Change in political ownership of the media and the repeal of "draconian" laws may be necessary to lift the curbs on investigative journalism, says well-known communications professor, Zaharom Nain.

Most people tend to forget "who owns the media” when discussing whether investigate journalism exists in the country, he added.

However, more than structural or legal barriers, “investigative journalism is expensive and most editors do not encourage it”, said Zaharom, who lectures at Nottingham University Malaysia in Kuala Lumpur.

“Is there a tradition in Malaysia for investigative journalism? Is it easy to do, but do we have journalists with calibre to do it?” he asked at the Freedom of Information forum organised by the Center to Combat Corruption and Cronyism (C4) held in Penang on Sunday...