All Malaysian journalists in the print, broadcast and online media, as well as domestic news agencies, will be bound by a new and detailed code of professional conduct as and when a media council is established under a new law.
The long and short of these principles is that they will be obliged to subscribe to norms of fairness in reporting news and views "with due discernment and adaptation in view of national interests, universal values and professional objectives".
The preamble to the code of conduct states that journalists will be expected to serve the public with news, views, information and ideas "founded on the belief for public enlightenment, civic tolerance and national aspirations in the building of a peaceful and harmonious nation".
This appears to contradict the final clause which demands a duty of the journalist to protect the profession and organisation "from being influenced in terms of text or programme".
The clause adds that it is incumbent upon the journalist "not to publish or present among editorial material something that is not motivated by journalism".
The Malaysian Press Institute (MPI) revealed details of the code in a bulky document on the draft Media Council Act, listing provisions on the power, structure and operations of a statutory body to regulate the media. The code of conduct alone takes up nine pages.
Malaysiakini received a copy of the draft by registered mail yesterday, more than two months after pressing for the proposal to be made public.
The principles of conduct broadly cover rules of reportage, editorial comment, concerns on privacy, use of pictures and sound, and methods of gathering information.
Other aspects include communalism, religion, gender and stereotyping, sources and confidentiality, plagiarism, accountability and professional rules.
Details of council
The proposed 24- member council will be funded by Parliament among other sources and will submit an annual report to Parliament. It is to be headed by a full-time chairperson (at least an appellate judge), who will serve a three-year term.
Council members will include media representatives, academicians, a lawyer, a doctor and members of non-governmental organisations.
They will be tasked with maintaining the highest standards and preserving media freedom in line with Article 19 (freedom of expression) of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The council will also hear complaints and be empowered to "warn, admonish or censure" media organisations, editors or journalists.
Decision on party organs
Contacted today, MPI chairperson Mazlan Nordin said the draft would be tabled in Parliament as a private member's bill.
He said copies have been sent to the National Press Club (NPC) and National Union of Journalists (NUJ) yesterday. Today, copies were sent to Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and Information Ministry parliamentary secretary Zainuddin Maidin.
The MPI has also written to Abdullah, seeking a meeting to explain the proposal and the issues that need to be thrashed out with editors and journalists' groupings, he said.
Mazlan also said the MPI's main priority was to get reaction from all media organisations. In this respect, a meeting would be called with editors, NPC and NUJ in about a month to finalise the proposal.
"We will also have to decide whether party organs such as Harakah should be covered by the media council, as well as what laws can be repealed in line with the memorandum drawn up by journalists in 1999 and earlier this year," he said.
Condition set by journalists
Between April 1999 and May 2000, a group of 951 print journalists signed a two-part campaign calling for repeal of the Printing Presses and Publications Act (PPPA) 1984, and offering to self-regulate instead.
In conjunction with World Press Freedom Day on May 3 this year, the journalists' collective dubbed Inisiatif Wartawan submitted a memorandum to the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam) seeking repeal of all repressive laws.
It also rejected the idea of a media council set up under statute, saying that any such body should operate as an independent and impartial entity.
Mazlan conceded today that even Suhakam chairperson Abu Talib Othman had, earlier this month, pointed out the need to review the PPPA with a view to repealing it.
"The condition set by journalists, as seen from the sentiment in their memorandum, is to repeal the PPPA and set up a self-regulatory media council," he said.
NUJ reaction
NUJ secretary-general Hong Boon How confirmed receipt of the draft but said the exco has yet to evaluate the details.
"Our main emphasis is that the proposed council should not be used to curb the media from performing its duty of reporting fairly and without prejudice," he said.
"We would also like the MPI to invite the group of journalists who submitted the memorandum to Pak Lah and Suhakam to the meeting because the media council will encompass all practitioners."
Hong added the NUJ would withhold support for the proposal if it contained any provision that attempts to curb media freedom.
This would include omission of a specific clause calling for the repeal of the PPPA. (In fact, the draft does not make any mention of repeal of the PPPA.)
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