2007 Press Freedom Index:
Malaysia plunged 32 notches just four years into Abdullah Administration
The Reporters Without Borders (RSF) Press Freedom Index 2007 is out.
Among 169 countries surveyed, Malaysia plunged 32 notches from 92nd in 2006 to 124th in 2007.
It's Malaysia's worst ranking since the annual Press Freedom Index was institutionalised in 2002.
Malaysia was ranked 113th in 2005 and 122nd in 2004, respectively, out of 167 countries surveyed then.
Whereas during the Mahathir Era, Malaysia was ranked 110th in 2002 and 104th in 2003, respectively.
This is the single-most severe deterioration in press freedom index ranking in the last four years of the Abdullah Administration, where Malaysia had been spin-doctored as "never having freer media" vis-a-vis the Mahathir Era.
Download Press Freedom Report 2007 in PDF here.
For context, here are the excerpts from the evaluation by region, Asia:
The Internet is occupying more and more space in the breakdown of press freedom violations. Several countries fell in the ranking this year because of serious, repeated violations of the free flow of online news and information.
In Malaysia (124th), Thailand (135th), Vietnam (162nd) and Egypt (146th), for example, bloggers were arrested and news websites were closed or made inaccessible. “We are concerned about the increase in cases of online censorship,” Reporters Without Borders said. “More and more governments have realised that the Internet can play a key role in the fight for democracy and they are establishing new methods of censoring it. The governments of repressive countries are now targeting bloggers and online journalists as forcefully as journalists in the traditional media.”
The Bolehland also won a special mention in the RSF press release issued yesterday: "Malaysia often harasses bloggers". Download PDF here
Here is the breakdown of the 20 countries at the bottom of the index:
- Seven are Asian (Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Laos, Vietnam, China, Burma, and North Korea)
- Five are African (Ethiopia, Equatorial Guinea, Libya, Somalia and Eritrea)
- Four are in the Middle East (Syria, Iraq, Palestinian Territories and Iran)
- Three are former Soviet republics (Belarus, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan)
- One is in the Americas (Cuba)
Bloggers now harsher targets of repressive regimes
The key observation for this year's finds is that, bloggers are now threatened as much as journalists in traditional media.
A total of 26 bloggers and online journalists have been convicted and jailed since September 2006 for using their right to online free expression.
China, ranking 163rd among 169 countries surveyed, still reigns supreme as the world's biggest prison for bloggers and online journalists.
Fifty cyber-dissidents are currently detained in China because of their online activities. Worldwide, 64 cyber-dissidents are currently in prison.
With less than a year to go to the 2008 Beijing Olympics, 5 major censorship bodies, including those operated directly by the government and the Communist Party's publicity department (the former propaganda department), now control the flow of news and information online.
Incidentally, China is ranked a notch better than Burma (164th), which saw major bloody crackdown by the military junta recently.
Unexpected improvement was seen in Cambodia (85th), which climbed up a few rungs, thanks to the government’s decision to decriminalize press offences. No journalist was imprisoned. But some journalists were targeted by death threats, especially when they covered corruption.
Here's the methodology used in compiling the Press Freedom Index.
Comments
So basically the detainment of one blogger and the suing of two by a certain newspaper company resonates a drop in the press freedom index?
or did Pak Lah's yacht in turkey do that?
and who exactly are these harassed bloggers?
JEFF OOI says: You didn't mention Raja Petra Kamarudin and Nila Tanzil -- and the unknown unknown targetted by ZAM? Not to mention confidential reports to RSF by practising mainstream journalists?
Posted by: aput83![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.jeffooi.com/nav-commenters.gif)
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October 17, 2007 09:08 AM
Sure, we could mention them, but how is it that these selected few can suddenly bring down the country's entire rating by 32 notches?
Raja Petra has always been a firebrand commentator. And yeah, I do feel Nila Tanzil is continuously being harassed, along with other legal Indonesians in our country who bump into RELA officers near Central Market.
As for the unknowns targeted by the Minister of Misinformation and Propaganda, I would think a higher number are slandering him due to his...dumbassery, if there is such a thing.
However, if this 32 notch drop is just due to the harassment faced by bloggers, I think it's unfounded.
And they got it wrong, too.
No blogger in Malaysia was arrested, per se. There were two bloggers that was "detained for questioning".
Gotta love Nazri Aziz for that. Reminds me so much for Alberto Gonzales and his "torture is not torture" talk in the USA...
Speaking of which,USA and the UK went up in the rating.
Are you kidding me?!
JEFF OOI says: Shooting from the hip, again? You seemed to be yet another typical Malaysia who is too lazy to read the METHODOLOGY in compiling the report, to which all 169 countries surveyed were subject to the same criteria. For transparency sake, even the questionnaires use were published. Read together, then you will understand there are a kaleidoscope of reasons who certain countries fared well and others did so badly.
Posted by: aput83![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.jeffooi.com/nav-commenters.gif)
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October 17, 2007 02:33 PM
let us not forget that along the way, some other countries that ranked lower than us might have improved, this pushing us further down.
I couldn't agree more with jeff, press freedom is going down hill.
Posted by: calvin_fernandez![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.jeffooi.com/nav-commenters.gif)
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October 17, 2007 05:50 PM
Dear Jeff, Couldn't agree more with you. The new Alternative Media will be a force to be reckoned with. Well, I am looking forward to the Nov 2007 gathering & let us see what next.....!
Flyer168
Posted by: flyer168![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.jeffooi.com/nav-commenters.gif)
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October 18, 2007 04:04 AM
I agree press freedom in Malaysia is wanting.But must we all believe that the the Reporters Without Borders (RSF)is the true and only barometer for this particular issue?
Posted by: birdseye![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.jeffooi.com/nav-commenters.gif)
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October 18, 2007 06:57 AM
I did read through the questionaire, actually.
And the thing is, I also saw the ratings of countries which censor their media with even stricter criterion than ours and still somehow get a higher rating.
There's Hong Kong (China now), Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, the Congo, Venezuela, Sierra Leone...
These places have higher media freedom than ours?
Just earlier this month BBC had a special about the starving in Congo, and they were denied access.
Have we ever done things like that?
JEFF OOI says: In institutionalised surveys, the samplings are cast wide for a general overviews, where questionnaires are designed to pre-empt and side-step biases. If biases are imminently unavoidable, similar biases must then be applied across the board. While recency of incidents may sway respondents' perception at the material time samplings are collected, no isolated cases would be allowed to influence the overall generation of data, and ultimate output of analysis. This is the science of opinion surveys that everyone in the Knowledge Society must learn to accept, and improve on. Question the methodology by all means, but it's futile to question the results and interpretation if you can't cast doubt on the methodology as methodology dictates output of analysis. Days of irrational outburst and knee-jerk outcries were long doomed. Rationality, and respect for the Messenger/whistle-blower rules the day.
As for monopoly and restricted media, I do admit that we are somewhat lacking if compared to the western world, but I would like some proof that our neighbors on the African continent have it any better.
Posted by: aput83![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.jeffooi.com/nav-commenters.gif)
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October 18, 2007 08:42 AM