THE National Union of Journalists Peninsular Malaysia (NUJM) has expressed deep concern over the drastic drop of Malaysia’s ranking on media freedom following the recent release of the Reporters Sans Frontieres (RSF) (Reporters without Borders) annual World Press Freedom index.
Malaysia has gone down 18 places to be ranked 119 among 180 countries – a steep decline compared to its ranking in 2020. This is a stark contrast when Malaysia rose dramatically to 101 previously, according to the index.
In this regard, NUJM has urged the ruling Government to look into the various method to improve the environment for journalists to work without fear of harassment and self-censorship while at the same time repeal draconian legislatives which suppress media freedom.
“The RSF index basically indicates that the situation in Malaysia has actually gone from bad to worse,” NUJM’s general-secretary Chin Sung Chew pointed out in a statement.
“Emergency regulations introduced to contain the COVID-19 spread, however, was instead used to target critical reporting.”
Chin added: “At times like this, NUJM would like to remind the Government that objective reporting is the best vaccine against disinformation.” – April 27, 2021
