The Malaysian Media Council set up as the game changer but our press freedom has gone from bad to worse. Is it fair to continue putting the blame on the government for Malaysia's latest poor ranking?
MALAYSIA'S ranking for press freedom 2026 has fallen from bad (88th out of 180 countries in 2025) to worse (95/180 in 2026), according to the RSF. Well, we're still in the top 100 in the world, if you want to look at it positively. Still better than Singapore what...!
Worse comes to worst, can always blame the government as we have always done in the past. Blame the draconian laws such as the Sedition act, the press and printing act, and the blah blah acts.
But wait a minute! Since the middle of last year, we have this new body called the Malaysian Media Council. It was supposed to be the game changer for the media industry, for journalists and ultimately for press freedom.
So why are we worse off than before?
It is the role of the MMC, among other things, to champion media freedom, to ensure the delivery of authentic information, increase government accountability and uphold democratic principles.
The MMC gets funds from the government by virtue that it was set up by an act of Parliament. It is, therefore, not short of resources. In fact, the Media Council pays its staff very well. Its Director of Media Practice and Reform, for example, is paid, what, 5-figure monthly salary, not inclusive of perks?
And the people who run the MMC are said to be individuals who were very gung-ho in promoting press freedom before there was such a Council. In fact, that is why they are put there by their peers. I'm not sure if all of them are paid salaries or perks at the MMC, that's not the main point of this posting.
Back to the point: according to RSF, Malaysian journalists are increasingly under pressure due to economic factors where some media organizations are still struggling to pay their employees' salaries.
This reflects that the media landscape is still or is getting weaker due to the shaky media economy and the increasing cost of compliance operations. It cannot be denied that journalists are increasingly being choked by hostile political narrative agendas and increasing social intolerance towards sensitive people. As a result, the social media which are run by "unrecognized journalists" are more trusted by readers.
The government obviously recognized this and that is why it set up the RM 30 million Media Innovation Fund to help qualified local media organizations. Didn't anyone tell the RSF this, MMC?
RSF did acknowledge "improvements" in the safety of media reporting in Malaysia but its explanation for our improved score in this category - that improvements often occur when other countries deteriorate more severely - is rather hilarious. The least the MMC could do is let RSF know that it's not funny.
Last December, veteran journalist Datuk Yong Soo Heong, in his column, made his observation about MMC's inaction despite having been in existence for months. He reminded the council of the decades that journalists of the past had spent pushing the government to agree to the formation of the Council. Speak up and be relevant, Yong told the MMC. "This is not a criticism. It's a call for action".
As a journalist I consider myself very junior and the RSF ranking, in the absence of anyone else, is important to me. I dare say I speak for my overworked, underpaid but passionate peers out there.
In the past we blamed the government, the economy, the draconian acts, etc etc. We blamed everyone and everything except ourselves. We cannot continue doing that.
The Media Council has got to buck up, speak out, be relevant. It should make it its KPI to ensure that our press freedom ranking soars from now on. There are so many things it can do other than issue statement after statement in their official site.
Or maybe Fahmi Fadzil, as the Minister of Communications, should impose this as a KPI for the MMC. Make them earn their keep.
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