by Jane Law
“Don’t cover my mouth. I have asthma. You’ll suffocate me,” were the last breaths that Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi uttered before he was allegedly drugged and taken away by the Saudi hit squad from the consulate in Istanbul in 2019.
News of Jamal’s disappearance spread like wildfire in every corner of the media as the world flared up in anger, demanding answers from Saudi officials. However, at the time of writing, no one knows what happened behind closed doors. Despite numerous insinuations that the body was disfigured, Jamal’s remains have yet to be found. It was implicated that the reason behind Jamal’s cold-blooded assassination was because of his ‘unfavorable’ reporting of Saudi Arabia’s existing ruler, Prince Mohammed bin Salman—an authoritative figure that Jamal had been highly critical of in The Washington Post. Jamal’s case, unfortunately, is an all-too-common story for journalists around the globe, predominantly those who reside in countries that have little to no press freedom.
Intimidation, brutality, and unjust deaths are no strangers to journalists. According to Reporters Without Borders, over the past 20 years, an average of nearly 80 journalists have annually sacrificed their lives. Woefully, in democratic nations, more and more journalists are being confronted with murder for their work, which has left democracy on a hanging thread. On the flip-side, others ended up behind bars for their dissenting views. In this past year alone, it has been found that about a total of 274 journalists worldwide were locked up.
Violence often happens to journalists who take on powerful interests such as criminals as efforts to menace and obstruct journalists from airing their ‘dirty laundry’ to the public. A prime example can be looked at is the attack on Albania journalist Klodiana Lala.
In August 2018, Klodiana’s family home was sprayed with bullets. At the time, she was investigating and denouncing the power of organized crime groups. While no one was injured during the incident, the message sent was clear—to scare Klodiana into silence. Not to mention, a handful of journalists are killed in retaliation for their work.
Jarrod W. Ramos, a disgruntled reader who held a long-standing vendetta against the Capital Gazette entered the newsroom and shot five journalists dead. His contention with the paper started when a columnist did a write-up of a criminal assault case against him. Jarrod filed a defamation suit against Capital Gazette but the court decided in favor of the latter. According to Reporters Without Borders’s annual report, 2020 has seen 50 journalists and media workers killed while doing their job.
The rise of the term ‘fake news’ also contributes to one of the sole reasons why journalists are being harassed. Popularized by US President Donald Trump, ‘fake news’ is now a term being used by politicians for anti-democratic propaganda. Repressive leaders around the world are following Trump’s tactics to undermine journalists’ reports that do not please the government. To paint a picture, the president of the Philippines, Rodrigo Duterte uses ‘fake news’ to indict website Rappler when they uncover Duterte’s corruption and abuse of power. Rappler’s outspoken criticism of Duterte led Filipino authorities to press charges against the site. Duterte himself has accused Rappler of being US-owned (which is in breach of the Philippine constitution) and asserted that the news site was being funded by the CIA. The attacks on Rappler showed the despotism in Duterte’s government and the measures taken by an authoritarian regime to silence the media. The country is currently ranked 136 out of 180 countries in the 2020 World Press Freedom Index.
So, where does Malaysia stand when it comes to press freedom? At the moment, Malaysia is placed in the 101st position. Though we have made tremendous advancement in the rankings, it is not a hard-to-swallow fact that Malaysia still has a long way to go when it comes to fully attaining press freedom. No matter how much we improve, journalists are stuck in the same place since day one as long as the laws that the Pakatan Harapan coalition pledged to revoke or reform are still in place. Draconian laws such as the Sedition Act 1948, Communications and Multimedia Act 1998, Printing Presses and Publications Act 1984, and the Official Secrets Act 1972 are often used to hide the government’s misconduct as well as to guard the public against the truth. With these laws, journalists would not be able to help build a democratic society that Malaysia claims to be, practice the freedom of speech, and most importantly, carry out their tasks efficiently. The misuse of these laws will only have a chilling impact on the freedom of thought and opinion, creating a climate of fear that will only suffocate freedom of speech and threaten to stifle Malaysians.
Ironically, on the 3rd of May, the glorious World Press Freedom Day itself, South China Morning Post journalist, Tashny Sukumaran was investigated under the Communications and Multimedia Act for her coverage of massive attacks targeting refugees and immigrants during the COVID-19 outbreak. Her article, titled ‘Coronavirus: hundreds arrested as Malaysia cracks down on migrants in COVID-19 red zones’ was considered as an ‘intention to provoke a breach of peace’ and an ‘improper use of network facilities or network service’ because her piece pointed out that women and children as young as four-years-old were being arrested and sent to immigration detention centers. The ludicrous decision to call in Tashny Sukumaran to question her news article about the arrests of migrants is not only unwarranted but also an abuse of the law as she was only doing her job as a reporter by providing news that was of the public’s grave concern. The government should not prosecute journalists for their unpopular opinions, ideas, or words. Doing so will only dismiss the press from fulfilling its critical role of agitating, investigating, and scrutinizing leaders and institutions of power. That freedom is the distinction between a democracy and a dictatorship.
The media should be able to report freely on public concerns without being silenced by the government. Every journalist should be allowed to practice their freedom of expression without having to fear the law. The idea that the political figures with the utmost power could simply suspend a journalist’s train of thought and speech because it taints the government’s name is simply unconstitutional. It contradicts the principles of democracy that Malaysia upholds with pride. Limiting publications that report on corruption or criticize the government’s tactics―both of which the citizens have a right to know―in good faith to learn from mistakes and to build a better nation. Suppressing the people’s opinions because it gives ‘bad press’ to the government is not democracy. The government should understand that the point of democracy is to have access to a wide variety of news and views as well as an open environment where ideas and opinions can be expressed and discussed.
The role of the press to practice freedom of expression is vital in allowing the right of the citizen to exercise freedom of speech. Until society has sufficient access to information, freedom of speech cannot be effectively exercised by both parties. Exposing the citizens to information is an integral part of the right to freedom of speech and a corollary right to freedom of the media. Without any information, the people would not be able to make informed decisions and would remain in the darkness of ignorance. There will be no ‘openness’ or ‘transparency’, which are both important qualities a democratic society should possess. It is the people’s right to know and to be given the information of what is going on behind-the-scenes just as it is the right of the press to report what is going on without any mandate or interference from the government. Journalists will not be able to uphold the core principle of being ‘impartial’ in their work if the government continues to be obscure with their acts.
Sharing information of the public interest even if it means having to speak out opposing views is the duty of a journalist. Silencing them will only destroy the structure of democracy since there will be no space for discussions or free exchange of ideas, all of which are vital for a healthy democracy. The foundation of a functional and stable political system is a functional media system. Therefore, the government should play an active role in safeguarding journalists by giving them the liberty to work safely and express their views, not attack them by dressing media laws as political weapons that will turn against media personnel. In countries where the media is heavily regulated by the government, I believe the only way to fully attain press freedom is to revoke and reform the draconian laws set. Broad, subjective, and ambiguous legal terms used in acts should be redefined for clarity and most importantly, for the prevention of government abusing the law itself, especially when a report is not in their favor. Journalists should never be punished for merely doing their work of inspecting and balancing the government. Without fear or favor, journalists should have the right to report the truth; it is their obligation to gather such data and convey it to the public.
Jamal Khashoggi’s last written piece was an op-ed for The Washington Post where he expressed his commitment and passion for freedom in the Arab world. Like many other journalists, Jamal was dedicated to the freedom he had given his life for, and his final article was a testament to that. Stop treating journalists as terrorists and help them construct a world free from tyranny and extortion. Until these repressive laws are abolished or reform, until the authorities stop investigating, threatening, harassing journalists with the law, only can Malaysia be a respected democratic country where freedom of speech is valued and the media no longer has to be the mouthpiece for the government.
After all, we, as journalists, owe it to the public to show them the truth.
About the Author
Jane is a journalism student who is passionate about all things gender equality, youth empowerment, and education reform. Aside from having written for several publications and organizations such as Crunch by Nuffnang and the Malaysian Youth Education Reform (MYER) Movement, she has also held multiple editorial positions. If she’s not seen stressing out about her assignment deadlines, you can find her dabbling with her Kalimba or binge-watching films.