We, the undersigned civil society organisations, note that there have been serious incidents and factors ahead of the 10th state elections which are preventing Sarawakians from seeking, receiving and sharing vital information that can help them decide on their representatives and government.

22 March 2011 The Centre for Independent Journalism (CIJ) regrets that yet another reprimand was issued by the Home Ministry to the press, this time to “The Star”. “The Star” stated that it was reprimanded for a 9 March 2011 article on the impounding of 5,000 Bahasa Malaysia (BM) Bibles. “The Star” was reportedly reminded [...]

International Federation of Journalists code of ethics: “No journalist should be directed by an employer or any person acting on behalf of the employer to commit any act or thing that the journalist believes would breach his or her professional ethics, whether defined by a code of ethics adopted by journalists collected at national level or that would infringe the international Code of Principles for the Conduct of Journalism as adopted by the IFJ. No journalist can be discipclined in any way for asserting his or her rights to act according their conscience.”

The contract of Chow Z Lam, the producer of the recently axed Bakun dam documentary was terminated by RTM on 13 May. In the following joint statement, civil societies demanded for public inquiry and invited members of the public to join force on 28 May to protest political interference and censorship in the media industry.

The Centre for Independent Journalism (CIJ) condemns the suspension of the editor of China Press at the behest of the Ministry of Home Affairs after publishing a report that the Inspector General-Police (IGP) has resigned.

The Centre for Independent Journalism (CIJ) is concerned that the Star newspaper is being issued a show-cause letter by the Ministry of Home Affairs, following police reports lodged against the daily over the publication of a column questioning the caning of three Muslim women. CIJ calls on the Home Ministry to retract the show-cause letter [...]

During the 2009 Bloggers United Malaysia (BUM) gathering on 16 May, the fourth Prime Minister, Dr. Mahathir Mohamad, claimed no responsibility for controlling the media during his time. CIJ thinks that it was quite a farce.

The Centre for Independent Journalism (CIJ) questions the Information Minister Zainuddin Maidin's "advice" to news editors not to play up news that put the government in the bad light. CIJ finds the advice by the Minister alarming as he continues to show little regard for press freedom and the role of the media in a [...]

The Centre for Independent Journalism (CIJ) regrets that the government continues to interfere in the editorial decisions of private television and radio stations, and in a recent case, effectively preventing them from broadcasting speeches by opposition party members. This reported directive from the Malaysian Communication and Multimedia Commission (MCMC), which is under the Ministry of [...]

The government has within a week given a second warning to the mainstream media that they must not cross the boundary set by the government. The Centre for Independent Journalism (CIJ) condemns the call by the Information Minister Zainuddin Maidin to the media not to quote from blogs and online portals. The minister's call is [...]