By BOB TEOH

Press freedom in Malaysia has taken an unprecedented plunge according to the latest ranking by Reporters Without Borders (RSF) released last week. But the government doesn't think so. The Prime Minister's Office responded immediately, insisting that the press in Malaysia is freer than it ever has been. So who is right?

To begin with the index tabulated by RSF is flawed in its methodology so we need to take its ranking with caution. The government's claim, on the other hand, is mere rhetoric so we need to be equally cautious.

Out of the 180- countries ranked in the 2014 RSF press freedom index, Malaysia stood at 147 out of 180 countries surveyed, dropping 23 spots from the previous year. Compared to the 2006 index, Malaysia was in the 92nd spot, or a drop of 55 places over eight years!

The RSF index measures the level of press freedom using six criteria pluralism, media independence, environment and self-censorship, legislative framework, transparency and (news production) infrastructure. But it also include another criterion for measuring violence against journalists which is given a weight of 20 percent. This might have skewed the overall tabulation. The index also lacks what is known as inter-coder reliability, a device for double checking data normally used in content analyses.

For instance the Philippines, which is among the freest press in the region, is ranked three spots below Malaysia, possibly due the violence against journalists in some remote provinces which are controlled by warlords. In Brunei, where violence against journalists is largely unheard of, the country is given a higher ranking of 117, or 32 spots higher than Philippines in terms of press freedom.

It is also incredulous that the US is ranked 46, or just one spot above Haiti, Japan at 59, is just two spots above Hong Kong and Britain at 33 is six spots below Ghana!

So how free is the press in Malaysia then? We can measure it against the government's declared intentions. Within six days of Najib Razak taking office Prime Minister on 3 April 2009, he called a closed door meeting of top editors. Najib told the top editors, "I will give latitude to the media" and went on to say "I'd rather be criticised by the media than be rejected by the people."

Najib even took the initiative to visit Sin Chew Daily, the country's largest newspaper just days before he became PM. Some months later, he made another visit, this time officially, making him probably the first Prime Minister to visit a Chinese newspaper. This contrasted with former PM, Dr Mahathir Mohamad, who shut down Sin Chew Daily together with The Star and Watan for six months in a massive clampdown on civil liberties known as Ops Lalang in Oct 1987 which resulted in the arrest of over 100 dissidents.

Najib went on to reform press laws, in particular the amendments to the Printing Presses and Publications Act 1984 on 20 April 2012. The amendments removed the need for annual renewal of press licences. The absolute power of the minister in revoking or imposing arbitrary conditions was also removed. But anyone wishing to start a newspaper is still required to get a licence from the Home Ministry.

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Sizing up press freedom