The limit imposed on press freedom, particularly by a state that professes itself to be democratic, has always been a deep concern for people who cherish freedom of expression and human rights. For this very limit would help determine to what extent would the citizenry be made ignorant or otherwise, and the degree to which the government of the day is willing to be made transparent and accountable for its actions and policies.

To take up a point

raised by writer Wan Hamidi Hamid on May 17, what the government does, and especially if that impacts heavily upon press freedom, should be the primary concern of advocates of press freedom. For it is the government  it's basically about trying to protect democracy and human dignity.

To be sure, we are not here talking about 'absolute press freedom', whatever that means, because in reality there isn't any. We are talking of a press freedom that would essentially ensure that the media as a whole provide easy and equal access to people from all walks of life so as to enable them to participate in the political processes of the country.

It is crucial that we call on the government to be more liberal to the extent that whoever wishes to publish newspapers and magazines, or set up radio or television stations, can do so without much hindrance, political or financial. Incentives, such as financial subsidies, could even be allocated by an enlightened government to publications that are small and newly established in a move to provide a kind of buffer against the ravages of the market forces.

The playing field must be level so that the society would have a diversity of newspapers and magazines, for instance, which would represent a wide spectrum of views, interests and concerns in society. A community newspaper or a community radio, for instance, would not only cater to the immediate needs of a community, but also help its members to exercise their democratic right to express and participate in a decision-making process at that level.

Hence, the structural planning of the community's township, for example, would undergo stringent public scrutiny and the local authorities concerned inevitably would be compelled to be more sensitive to the community's concerns and needs.

Space for diversity

Besides, by providing space for a diversity of publications, one would be able to try to overcome the problem of certain media owners who could not appreciate some degree of editorial independence, the kind of independence that would warrant some sense of fair play in the reportage and analyses of the media concerned.

In this scenario, it, then, doesn't really matter whether the likes of Zulkifli Sulong (chief editor of Harakah , the official organ of opposition PAS) would be guided and confined by the principles and political agenda of the political parties concerned. In fact, one shouldn't be surprised that, unlike mainstream newspapers that stake a universal claim to catering to the needs and interests of 'the people', these party organs would deliberately promote their own political and cultural concerns and also their respective visions of what a 'good' Malaysian society ought to be.

This brings us to another question that was brought up by Wan Hamidi: why the undue emphasis placed on the mainstream media to the extent of neglecting the alternative press?

Firstly, much attention has been paid to the mainstream media, which are widely and easily available, because they in some ways help to shape in a certain fashion or distort social reality that is presented to the people. This kind of media coverage is certainly not in keeping with the claim of certain quarters of these media that they have the interests and concerns of the ordinary people at heart. If anything, it is a betrayal to the people's trust and democratic rights when half-truths and, at times, downright lies are offered to the people, and as such the mainstream media easily attract attention and concern.

Secondly, there were indeed relatively fewer comments and criticisms made of the alternative press, but this, I believe, is not necessarily hinged on a contention that the alternative press can do no wrong. It is possible, for instance, the marginality of a number of these alternative publications eludes constant examination by media watchers. Of course, this is not to say that it's all right not to make comments on the alternative press.

Uneasy tension

To go back to the main issue, there will always be an uneasy tension between the state, on one hand, and the press and those concerned about human rights, on the other, over what constitutes the borders of press freedom. As intimated earlier, the people concerned should test these boundaries all the time especially when there exist governments that ride roughshod over the ordinary people on the pretext that they have the 'people's mandate' at the general elections, thus qualifying themselves for a somewhat 'blank cheque'.

Media practitioners and others need also to continuously work towards widening the democratic space and to help strengthen the civil society particularly in a social context where the real interests of the ordinary people are, as many of us would realise, quite often jeopardised by measures taken all in the name of 'national interest', 'national security', 'national unity', or even in God's name. By and large these are vague phrases bandied about to justify certain undemocratic actions of the authorities.

Finally, while one may not, as alluded to by Wan Hamidi, be too sure of how many people are yearning or ready for press freedom in this country, one thing is definite, though, that there is a need to raise consciousness among the ordinary Malaysians about the importance of press freedom in a democracy. And in this regard, one certainly can't expect the government to decide on behalf of the people on when they're ready for press freedom.

Dr Mustafa K Anuar habitually reads in between the lines of what is offered by Malaysia's media. At the same time, he's easily distracted by the comical, the artistic, and the political (and they're not necessarily mutually exclusive) particularly in the context of Malaysian society.