Press freedom and feeding at the trough- The Malaysian Insider
November 24, 2011 — “There is no more effective check on corrupt officials, bribe takers, embezzlers, and those who waste public funds than a hard-nosed investigative journalist,” wrote World Bank staffers in 2001, according to journalist David E Kaplan.
Equally though, where there is little or no freedom of the press, it becomes much harder to combat corruption. A look at Freedom House’s Press Freedom Index shows that of 196 countries surveyed, Malaysia slid from 131 in 2009 to 141 in 2010 and 143 in 2011. At the same time, in terms of Transparency International’s (TI) corruption perception index, Malaysia’s score on a 10-point scale, where 10 represents no corruption, has been sliding from 5.1 in 2008 to 4.5 in 2009 and 4.4 in 2010.
It seems that as it gets harder to get the truth out, the perception of corruption increases. Pemandu estimates the cost of corruption to the nation is significant, potentially amounting to as much as RM10 billion a year, or 1-2 per cent of the GDP.
The Government Transformation Programme (GTP) has identified three key outcomes as targets for managing areas perceived as being most prone to corruption. • Regain public’s confidence in regulatory and enforcement agencies • Reduce leakages in government procurement • Tackle grand corruption (including political corruption) It hopes that focused efforts to achieve these outcomes will enable Malaysia to reduce corruption, as reflected by Pemandu’s target of an increase in Malaysia’s CPI score from 4.4 to 4.9 in TI’s 2011 survey.
Given recent events in the national Feedlot Corporation, you could be forgiven a slight snigger at the unlikelihood of that coming to pass. The problem with Pemandu’s approach is that it relies heavily on the premise of operational autonomy and presumed integrity of regulatory and enforcement agencies like MACC, the Attorney-General and the Auditor-General. But are these agencies truly free of pressure from the powers-that-be? Are they able to genuinely either tackle leakages in procurement or grand corruption?
The Auditor-General’s Report is an annual exercise in exposing mismanagement and corruption, but the question could legitimately be asked whether certain departments are treated more leniently than others. Is everything that needs investigating by the MACC actually investigated? Put another way, who audits the performance of the auditor? Who decides what gets audited? This is where the role of investigative journalism becomes critical.
From Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward breaking the Watergate story, the idea that when everybody has a vested interest in concealing the truth it is the highest duty of a journalist to uncover it has gained traction around the world. In Malaysia though, given the tight control exercised over the mainstream media, it is unrealistic to expect the same.
When no chief editor or news channel is interested, or is only interested in one side of the story, there is very limited scope for investigative journalism. This is why it is all the more surprising that the alternative news media has not acted to fill the vacuum.
There is certainly a large untapped market for a news portal that specialises in exposing inefficiencies and corruption, whether in politics, business or governance. Given that both BN and PR are in power at different levels, such an emphasis would also let voters know how both are performing on this score.
It is much better for the media to lead this exercise rather than political spokespersons to avoid the perception of these exposés being motivated by partisan advantages than any real desire to improve probity in public life. Of course it could be said that the Official Secrets Act and the lack of a federal Freedom of Information Act are severe impediments to real investigative journalism.
But international journalism is littered with stories of scoops delivered in the face of extreme personal danger and official harassment. The allure of investigative journalism lies precisely in showcasing one’s ability to take substantially greater risks in the pursuit of a story than the average food critic.
Now that we know that sometimes in this country there are more people than cows feeding at the trough or more cows than people staying in condominiums, it’s about time that venal officials or politicians realised the power of the Fourth Estate to hold them to account.
If Malaysia is obsessed with producing its own Steve Jobs and Bill Gates, it equally needs its own Seymour Hersh and Anderson Cooper.
Equally though, where there is little or no freedom of the press, it becomes much harder to combat corruption. A look at Freedom House’s Press Freedom Index shows that of 196 countries surveyed, Malaysia slid from 131 in 2009 to 141 in 2010 and 143 in 2011. At the same time, in terms of Transparency International’s (TI) corruption perception index, Malaysia’s score on a 10-point scale, where 10 represents no corruption, has been sliding from 5.1 in 2008 to 4.5 in 2009 and 4.4 in 2010.
It seems that as it gets harder to get the truth out, the perception of corruption increases. Pemandu estimates the cost of corruption to the nation is significant, potentially amounting to as much as RM10 billion a year, or 1-2 per cent of the GDP.
The Government Transformation Programme (GTP) has identified three key outcomes as targets for managing areas perceived as being most prone to corruption. • Regain public’s confidence in regulatory and enforcement agencies • Reduce leakages in government procurement • Tackle grand corruption (including political corruption) It hopes that focused efforts to achieve these outcomes will enable Malaysia to reduce corruption, as reflected by Pemandu’s target of an increase in Malaysia’s CPI score from 4.4 to 4.9 in TI’s 2011 survey.
Given recent events in the national Feedlot Corporation, you could be forgiven a slight snigger at the unlikelihood of that coming to pass. The problem with Pemandu’s approach is that it relies heavily on the premise of operational autonomy and presumed integrity of regulatory and enforcement agencies like MACC, the Attorney-General and the Auditor-General. But are these agencies truly free of pressure from the powers-that-be? Are they able to genuinely either tackle leakages in procurement or grand corruption?
The Auditor-General’s Report is an annual exercise in exposing mismanagement and corruption, but the question could legitimately be asked whether certain departments are treated more leniently than others. Is everything that needs investigating by the MACC actually investigated? Put another way, who audits the performance of the auditor? Who decides what gets audited? This is where the role of investigative journalism becomes critical.
From Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward breaking the Watergate story, the idea that when everybody has a vested interest in concealing the truth it is the highest duty of a journalist to uncover it has gained traction around the world. In Malaysia though, given the tight control exercised over the mainstream media, it is unrealistic to expect the same.
When no chief editor or news channel is interested, or is only interested in one side of the story, there is very limited scope for investigative journalism. This is why it is all the more surprising that the alternative news media has not acted to fill the vacuum.
There is certainly a large untapped market for a news portal that specialises in exposing inefficiencies and corruption, whether in politics, business or governance. Given that both BN and PR are in power at different levels, such an emphasis would also let voters know how both are performing on this score.
It is much better for the media to lead this exercise rather than political spokespersons to avoid the perception of these exposés being motivated by partisan advantages than any real desire to improve probity in public life. Of course it could be said that the Official Secrets Act and the lack of a federal Freedom of Information Act are severe impediments to real investigative journalism.
But international journalism is littered with stories of scoops delivered in the face of extreme personal danger and official harassment. The allure of investigative journalism lies precisely in showcasing one’s ability to take substantially greater risks in the pursuit of a story than the average food critic.
Now that we know that sometimes in this country there are more people than cows feeding at the trough or more cows than people staying in condominiums, it’s about time that venal officials or politicians realised the power of the Fourth Estate to hold them to account.
If Malaysia is obsessed with producing its own Steve Jobs and Bill Gates, it equally needs its own Seymour Hersh and Anderson Cooper.
Comments
Post a Comment