Press freedom essential to survive

In moving forward, Malaysia has to assent that freedom of press is no longer an option but a necessity.

COMMENT

A free press, the freedom of which is limited and under wraps, is the very first element that could bring more democracy in a country but only if the press is freed from muzzling and self-censorship.

In the drive for press freedom, the opposition has to play a bigger role in pressing Najib Tun Razaks government to keep up to its promises on guaranteeing such freedoms.

It is obvious that the government will not offer more freedom to the local print press; keeping a firm hold on the newspapers, which is vital to prevent the opposition to take over Putrajaya.

The opposition leaders must however keep up with their promises, made umpteen times, to put foreign officials in the loop on issues of press freedom and must campaign radically in favour of press freedom.

However, the situation is getting worse for the local media.

In recent months, there has been a valse (French term for waltz) of staff movements in the local media scene, with large groups of journalists and support teams leaving the likes of the Malaysian Insider and even the NST, for greener pastures.

Yet with the suspension indefinite and most probably for good of The Heat, the print media world has turned jittery. We should expect a towing to the official line in the printed articles that we are going to read in this despairing year 2014 for the media.

Nevertheless, not all is lost for the fight for a free press, since the 2015 deadline for the formation of the Asean Economic Community (AEC) could augur well for the media world.

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Press freedom essential to survive