The idea to create a media council was first mooted during former premier Tun Razak Hussein's tenure in the 1970s but it failed to take off for similar reasons.
The Home Ministry held a meeting on Wednesday to thrash out the details for a council with 40 editors who turned up to provide feedback.
But most of the editors at the meeting felt the government should instead review restrictive laws which curtail the rights of the media, such as the Printing Presses and Publications Act (PPPA) and the Official Secrets
Act (OSA), before setting up a media council.
The PPPA gives the home minister absolute discretion to grant, suspend or revoke the publishing permit of newspapers while the OSA prohibits the dissemination of information classified as an official secret, such as
documents concerning national security.
Group chief editor of The Star, Wong Chun Wai, said there was concern over "too many stringent laws governing the press and certainly we do not need any regulatory body".
He said the proposed body should not be made up of politicians but editors, publishers, ministry officials and non-governmental organisation representatives.
"It is only fair that everyone keeps an open mind... and not be too quick to shoot it down. Reservations from journalists and members of the public are expected as the country does not have a strong track record for press freedom," he wrote on his blog.
Norila Mohd Daud, chairman of the National Union of Journalists, said: "I have my doubts as to whether they really want to enhance press freedom. I am quite sceptical,."
Prominent blogger Ahirudin Atan said online media and blogs should not be included as they do not require licences to operate and should not be governed by rules.
The move to revive the council comes at a time when the government is seen as less tolerant of dissent, having recently used the Internal Security Act, which allows detention without trial, to arrest a blogger, a
journalist and an opposition lawmaker.
Bloggers have also been heavily criticised for spreading lies. The government has threatened to punish them and promised tighter controls on Internet use.
But the Home Ministry insisted that the proposed council was not about keeping the media on a short leash.
Publications and Quranic Texts Control Division secretary Che Din Yusoh likened it to the Bar Council, which monitors lawyers. He also said that the body would be independent, and run by journalists themselves.
"I know they are very sceptical, they think it will be the government controlling them. So we want them to discuss among themselves and hopefully we will have a consensus," he said.
Ahirudin, a former journalist, acknowledged that such a media council may have its benefits, but only for mainstream media and not online blogs or news sites.
"Through the council, editors should push for reform of the restrictive laws... the press council has its advantages as it safeguards journalists and promotes greater press freedom."
Much of Malaysia's mainstream media organisations are controlled by the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) government.
The Media Prima group, which owns the New Straits Times Press and several television stations, is linked to the Umno while The Star is owned by the MCA. Critics complain that coverage tends to be in favour of the government.
During the March elections, the opposition mounted a vigorous campaign online to reach the young, urban and educated voters and apparently succeeded, judging by their unprecedented gains in the polls.
After its electoral loss, the BN realised the impact of the Internet, and many of its politicians are increasingly turning to blogging now.
- The Singapore Straits Times
