Malaysiakini
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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| Type | Online newspaper |
| Format | Online |
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| Owner | Mkini Dotcom Sdn Bhd |
| Publisher | Mkini Dotcom Sdn Bhd |
| Editor | Steven Gan |
| Founded | November 20, 1999 |
| Political allegiance | Center-left, Independent |
| Headquarters | Malaysiakini.com 48, Jalan Kemuja Bangsar Utama 59000 Kuala Lumpur Malaysia |
| Circulation | N/A |
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| Website: http://www.malaysiakini.com/ | |
Malaysiakini is a high-brow Malaysian political news website published in English, Malay and Chinese. Since its launch on November 20, 1999 it has been widely considered to be one of the leading independent paid-news agencies in Malaysia. Malaysiakini claims to attract 50,000 visitors a day and three million page views a month, substantial figures by Malaysian standards.
Unlike most news sources in Malaysia, Malaysiakini remains free from government regulation and thus widely considered to be the country's only credible, independent voice. Malaysiakini has gained both praise and notoriety by regularly covering subjects and viewpoints deemed taboo by the mainstream broadcast and print media; the fact that it is still allowed to operate is partly due to the Malaysian government's tolerance regarding internet censorship. The Malaysian government had pledged there would be no control and censorship of Internet content in line with efforts to create the Multimedia Super Corridor.
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[edit] Content
The Malaysiakini website is updated daily, except for Sundays and certain public holidays. Its news coverage concentrates mainly on local events, with a strong emphasis on items related to Malaysian politics. Malaysiakini also publishes columns, blogs and features that offer diverse viewpoints, both on local and international issues. Malaysiakini claims to practice an editorial policy that is consistently supportive of justice, human rights, democracy, freedom of speech and good governance.
Malaysiakini publishes its readers' opinions in its letters section. The letters section has generated active participation from readers of all races and religions and of various ideological backgrounds, creating an open arena of public debate unseen in Malaysia since the 1960s. Among other common topics are taboo subjects such as migrant workers, AIDS, Islam and racial quota systems. Malaysiakini claims to avoid exercising excessive editorial control on the letters section, as it attempts to foster a spirit of reasoned discussion.
[edit] Criticism
Malaysiakini has been criticized for irresponsible journalism by the Malaysian government and its supporters. It has also been accused of pro-opposition bias. Notably, much of its reporting frequently adopts an critical tone, although letters from pro-government writers do appear in the letters section. However in Malaysia, where the mainstream media is almost wholly owned by government political parties or its business allies and where newspapers and television stations are only allowed to operate on an annual license issued by the internal security ministry any independent minded journalist is liable to be labelled as either pro opposition or anti government. Malaysian politicians are not used to being held to account by the Fourth Estate - or anyone else for that matter. However when the World Economic Forum invited 100 key media figures from around the globe to Davos in January 2007 it was Malaysiakini editor Steven Gan who was chosen above his peers in government linked media. Malaysiakini is accorded a degree of respect by international observers, correspondents an commentators not given publications such as the New Straits Times and Malay Mail.
[edit] Controversy
Malaysiakini has attracted its fair share of controversy. In March 2001, police in the Malaysian state of Selangor lodged a report against the website for quoting comments questioning the official death toll from racial rioting in the city of Petaling Jaya. In July of the same year, a university student leader filed a report claiming that a letter published on Malaysiakini bearing his name was not written by him.
However, the most serious incident occurred on January 20th, 2003 when Malaysiakini was raided by the Malaysian police. Four servers and 15 central processing units from its office worth RM150,000 (US$39,500) were seized during the raid. The police raid was instigated after the right-wing cadres in UMNO Youth, an arm of the ruling United Malays National Organization (UMNO), complained that a letter written by "Petrof", a reader, and published on Malaysiakini's website was seditious. In its police report, UMNO Youth claimed that the letter had questioned the special rights and privileges of the Bumiputras that are enshrined in the Constitution. Additionally, UMNO Youth claimed that the letter also contained false allegations that the Malaysian government was unfair to other ethnic races in the country. The seizure of the hardware temporarily silenced Malaysiakini, though it was eventually resumed normal operation.
On April 1, 2005 Malaysiakini published a fake news report alleging that four unnamed senior government officials were being charged for corruption. The report turned out to be an April Fool's joke, albeit published with the intention of casting the spotlight on official corruption, a problem still rife in Malaysia. This caused quite a stir in Malaysia with the government ordering a probe on the news organization.
[edit] References
[edit] Further references
- Chin, James (2003). MalaysiaKini.com and its Impact on Journalism and Politics in Malaysia. In K.C. Ho, Randy Kluver, & C.C. Yang (Eds.), Asia.com: Asia Encounters the Internet, pp. 129–142. London: RoutledgeCurzon. ISBN 0-415-31503-4.
