Malaysiakini

Malaysiakini
当今大马
Type Online newspaper
Format Online
Owner(s) Mkini Dotcom Sdn Bhd
Publisher Mkini Dotcom Sdn Bhd
Editor Steven Gan
Founded 20 November 1999
Political alignment Independent[1][2]
Headquarters Kuala Lumpur
Circulation N/A
Website www.malaysiakini.com
Visitors to malaysiakini.com in 2008

Malaysiakini (English: "Malaysia Today") is a news website published in English, Malay, Chinese and Tamil. Since its launch on 20 November 1999, it has been widely considered to be one of the leading non-government owned paid-news agencies in Malaysia. Compete.com estimates that Malaysiakini now attracts over 10,000 unique visitors in May 2009.[3] Alexa ranked malaysiakini.com as the 16th most popular web site in Malaysia (ahead of The Star) in 2008.[4] In 2013, Malaysiakini's parent company launched two sites - business portal KiniBiz kinibiz.com and internet TV news site KiniTV kinitv.com.

Unlike most news sources in Malaysia, Malaysiakini remains free from government regulation and thus widely considered to be the country's most pro-opposition website. Malaysiakini has gained both praise and notoriety by regularly covering subjects and viewpoints deemed taboo by the mainstream broadcast and print media.

Founding

Malaysiakini was founded by Premesh Chandran and Steven Gan in November 1999. Frustrated with constraints on his previous reporting for The Sun, Gan decided to use the Multimedia Super Corridor pledge to create a space for uncensored journalism.[5] The site began with a staff of five journalists and a starting budget of $100,000.[6] Gan served as its editor-in-chief. For its first story, Malaysiakini posted a report on 20 November criticizing the practices of Sin Chew Jit Poh, Malaysia's largest-circulation Chinese-language newspaper. Sin Chew Jit Poh had doctored a photograph of Malaysia's ruling party to remove Anwar Ibrahim, who had recently been imprisoned for corruption. According to BBC News, the Malaysiakini report led to "worldwide infamy" for Sin Chew Jit Poh, and the newspaper later issued a public apology.[7] In April 2001, Malaysiakini made news again when it discovered and reported the secret detention of 10 political activists.[8]

Content

The Malaysiakini website is updated daily, except for 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.

Funding

In September 2012, Malaysiakini was admitted to receiving grants from National Endowment for Democracy and other organisations. Premesh Chandran, the CEO of Malaysiakini said that Malaysiakini is "transparent about such partnerships". The foreign grants "form a small part of Malaysiakini's budget". He also said that Malaysiakini is 70% owned by its co-founders and staff. He claimed that despite receiving grants from international donors, the editorial independence was not compromised. He said about the matter in a statement in response to media reports following controversy over funding provided by National Endowment for Democracy to human rights group such as SUARAM and a host of other organisations, including Malaysiakini.[9]

Print version

Malaysiakini applied in 2010 for a license to circulate the newspaper in print, which was rejected by the Home Ministry. It successfully appealed in the High Court and the High Court judged that Malaysiakini was to be issued a publication permit. The Home Ministry appealed the High Court decision in the Court of Appeal. The appeal was dismissed. Legally victorious, the newspaper requested the Home Ministry again for a permit. However, the application was rejected again.[10]

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 20 January 2003 when Malaysiakini was raided by the Malaysian police. Four servers and 15 personal computers 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 Organisation (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 eventually resumed its normal operations.

On 1 April 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. These caused quite a stir in Malaysia with the government ordering a probe on the news organisation.

Awards and recognition

In 2001, Malaysiakini won a Free Media Pioneer award from the International Press Institute.[11]

Gan himself won a 2000 International Press Freedom Award of the Committee to Protect Journalists,[5] "an annual recognition of courageous journalism".[12] In July 2001, Businessweek named him one of the "Stars of Asia" in the category "Opinion Shapers" for his work with the website.[8]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Malaysiakini's 'About Us' Page". Malaysiakini. Retrieved 6 November 2012.
  2. ↑ "No Time Like Tomorrow". The Economist. 6 October 2012. Retrieved 6 November 2012.
  3. ↑ 175,000 visitors in 2008
  4. ↑ Malaysiakini overtakes Star online rankings
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 "IPF Awards 2000 - Announcement". Committee to Protect Journalists. 2000. Retrieved 29 January 2012.
  6. ↑ "Steven Gan, editor Malaysiakini". PBS NewsHour. 2000. Retrieved 29 January 2012.
  7. ↑ "Malaysia's first online paper". BBC News. 20 November 2000. Retrieved 29 January 2012.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 "Steven Gan: Editor-in-chief, Malaysiakini". Businessweek. 2 July 2001. Retrieved 29 January 2012.
  9. ↑ "Malaysiakini admits to receiving foreign funds". thestar.com.my. 22 September 2012. Retrieved 23 September 2012.
  10. ↑ "Malaysiakini, FZ Daily denied print permits because they run sensational news, says Zahid". The Malaysian Insider. 27 March 2014. Retrieved 20 May 2014.
  11. ↑ "ICIJ Journalists: Steven Gan". International Consortium of Investigative Journalists. Retrieved 29 January 2012.
  12. ↑ "CPJ International Press Freedom Awards 2011". Committee to Protect Journalists. 2011. Retrieved 29 January 2012.

External links