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Was it the industry regulator that made a U-Turn on law enforcement, or was it The Star / mStar that had been misreporting?

Feb 23, mStar.com.my said TV3's Sensasi has been banned. So did The Star on February 24, confirming that Sensasi has been banned.

The story has also been picked up by wire agency, Agencie France Presse (AFP) and distributed worldwide.

TV3: 'Sensasi not banned'

According to Malaysiakini on February 24, TV3 officers denied that was a ban order. They said Malaysia Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) didn't ban the Sensasi programme, but only prohibited it from being telecast live.

Quote:

TV3 popular live talk-show Sensasi has not been banned, producer Jamil Hassan clarified yesterday.

“No, there was no directive from the authorities to stop airing the programme. They (Malaysia Communications and Multimedia Commission or MCMC) only requested that the programme be done on a ‘recorded’ basis,” he told malaysiakini in a telephone interview. [...]

Echoing his TV3 colleague Jamil, the station's entertainment director Azhar Borhan said the notice from MCMC was an ‘advice’ that Sensasi be changed to the 'recorded' format.

“We accept that advice. It is also a form of precaution to prevent future controversies,” he said.

In the same story, Malaysiakini said MCMC could not be immediately reached for further comment, though yesterday was a working day.

However, The Star reported a U-turn on February 25:

It was reported that the Malaysian Communication and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) found the programme's live show on Jan 30 had failed to abide by the approval conditions.

TV3 had been asked to stop the live broadcast of the show with immediate effect.

MCMC corporate communications head Adelina Iskandar said the programme was not banned, but TV3 could not air the programme live.

Which, and whose version is correct -- The Star's? mStar's? TV3's via Malaysiakini? Or MCMC's contradicting versions (as reported on Feb 24 and 25, respectively)?

It suffices to say that The Star, which owns mStar, can do anything within its means to prove to us that it advocates responsible journalism by reporting accurately, and printing an errata when it kaboomed.

But MCMC being the industry regulator, the issuer of the CASP individual license for broadcasters, and the de facto custodian of the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998, should clarify in no uncertain terms.

It concerns the rule of law. MCMC's silence can only prove the lack of it.

Meanwhile, actress Rosnah Mat Aris who made a controversial remark that landed TV3 in hot soup has, through Mingguan Malaysia today, asked people not to blame her for the authority's censure of Sensasi.

"Kalau tidak ada soalan, tidaklah ada jawapan. Cuma mungkin, baik saya mahupun pihak pengacara telah membuat kenyataan dan mengeluarkan soalan tanpa menyedari sensitiviti," she said.

Journo-blogger Fathi Aris Omar ( Patah Balek ) has a personal take on this issue.