Journalism Government and the People

This study aims to understand the concept of freedom of speech in journalism and how national and governmental laws can influence the freedom of speech of journalists and the quality of journalism. It focuses on the Constitution of Malaysia and its complicated legal framework related to freedom of speech.

Running head: JOURNALISM GOVERNMENT AND THE PEOPLE
Journalism Government and the People
-Freedom of Press
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1JOURNALISM GOVERNMENT AND THE PEOPLE
Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................3
-Aim.......................................................................................................................................3
-Freedom of Speech...............................................................................................................3
-Freedom of speech in Journalism.........................................................................................3
-Freedom of speech under Malaysian Constitution...............................................................3
Discussion..................................................................................................................................4
-Article 10 (1) & (4) and its implications...............................................................................4
-Part III and its implications...................................................................................................5
-Article 152 and its implications............................................................................................6
-Article 153 and its implications............................................................................................7
-Article 181 and its implications............................................................................................8
Conclusion..................................................................................................................................9
References:...............................................................................................................................11

2JOURNALISM GOVERNMENT AND THE PEOPLE
Introduction
-Aim
The aim of the study is to understand the concept of freedom of speech in the context of
journalism and how national and governmental laws can influence the freedom of speech of
journalists and how that In turn influences the quality of journalism. The study would be done
in the context of the Constitution of Malaysia that has a complicated legal framework related
to freedom of speech.
-Freedom of Speech
Freedom of speech can be understood as the liberty to express one’s own opinions and
thoughts without the risks of being prosecuted or questioned and the freedom being supported
by governmental authorities. This is an important right that every citizen should have in order
to be able to express their views and opinions abbot the governance event if they are
unfavorable in nature (Cram 2016).
-Freedom of speech in Journalism
Freedom of press is a term that is used to denote the freedom of speech for journalists
through which the media can communicate and express using various media without
interference from governing bodies or the state and also implies that the media can seek for
constitutional and legal protection to protect such rights. This right has also been established
under the United Declaration of human rights by United Nations (Venkatraman et al. 2015).
-Freedom of speech under Malaysian Constitution

3JOURNALISM GOVERNMENT AND THE PEOPLE
Article 10 of the Malaysian Constitution outlines the freedom of its people for speech,
assembly and association. This article outlines and provides the rights to the Malay people
regarding their freedom to express them.
Discussion
-Article 10 (1) & (4) and its implications
The Article 10 of the Malaysian constitution outlines the Freedom of Speech; association an
assembly for is people. The article is divided into four clauses each of which defines a
specific aspect within freedom.
Article 10 , Clause 1, has three sections, Section a provides the citizens of Malaysia the right
towards free speech and expression, Section b, provides all the citizens the rights to have an
assembly in a peaceful manner without arms and Section c, provides rights to all the citizens
to form associations in public. This Article provides the essential rights as outlined under the
Human Rights commission to safeguard and uphold the rights of individual to express
themselves assemble and associate freely without being under political pressure. This right
ensures that the journalists are able to express their opinions as well as share their reports
freely without any execute interference and form press conferences and press meetings to
share their knowledge and information without any hindrance.
On the other hand, Article 10 (4) provides a restrictive clause to the freedom of speech,
assembly and association outlined in Article 10(1). The article imposes restrictions on the
interest of national security and federation security or any part of it. Under this section a law
can be passed by the Parliament that can prohibit any form of questioning on the matters of
status, rights, position, sovereignty, privilege and prerogative that has been protected or
established under the provision of Part III as well as Articles 152, 153 and 181. This implies

4JOURNALISM GOVERNMENT AND THE PEOPLE
that under conditions outlined in Article 10(2) and (3), Article 10 (4) provide the power to the
Parliament to retract the rights provided under Article 10(1). In journalism this can
significantly restrict the power of the journalists to report effectively as their freedom of
speech, expression, assembly and association can become restricted thereby influencing the
quality of journalism and putting the credibility under question. This also leads to the
violation of the freedom of the press outlined under the Human Rights and can restrict the
ability of the journalist to report on the government as well as the factor outlined under
Article 10 (2) and (3) (Matsuda 2018; Nerone 2017)
-Part III and its implications
Part III of the Malaysian Constitution outlines the laws related to citizenship of the Malaysian
people. The country has several articles that outline the definitions of citizenship, the
considerations under which is considered a citizen and also the consideration under which
citizenship can be terminated.
Article 14 under Part III outlines citizenship through the legal operations, Article 15,16 and
17 outlines registration as a form of citizenship confirmation, Article 18 outlines provisions
for registration for citizenship, Articles, 19, 20 and 21 focuses on the process of
naturalization for citizenship and Article 22 on territory incorporation for citizenship
(Alexander 2017).
It can be mentioned that the significance of citizenship is one of the most considerations
within the context of freedom of individuals and also for journalists that provide them the
diplomatic power to report freely without any executive influences and restrictions. Under
Article 10(4), issues related with the concept so f citizenship outlined under Part III cannot be
freely reported by journalist without having interference from Governing and legal

5JOURNALISM GOVERNMENT AND THE PEOPLE
frameworks. This can lead to the curbing of the citizens’ powers as it adversely influences the
ability of journalists to report on issues that may concern the citizens (Jelen et al. 2017)
Chapter 2 of Part III specifically deals with termination of citizenship which includes factors
such as citizen renunciation, outlined under article 23, citizenship deprivation outlined under
article 24, 25, 26, 27 and 28. The articles 23 to 28 therefore outline several conditions under
which individuals can lose their citizenship under the law. However, this can also lead to
misconducts and unethical loss of citizenship of the Malaysian citizens. Reporting on issues
relate to such incidents can be severely curbed due to the provisions under Article 10(4) by
which the particulars regarding termination of citizenship under Part III is protected from
questioning. The reporting is similarly restricted for Chapter 3 under Part III which includes
the concepts of commonwealth citizenship under Article 29, citizenship certificates under 30
and applying for second schedule under Article 31 (McLeod 2018).
-Article 152 and its implications
Article 152 outlines the laws pertaining to the protection of the National language of
Malaysia and has six sections each focusing on different aspects on the usage of the national
language as well as also protecting a linguistic diversity in the country. Section 1 protects the
Malay language as the official script for the parliament while ensuring that other languages
are not prohibited from being taught or learnt and being used in communities. Section 2,
ensures that English can be used in the Parliament as well as the Legislative Assembly and in
every state for official purposes. Section 3, also provisions the usage of English for
introducing bills or making its amendments and for parliamentary acts as well as subsidiary
legislations that might be issued from the federal government. Section 4 permits the usage of
English language in the court of law, as in federal courts of appeals as well as in high courts.
Section 5, adds that the subordinates can also use English language for its proceedings while

6JOURNALISM GOVERNMENT AND THE PEOPLE
Article 6 defines the concept of official purpose as any purpose related to the state, federal or
governing bodies (Richards 2018).
Significance of national language in journalism is one of the most important contexts that
ensure how journalists can mediate the reports with the stakeholders. The article 152 supports
the usage of Malay as an official language as well as using English for all official purposes
and has kept this decision beyond the scope of questioning from Malaysian citizens as well as
journalists by placing it under the considerations for Article 10(4). One of the key challenges
that has been faced by journalist communities is to mediate the voice of the local
communities as well as fringe groups which can also include linguistically distinct and
linguistically minority groups. Even though these groups add to the linguistic diversity to the
country, voicing their opinions in official decisions can become inadequate, an aspect which
journalists would not have the freedom to discuss or debate on. Due to the linguistic diversity
of the country in the presence of indigenous minority groups places debate on the choice of
Malay as the national language for the country which has been considered unfair and
misrepresentation of the minority groups. On the other hand the inclusion of English has also
attracted a lot of resistance from conservationist who consider this is a foreign influence on
the national culture and therefore a loss of cultural heritage. Such dichotomous opinions and
expressions of the mass are unable to be portrayed with utmost clarity and honestly in the
field of journalism due to the protocols of Article (4). This leads to the creation of biased,
diplomatic and polity inclination in the media and its perception delivery (Blanc et al. 2017).
-Article 153 and its implications
The Article 153 outlines the rules, policies and protocols associated with quota reservation in
context of permits and services for certain natives and citizens of Sarawak and Sabah. Section
1 under article 153, outlines responsibility of safeguarding the natives and Malays position as

7JOURNALISM GOVERNMENT AND THE PEOPLE
well as those of Sabah and Sarawak and the communities by Yang di-Pertain Aging. Section
2 outlines that Yanh di-Pertuan Agong can exercise this right under the law in order to
safeguard the wellbeing of the natives and Malays belong to the state of Sabah and Sarawak.
This further ensures that the people get access to scholarships, training privileges and
employment opportunities supported by the government. Section 3, under the Article
suggests the responsibility to the reservation of the rights of the people outlines above by the
commissions and authorities following the directions outlined by the article. Section 4
ensures that the people are not deprived of the rights outlined under section 1 and 2. Section 5
and 6 ensures that derogation of the legal obligations does not happen and promotion of such
rights is ensured by the government. Article 7, 8 and 9 outlines how to implicate the e
implementation of the Article through parliamentary provision at state and national levels
corresponding to the provisions under Article 3 and Article 161 (Waldman and Caliskan
2019).
Factor such as quota and reservations can lead to incidents of unfair and unjust reservations
of facilities and resources for individuals. On one hand quota can improve equity for people
most need of help but also adversely impact equality thereby forming a crux of ethical
debates that can be seen in several countries. Reporting on such issues in Malaysia would be
considered highly sensitive ad subject to executive restrictions to report freely on decision
sand policies related to the quota system. Similarly any issues related to services or permits
and its accessibility for Malays and well as the natives cannot be questioned by the journalists
due to the inclusion of Article 153 as a sub clause of Article 10(4). Several incidents related
to under representation of many groups of minorities can be directly associated with the quota
system leading to unequal sharing of national resources among the people. Considering how
that can have adverse impacts on the health and wellbeing of people and the
societies/communities, the facto automatically becomes an important focal point for

8JOURNALISM GOVERNMENT AND THE PEOPLE
journalistic studies. This therefore not only adversely impacts the understanding of the people
about these issues but also scope of journalism itself by its inability to portray the
observations with journalistic and academic integrity (LaMay 2017).
-Article 181 and its implications
Article 189 is an exclusive part of the Malaysian Constitution (Part 14) that outlines the rule
related to the Sovereignty of the ruler and its protection. Article 181 has two sections in
which Section 1 can be subjected to the different provisions made under this Constitution
which includes the sovereignty, jurisdiction, powers and prerogatives as well as the
Constitutional authority of the ruler’s , the ruling chiefs belonging to Negeri, Sembilan which
cannot be revoked under any conditions. This provides the ruler an ultimate power and
sovereignty in the country. This can allow the rulers to develop policies that can be autocratic
and restrictive to human Rights such as the freedom of speech. Article 14, Section 4
demonstrates how the ruler sovereignty can support a structural limitation and influence on
press freedom from governing rules and regulations that restricts the freedom of press under
considerations outlined in the section (LaMay 2017).
Section 2, further asserts the sovereignty of the ruler by placing the ruler above any legal
processing’s in any court with the execution of special courts which are outlines are under
part XV of the Constitution. This can allow the rulers the power to take any decisions without
minimal legal reparations and can be a potential of misconduct, miss governance and miss
administration leading to exploitation of power. Such factors however cannot be reported by
the journalists due to the inclusion of Article 181 under the restrictive clause of Article 10(4).
This also implies that the article restricts the liberty and right of the press to question the
sovereignty of the ruler of Malaysia as well as the designs made by the ruler or any other

9JOURNALISM GOVERNMENT AND THE PEOPLE
actions that can be considered questioning the sovereignty, jurisdiction, power, prerogatives
and constitutional authority of the ruler (Jones 2016).
Conclusion
From the above study of the Malaysian Constitution it can be outlined that even though
Article 10(1) gives adequate rights to its citizens as well as the press to express its opinion
and exercise the freedom of speech, assembly and association, the legislations provides
certain condition that keeps the rights of the common mass adrift from the executive
protocols. Placing certain aspects under Part III, Article 152, Article 153 and Article 181
prevents journalist from reporting on any issues pertaining to those articles thereby restricting
journalistic integrity and imposing a mechanism through which executive function of the
journalist can be influenced. This can lead to biased or inadequate journalism and thereby
adversely affect the media as well as the stakeholders.

10JOURNALISM GOVERNMENT AND THE PEOPLE
References:
Alexander, L.J., 2017. Freedom of speech. Routledge. URL:
https://content.taylorfrancis.com/books/download?dac=C2017-0-57831-
8&isbn=9781351723824&format=googlePreviewPdf
Blanc, R., Islam, M.A., Patten, D.M. and Branco, M.C., 2017. Corporate anti-corruption
disclosure: An examination of the impact of media exposure and country-level press
freedom. Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, 30(8), pp.1746-1770. URL:
https://www.emeraldinsight.com/doi/abs/10.1108/AAAJ-02-2015-1965
Cram, I., 2016. Contested words: legal restrictions on freedom of speech in liberal
democracies. Routledge. URL: https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/9781315574011
Jelen, T.G., Lewis, A.R. and Djupe, P.A., 2017. Freedom of Religion and Freedom of
Speech: The Effects of Alternative Rights Frames on Mass Support for Public
Exemptions. Journal of Church and State, 60(1), pp.43-67. URL:
https://academic.oup.com/jcs/article-abstract/60/1/43/2930516
Jones, A., 2016. Powers of the press: newspapers, power and the public in nineteenth-
century England. Routledge. URL: https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/9781315246246
LaMay, C., 2017. Exporting press freedom. Routledge. URL:
https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/9780203792483
Matsuda, M.J., 2018. Public response to racist speech: Considering the victim’s story.
In Words that wound (pp. 17-51). Routledge. URL:
https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/e/9780429502941/chapters/10.4324/9780429502941-2

11JOURNALISM GOVERNMENT AND THE PEOPLE
McLeod, A., 2018. Understanding Williams-Yulee v. The Florida Bar and its implications for
freedom of speech in judicial elections. First Amendment Studies, 52(1-2), pp.61-79. URL:
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/21689725.2018.1444501
Nerone, J., 2017. Book Review: Free Speech and Unfree News: The Paradox of Freedom of
Speech in America. URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1940161217706157?
journalCode=hijb
Richards, B., 2018. The Emotional Public Sphere and Its Importance: Freedom of Speech as a
Case Study—Commentary. International Journal of Communication, 12, pp.2040-2051.
URL: http://eprints.bournemouth.ac.uk/30828/
Venkatraman, A., Garg, N. and Kumar, N., 2015. Greater freedom of speech on Web 2.0
correlates with dominance of views linking vaccines to autism. Vaccine, 33(12), pp.1422-
1425. URL: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0264410X15001358
Waldman, S.A. and Caliskan, E., 2019. Power, Patronage and Press Freedom: The Political
Economy of Turkey’s Media. In Public Service Broadcasting and Media Systems in
Troubled European Democracies (pp. 383-408). Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. URL:
https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-030-02710-0_17