It appears that journalists and reporters are not well respected in Malaysia despite the important role they have in spreading information to the public.
Recently, journalists’ rights group Gerakan Media Merdeka (Geramm) took to social media to slam the Election Commission of Malaysia (EC) for not allowing reporters to ask question in their past 2 press conferences.
“The media is not a parrot. The role of the media is to ask, and not to just listen and report according to what the event wants.”
Entering the second week of campaigning for GE15, Geramm stated that they have received complaints about the EC’s press conference session held in Putrajaya.
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“In particular, no time was given to the media to ask questions and get further explanations from EC’s administration regarding matters relating to the GE15,” they added.
Geramm also said that that the EC have held 2 press conference sessions, first to announce the important dates and then to confirm the number of candidates competing.
“It should be noted that the EC has an important role as a source of official information about the election process, while the media is tasked with channeling accurate information.”
Meanwhile, they said that the EC’s failure or refusal to open up space for the media to seek further clarification will have the potential to cause confusion among the public, as well as weaken the democratic system.
Geramm stressed that there is no need to invite the media to attend physically if the EC refuses to entertain any questions.
“It is enough to simply send a written statement or a live online session, it will save more time for all parties. At the same time, the management can also take proactive steps to list questions from the media or issues raised by voters.”
We hope that the EC will take this into consideration and allow reporters to ask their questions as they are merely doing their job to disseminate information to the public.
Also read: PDRM Detains Two Individuals For Threatening Journalists Covering GE15 Campaign In Seremban
