The Malaysian Press Institute (MPI), tasked by the government to study the establishment of a press council, cannot reveal its report, said the organisations director Zaihan Mahmud today.

Since we have given [the report] to the government, it is up to the government to reveal it, Zaihan told malaysiakini in an interview.

He added the report can only be made public after the government has decided on whether to go ahead with the proposed press council.

According to him, the report which carried recommendations from a 14-member panel, has been submitted to the Home Affairs Ministry last November.

Led by Utusan group deputy chief editor Sirajudin Rafia, the committee comprises mostly of media practitioners including veteran journalists Zainon Ahmad, chief editor of English daily The Sun , and Jaafar Husin, chief editor of the national news agency Bernama .

MPI chairman Mazlan Noordin also served as the adviser to the working committee.

Zaihan explained that the working committee was established following a meeting called by the Home Affairs Ministry early last year to discuss the setting up of a press council in Malaysia.

MPI has been trying to form this press council since the 1960s, said Zaihan, who represented the organisation at the Home Affairs Ministrys meeting.

Our stand is that the press council must be formed by journalists, not the government or outsiders, he added.

Protection for journalists

The MPI director elaborated that the Home Affairs Ministry has agreed to the condition. Thus, it was suggested that the institute — which represents more than 35 media organisations — take the initiative in establishing a committee to formulate recommendations for the press council.

Zaihan stressed the objective of the press council is similar to councils in other countries, which is to uphold freedom of the press.

Press councils in countries such as Indonesia, Thailand and the Philippines were set up to defend press freedom from attacks, especially from the government as well as to ensure that journalists abide by journalistic ethics.

While Zaihan could not reveal the proposed mechanism on how the council could safeguard press freedom, he said that the body should be headed by someone who is respected by the journalists.

Mostly importantly, he must be neutral, he added.

Zaihan also said the press council will be mostly made up by representatives from media organisations and journalists even though government officials and workers unions are also invited to join the body.

Meanwhile, a reliable source who have access to the report told malaysiakini one positive aspect of the proposed press council is the protection it could offer to journalists from unreasonable legal suits.

In recent years, a number of journalists have faced a battery of multi-million ringgit defamation suits.

Anything concerning the press must be referred to the press council first before action can be taken, the source said.

Hidden agenda

Asked whether the Home Ministry has other agendas in mind, such as to further regulate the press under the guise of the proposed press council, the source felt that this was not the case.

According to the source, the government was more concerned with the high number of costly defamation suits against journalists.

There is a lot of laws [to regulate the press]. Why need to regulate some more? the source argued, adding that there are already more than 10 laws which impose some form of restrictions on the press.

The source also said the government cannot further restrain the press if the council is controlled by journalists themselves.

The governments proposal to set up the Malaysian press council has caused anxiety within the media fraternity as certain groups feared the council will be used by the authority to further tighten the noose on journalists.

They argued the council is redundant as Malaysian journalists are already bound by various legal restrictions via laws such as Printing Presses and Publications Act, Official Secrets Act as well as defamation suits slapped on journalists.

Under the PPPA for example, newspapers must obtain a license from the Home Affairs Ministry before they are allowed to operate and the license must be renewed annually. Such legal impingements are absent in many countries which has a press council.