Nanyang imposes gag order on journalists
Nanyang Siang Pau and China Press have ordered their staff not to be involved in activities which might damage the reputation of their newspapers, otherwise disciplinary action would be taken against them.
On Monday, Nanyang 's human resources section issued a notice stating that "without prior consent of the management, staff from all departments cannot represent the newspaper and conduct activities which might challenge or damage the reputation, image, status and authority" of the company.
"Disciplinary action will be taken against those who break the regulation," warned the notice.
Meanwhile, a similar notice was issued by Nanyang 's sister daily China Press on Tuesday.
The 'gag order' is strongly condemned by a Nanyang journalist who has been campaigning against the takeover of the two newspapers by political party MCA.
Chou Z Lam, leader of Nanyang and China Press Committee For Press Freedom, said the notice clearly showed that the management is attempting to cripple their protest movement.
However, he vowed that his organisation would not be silenced by the 'gag order'.
"We will continue to speak out because we are fighting for press freedom," said Chou.
Yellow ribbon campaign
Since MCA took over Nanyang Press - the dailies' holding company - three months ago, hundreds of the Nanyang and China Press journalists have launched a yellow ribbon campaign as a show of protest.
In addition, they hold a commemoration night on the 28th of every month - the day in May when their dailies were sold to MCA - to remember the end of Nanyang's independence from party politics.
About 50 journalists and their supporters met last night - the third month since the takeover - and read out news articles which were censored for "political reasons" in the bid to inform the public the difficulties they faced.
Chou said that since the warning notices were issued by both newspapers, the group's activities had been closely monitored by the management.
Nanyang Siang Pau and China Press have ordered their staff not to be involved in activities which might damage the reputation of their newspapers, otherwise disciplinary action would be taken against them.
On Monday, Nanyang 's human resources section issued a notice stating that "without prior consent of the management, staff from all departments cannot represent the newspaper and conduct activities which might challenge or damage the reputation, image, status and authority" of the company.
"Disciplinary action will be taken against those who break the regulation," warned the notice.
Meanwhile, a similar notice was issued by Nanyang 's sister daily China Press on Tuesday.
The 'gag order' is strongly condemned by a Nanyang journalist who has been campaigning against the takeover of the two newspapers by political party MCA.
Chou Z Lam, leader of Nanyang and China Press Committee For Press Freedom, said the notice clearly showed that the management is attempting to cripple their protest movement.
However, he vowed that his organisation would not be silenced by the 'gag order'.
"We will continue to speak out because we are fighting for press freedom," said Chou.
Yellow ribbon campaign
Since MCA took over Nanyang Press - the dailies' holding company - three months ago, hundreds of the Nanyang and China Press journalists have launched a yellow ribbon campaign as a show of protest.
In addition, they hold a commemoration night on the 28th of every month - the day in May when their dailies were sold to MCA - to remember the end of Nanyang's independence from party politics.
About 50 journalists and their supporters met last night - the third month since the takeover - and read out news articles which were censored for "political reasons" in the bid to inform the public the difficulties they faced.
Chou said that since the warning notices were issued by both newspapers, the group's activities had been closely monitored by the management.
He said photographers from the dailies were sent to take snapshots of those who attended the commemoration night yesterday.
"They have taken pictures of us," he said.
According to him, the photos were to allow the management to collect evidence against staff who are involved in their press freedom campaign.
Last Friday, Chou and his Nanyang and China Press Committee For Press Freedom received a press freedom award at a dinner to celebrate the first anniversary of Chinese magazine Perspective Pedas .
