Cases of assaults and threats against journalists and photographers in Malaysia used to come and go quietly. It has become almost a tradition that mainstream print and broadcast media give minimal coverage to issues about the profession, leaving the true gravity of the problem hidden from the public.
Since 2007, the Centre for Independent Journalism (CIJ) documented 12 cases of assault against media professionals. Most of these cases were given not more than 200 words when they were reported.
On August 16, two photographers--"New Straits Times Press" (NSTP) photographer, Mohamad Sairien Mohamad Nafiz, and Halim Berbar, a French photojournalist with the HBL Press Agency--were attacked by a group of people believed allied with the Permatang Pauh. Nafiz and Berbar at the time were covering the party's nomination day in preparation for the by-election.
On 22 August, members of the Cabinet discussed the issue of pressmen's safety, an extremely rare agenda for such a high level meeting. The day before, Berbar had gone to parliament to submit a memorandum regarding the mauling incident.
"There had been more serious cases which the press wouldn't carry. For those cases, even if they go to court, the press as the employer would ask the photographer to accept settlement outside the court," said Vincent Thian Yoon Keong, photo editor of the Associated Press (AP) and president of the Malaysia Chinese Photojournalists Association (MCPA).
Yau Choon Hiam, the MCPA's vice president said competition among the press is another reason that leaves photographers with even lesser protection.
"Should their photographers be ill treated at any of the event by big advertisers, the matter would be invariably closed. Competition makes (the media organizations) unwilling to forgo any news event nor offend the advertisers," Yau tells CIJ.
Malaysian politics also play a role in the minimal press coverage. It has been observed that newspapers affliated with different political parties give different coverage to the cases depending on which party the victim's employer belongs to. In the case of Koh Chun Seng, a photographer with the "Guang Ming Daily," who was punched in the right ear by an UMNO member, his story got prominent coverage in the the major Chinese dailies, "Guang Ming," "Sin Chew," "China Press" and "Nanyang Siang Pau," which are linked to the Chinese ruling party, the Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA).
In the English press, such as the UMNO-related "New Straits Times (NST)," coverage is sporadic. In the Malay press, where the relationship with UMNO is even closer, there is none.
Reporters and photojournalists from the Tamil dailies have also had their share of threats, where in some cases they were harassed during the coverage of by-election campaigns and controversial meetings involving the community.
On 12 November 2007, reporter M. Nagarajan with the Tamil-language daily, "Malaysian Nanban," lodged a police report after receiving death threats for the stories he had written on Tamil schools. This was a week after his colleague in the southern Johor bureau, R. Raman went into a coma after he was assaulted by unknown persons.
In an interview with CIJ, Malaysian Nanban editor M.S.Malayandy said he was not sure what the reasons for the attacks were but that the cases were reported to the press clubs. Again they were received with limited coverage across the media. The exceptions were the online news portal malaysiakini.com and indianmalaysian.com.
This points to another irony of the attention given to the assault in Permatang Pauh. As media of different languages and types and various senior leaders, including the Prime Minister joined the fray to condemn the assault, it is difficult not to attribute the reaction to the fact that the perpetrators are said to be opposition supporters linked to Anwar Ibrahim's National Justice Party (Parti Keadilan Rakyat- PKR).
By and large, real protection for journalists against physical threats remains dismal. Halim Berbar's memorandum may have prompted Nazri Aziz, Minister in PM's department, and opposition party leaders Lim Kit Siang and Lim Guan Eng to speak unanimously for pressmen safety and brought the agenda to the Cabinet, but the attention is focusing narrowly on the latest case. In fact, there is no pressure on the police for their seemingly little action for the rest of the cases documented by CIJ, although a police report was lodged for each.
For the cases of the Malaysian Nanban journalists, there was no progress in the police investigations so far. When contacted, the police said they had questioned a few suspects but no arrests were made. While the cases drew the attention of international organisations like the Committee to Protect Journalists and the Reporters Without Borders, there was no follow-up in the local media. When CIJ contacted the media organizations to enquire the progress of the cases or to request to speak with the victims, there is a discernible reluctance.
There is also little organizing among the media professionals to tackle the issue. The MCPA, though regularly issued statements on cases involving their members, has just under a hundred members. The president, Vincent Thian, mulled about organising a collective action, drawing from his observation of the solidarity among international media professionals. Soon after an attack on Loh Hoay Hoon, a "Guang Ming" photographer at a PKR event in August this year, the MCPA threatened to boycott future events by the party.
"There would be photographers, especially the younger ones who are afraid that their rice bowl would be threatened if they stage a walkout," said Thian.
The second hurdle is the reality of affiliation of certain newspapers like "Utusan Malaysia" with UMNO, which would mean the staff from that media would probably stay away from such protests if the target was UMNO.
The National Union of Journalists Malaysia (NUJM), the most obvious representative of journalists in these issues, however, appears disinterested in the welfare of its members.
On 18 November 2007, in responding to the attack on Koh, and recently in Permatang Pauh, NUJM president Norila Md Daud laid the responsibility on organisers to ensure the safety of journalists, instead of asserting the need for protection of journalists by all parties.
Yau, MCPA's vice president laments that the betterment of photographers hinges upon the media organization.
"At the end of the day, photographers need the support from our respective media organizations for any types of collective action. At present, they are fearful of many things; the advertisers, the government and the hassle that comes along," he said.
This report was written in coordination with the Centre for Independent Journalism (CIJ), a Kuala Lumpur-based SEAPA partner.
