The Information Ministry has rejected a charge that it axed a TV2 special feature on Chinese dailies due to the interviewee's links with the Committee Against MCA Takeover of Nanyang Press.

"The statement that the Information Ministry has blacklisted columnist Chang Teck Peng, who opposed the MCA takeover of Nanyang Press, is not true," the ministry said in a written reply to Teresa Kok (DAP-Seputeh).

'If we had blacklisted Chang, certainly the first part of the feature would not had been broadcast. What actually happened was that RTM editors found the contents of the conversation (in the feature) were common and therefore (there was) no necessity to broadcast the second part."

TV2, a channel under the state-owned Radio Televisyen Malaysia (RTM) decided to take off the second part of a 10-minute feature entitled 'Chinese dailies and their cultural role' in January. It was due to be aired during the Mandarin news.

The feature showcased an interview with Chang - a columnist with Chinese newspaper Oriental Daily News - whose column was also removed by the daily at around the same time.

Avoid 'confusion'

No official reason had been provided earlier for RTM's decision, but Deputy Information Minister Donald Lim had told malaysiakini that the station wanted to avoid "creating confusion" among the Chinese community.

Prior to the incident, TV2 had decided not to broadcast a special feature on MCA's controversial acquisition of Nanyang Press Holdings, which publishes the dailies Nanyang Siang Pau and China Press .

The saturated Chinese media market has seen competition heighten following the publication of Oriental Daily News in January last year. Other Chinese newspapers are Sin Chew Daily and Guang Ming Daily .

Meanwhile, in a separate written reply to Alexander Nanta Linggi (BN-Kapit), the ministry said the corporatisation of RTM is underway.

"What is most important is that RTM's role as the government media will not change," it said.