's commitment to "fair, impartial and balanced" journalism, including efforts to contact relevant authorities and ministries, despite being "rejected or ignored".

Aside from being open to clarifications from any local authorities, Trendle noted that he was also prepared and ready for a pre-arranged interview with national news agency Bernama yesterday but was later told that it was cancelled.

"I had agreed to speak to them. I was very happy and everything was set up but we learnt not too long ago that the interview was not going to happen," he said.

On the safety of sources, Trendle said Al Jazeera's procedure would always get their consent first on the way they would be filmed, either on record or with their identity hidden.

In this case, he said Bangladeshi migrant Md Rayhan Kabir had consented to be interviewed on record, but the "witch hunt" against him was regrettable.

Following the outcry, the Immigration Department announced a search for Rayhan, 25, and later moved to revoke his work permit.

Public sentiment against refugees and migrants have intensified since the movement control order (MCO) was imposed in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, with hateful comments proliferating on the Internet.

NGOs said the crackdown by the authorities against undocumented foreign citizens during the MCO, some of whom had contracted the disease due to living in closed quarters, has also exacerbated negative sentiments against refugees and migrants. - Mkini