An Examination of Investigative Journalism Challenges in Malaysia

This essay provides an in-depth analysis of the challenges confronting investigative journalism in Malaysia. It examines the impact of government regulations, including the Internal Security Act and subsequent media laws, on journalists' ability to report freely. The essay highlights the role of journalistic ethics and how they can sometimes hinder investigative reporting due to the risk of baseless accusations. It further explores the influence of media ownership, particularly government-controlled agencies, and the resulting self-censorship among journalists. The emergence of new media platforms and their effect on verification processes are also discussed. The essay argues that the existing legal and ethical frameworks, coupled with concentrated media ownership, create a challenging environment for investigative journalists in Malaysia, potentially limiting the public's access to crucial information and impacting the credibility of media professionals.

Investigative journalism in Malaysia

Introduction
Journalism is a broad field of which investigative journalism is a significant part. As compared
news journalism, investigative journalism has a different agenda as it highlights reporting on
subjects that are considered to be crucial by the journalist in regards to the moral issues and
complications associated with the subject. An important feature and common aspect of
investigative journalism is highlighting on incidents and happenings which are believed on the
part of journalists that it required attention as these subjects result in disregard in terms of their
standards. Thus, the main focus of investigative journalism is identifying and discovering the
truth in the particular subject along with highlighting the gapes present in it in regards to
available media. Considering the above discussed aspect, the present essay will analyze and
evaluate the challenges faced in investigative journalism with particular emphasis to the present
scansion in Malaysia.
From a generic perceive, the practice of investigative journalism in Malaysia is associated with
various challenges in the process of delivering desired content to the readers. In the present
scenario, investigative journalism plays a crucial role in providing the public hidden information
in order to create awareness and disseminate information to them. In context to Malaysia, the
presence of local governance along with the Ethics of Journalism in Malaysia is among the major
factors acting as a barrier or challenge for investigative journalism in Malaysia (Hamid et al.,
2015). The above discussed fact can be established with the help of an excerpt from Ethics of
Journalism which stated that Journalists are required to be courteous and civil in the process of
performing their duties. It has also been restricted for the journalists to plagiarize or sedition
along with accusing someone baselessly and bribing someone in some form or other for the
purpose of performing their task. On the basis of this journalist ethics it can be clearly
established that “baseless accusations” are prevented from performed on the part of investigative
journalists in the process of conducting their report (Ismail, 2013). Though such ethics of
journalism have certain advantages associated with it, as it prevents disseminating wrong
information among the citizens however, it also acts as challenge for the investigative reporters
from making revelations to the audience. It is because of the fact that on the basis of these ethics
the information disseminated by the journalists can be challenged under the ground of “baseless
accusations”. In case these revelations cannot be established by the journalists with required

prove it will be equivalent to violation of Ethics of Journalism acting as a challenge for
investigative journalists.
The challenge and difficulty level of investigative reporting further increases in a country like
that of Malaysia wherein the journalists are required to be function under different restrictions of
the country’s laws and regulations. To get in depth of the matter, reports and journalists in
Malaysia are bounded by legislations like Internal Security Acts 1967. The legislation got
terminated in the year 2012. The presence of such acts makes it difficult for the journalists to
operate (Chibundu, 2007). The presence of such legislation played a major role in the process of
practice of investigative journalist. Under the particular legislation, any reporting of military
activities without any kind of permission is considered to be breach of the legislation due to
which the particular journalist is punishable by imprisonment. Under the legislation it has been
further stated that anything which is considered to be undesirable on the part of the government
cannot be covered by journalists. This, results in not only preventing the journalists from
providing any kind of information on military activities to the citizens but any kind of military
activities undertaken by the government that is against the interest of the citizen cannot be
informed to the citizen under the legislation (Ihediwa and Ihediwa, 2011). The above made
discussion also helps in representing the challenges in practicing investigative journalism in
Malaysia, due to the presence of such legislations that restricts the functioning of journalist in the
nation.
On the termination of the legislation, new media laws got introduced in the nation which was
assumed to have enhanced level of toleration associated with freedom of investigative journalism
practices. In order to replace Internal Security Act, Security Offenses (Special Measures) Act
2012 [SOSMA] got introduced. Under the particular legislation, as stated by the then Home
Minister of the nation that journalist will be still provided to detention without trial, however the
process associated with appeal of court will be easier for the journalist to ask for, and effect and
detention period will be shorter (Ismail, 2009). This resulted in tension between the media
practitioners due to the lack of balance between the rights of the accused and safeguarding of
national security. Thus, it will not be wrong to state that the government of Malaysia is still
having control and regulation of the information and stories disseminated to the citizens that may
impact their interests. The only condition required for effective functioning of media in a nation

is unrestrained and free scope of operation of the press which would allow the media to expose
any kind of deception on the part of the government or any issues against the interest of citizens
of the nation. In context to Malaysia, the presence of rules, ethics, laws and regulations are some
of the factors which restrict the journalists from practicing investigative journalism and reveal to
the citizens any kind of deceptive acts on the part of the government (Ismail at al., 2017). On the
part of the government it is stated that the sole purpose of formation of these rules, laws, ethics
and regulations was to protect the security of the nation and preserve the peace state of the
nation. In other words, it can be stated that any articles or news which may result in disturbance
and chaos, officially, in such cases, the national security is considered to be under threat.
However, due to formation of these laws, ethics, regulations and rules for the purpose of
preserving national security results in limitation of the news on the part of practitioners of
investigative journalism. In this context, there is another scenario which is also required to be
mentioned. As already stated the motive behind the formation of the ethics, legislation, rules and
regulations that restricts the practitioners from performing investigative journalism is to preserve
the nation security and peace (Buniamin et al., 2010). However, it results in highlighting only
certain portion of these important aspects on the part of the press. This may result in having a
biased perspective to the total scenario on the part of the readers the consequence of which may
be conclusion and interpretations of the scenario which does not take into consideration all the
aspects of the situation. From this perspective, the emphasis on the part of the government to
preserve national peace and security with the help of policies, ethics and legislation that hinders
performing investigative journalism fails in having much signification and implication associated
with it.
On analyzing the scenario of investigative journalists in Malaysia, it has been observed that
extent to which performing rightful ethics and standards of journalism impacts upon their
credibility. In this context it is mentionable here that ethics have been formed for the journalists
to perform their duties in the right way. In reality, however, it has been observed as one of the
major challenged experienced on the part of the practitioners of investigative journalism. There
has been a wide range of impact on the media practitioners and their credibility (George, 2007).
This can be very well established with the help of the incident of October 27th 1987, the year
which is considered as one of the fearful blackest histories for the media practitioners in
Malaysia. This incident witnessed the arrest of 106 persons under Internal Security Act. The

statement of the Malaysian police in the scenario was they took such initiative in order to prevent
the occurrence of racial riots. On the very same day two important daily newspaper- Sin Chew
Jit Poh and The Star faced the impact of Internal Security Act effects, under the act the
publishing licenses of the organization was revoked (Netto, 2007). The basis of revoking this
company’s publishing was the content of these newspapers disturbed the security of the nation.
Some of the detainees in this situation were social activities and journalists.
Referring to the above discussed situation, in the present situation of investigative journalism in
UK, it is the presence of fear culture towards the regulations and laws among the media
practitioners which results in impacting the content of the investigative reports towards the
public. This, clearly reflects the adverse impact and challenges experienced on the part of the
media professionals practicing investigative journalism. Another significant aspect creating
challenge on the part of professionals practicing investigative journalism is the aspect of
ownership (Kim, 2007). To get in depth of the matter, the news agencies the ownership of which
lies in the hand of government, in these cases, the government are observed to have their own
favorable investigative news stories, most of which preferred preventing the disclosure of the
government relation information which may impact its image adversely. Thus, it clearly puts
forward the fact that concentrated ownership is among the major reasons and major challenges
for investigative journalists to let their investigative articles getting published. The main reason
behind this being, the shares of these media houses are mostly owned by individuals having
authority and power. On the basis of the above discussed fact it can be inferred that the
concentration of media ownership in the hand of a particular section of the society have
significant impact on the content that are broadcasted and printed in the media which is also
applicable in case of investigative journalism (Anuar, 2007). Basing on the above made
discussion it can be inferred that good governance can only be present within a society wherein,
the society demonstrates a system in which there is ample scope of intercommunication between
the society and the government which gets included in the process of enhancing and developing
a country. In context to Malaysia, the presence of ethics, laws, rules and regulations which are
formed with the purpose of preserving the security and peace of the nation results in limiting and
restricting the functioning of investigative journalism in Malaysia. As a result of this issue
another issue which crops up for journalists practicing investigative journalism is, the presence
of these laws and regulations forces the journalists and reporters to practice self-censorship. The

reason of performing of self-censorship to such a large scale on the part of journalism in a
country like Malaysia is for the purpose of protecting themselves from being accused of anti-
government charges (George, 2007).. It is due to this reason, in media houses in Malaysia, the
sub-editors rewrite the report for the purpose of toning down controversial issues. In certain
cases, the self-censorship goes to such an extent in which the sub-editors turn deaf ear to the
needs and grievances of the people.
Another mentionable challenge experienced on the part of journalist all over the world is
associated with the development of internet and technology. To elaborate the issue further, the
main duty of a journalist is towards truthfulness followed by their duty towards the citizens to
provide them with disciplined verifications. The emergence of medium of news distribution in
this context poses a challenge to the above discussed aspect with the help of Face book, Youtube
and Twitter (Spark, 2012). The emergence of such varied means of information dissemination
results in compromising with the verification of the presented news. Due to the presence of
citizen media channel the credibility of investigative journalists can be distorted. This is because
of the fact that the news presented to the audience by investigative journalist may be in contrary
to the information received by the audience with the help of social media. Thus, in such
situation, the information which are disseminated to the readers with the help of social media,
which are comparatively quick means of disseminating information at a larger scale result in
framing a mindset of the readers prior than they receive the report of the investigative journalists.
This is also observed to be a major challenge for the investigative journalists internationally to
provide the readers with authentic information (Nain & Kim, 2007). Thus, in Malaysia, the
combination of the above discussed factors results in creating challenge for reporters practicing
investigative journalism.
A significant factor that is required to be discussed here is the reason of difference of the extent
to which investigative journalism is practiced in developed nations like that of USA as compared
to the developing nations like Malaysia. To briefly state the factor for difference of the extent to
which investigative journalism is practiced in Malaysia as compared to developed nations, the
major reason is freedom of press. It can be clearly observed from the freedom of press report of
2012 that Malaysia in terms of freedom of press status it is not free. On the contrary, in case of
USA which is a developed nation it has achieved the status of free in regards to freedom of press.

This is one of the major points of difference resulting in practice of investigative to an increased
level in developed countries like that of USA while in case of Malaysia due to the absence of
freedom of press the media professionals fails in practicing investigative journalism in an
effective manner. In addition to the above discussed aspect, there are other factors associated
with freedom of press like legal environment in which the media operates. In this context USA
scores 6/30 whereas Malaysia scores 26/30 [in which 0 represents best and 30 represents worst]
(Freedomhouse, 2017). To get in depth of the matter, USA as a nation is one of the strongest
system in the world in terms of providing legal protection for independence of media. The USA
Constitution provides and protects freedom of speech and press which makes the legal
environment of USA an apt one for the functioning of investigative journalists. On the contrary
in case of Malaysia, though Article 10 of the constitution guarantees freedom of expression but
in the legislation there are various limitations imposed as well, which have been stated in the
above made discussed that not only impacts the legal environment of the nation adversely but
also makes the functioning of investigative journalists a comparatively difficult one. Similarly
the score of Malaysia in the aspect of political environment also reflects ineffective political
environment with the score of 24/40 that in case of USA is 10/40 that reflects comparatively,
significant performance. Such significant difference in the score of political environment
between USA and Malaysia is because of the fact that in Malaysia the government works
towards protecting government information and reflects its views. It is because of this fact its
refrains from direct online censorship under CMA Section 3(3) (Freedomhouse, 2017). In
context to Malaysia it has been further noticed that various websites were blocked by the
authority under the above discussed legislation. On the contrary in USA self-censorship
performed by journalists is rarely observed which is common in Malaysia. Other than that offline
censorship is absent in USA. These are the factors that resulted in successful political
environment in USA which was not the case in Malaysia. The press freedom score of Malaysia is
also as low as 67/100, whereas in case of USA the scenario is completely opposite with a score
of 21/100. Other than that the prevalence of investigative journalism bureaus in these developed
nations that are funded by subscription and donations like ProPublica which are not at same scale
in developing countries like Malaysia is another factor impacting the performance of
investigative journalism in Malaysia as compared to developed nations (Lashmar, 2011). Thus
the combination of the above discussed aspects impacted the press freedom status of Malaysia

which is not the case in developed nations like USA, which is mainly due to the freedom
provided to the media by the government in the nation.
Conclusion
On the basis of the above discussed aspect it can be stated that in Malaysia, the presence of
ethics, laws, rules and regulations formulated by the government are the main factors impacting
the practice of investigative journalism in Malaysia. It is due to the fact that, these rules
regulations are designed in a manner, which the government states, is it preserve national peace
and security but n reality it restricts the reports performing investigative journalism.

References
Anuar, M. K. (2007). Malaysian media and democracy. Media Asia, 27(4), 183-199.
Buniamin, S., Alrazi, B., Johari, N. H., & Rahman, N. R. A. (2010). An investigation of the
association between corporate governance and environmental reporting in Malaysia. Asian
Journal of Business and Accounting, 1(2).
Chibundu, I. S. (2007). Investigative Journalism in Malaysia: A Study of Two English Language
Newspapers (Doctoral dissertation, Jabatan Pengajian Media, Fakulti Sastera dan Sains Sosial,
Universiti Malaya).
Freedomhouse. (2017). Malaysia. [online] Available at:
https://freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-press/2016/malaysia [Accessed 12 Sep. 2017].
Freedomhouse. (2017). United States. [online] Available at:
https://freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-press/2016/united-states [Accessed 12 Sep. 2017].
George, C. (2007). Contentious journalism and the Internet: Towards democratic discourse in
Malaysia and Singapore. NUS Press.
George, C. (2007). Media in Malaysia: Zone of contention. Democratization, 14(5), 893-910.
Hamid, N. A., Ishak, M. S., & Maharan, N. G. (2015). Empowering Citizen Media Through
Investigative Journalism In Malaysia. Jurnal Komunikasi, Malaysian Journal of Communication,
31(2).
Ihediwa, S. and Ihediwa, S. (2011). Investigative Journalism in Malaysia: A study of two English
Language Newspapers. [online] ipedr. Available at: http://www.ipedr.com/vol5/no1/41-
H00089.pdf [Accessed 12 Sep. 2017].
Ismail, A. (2013). Exploring the strengths and limitations of development journalism in Malaysia
(Doctoral dissertation).
Ismail, A., Ahmad, M. K., & Mustaffa, C. S. (2017). Investigative Journalism in Malaysia: The
Battle Between Outside and Inside Newsroom Challenges. In SHS Web of Conferences (Vol. 33,
p. 00079). EDP Sciences.
Ismail, A., Zin, S., & Rahman, S. A. (2009). Evaluating the state of investigative journalism in
Malaysia from practitionners' perspectives (pp. 1-21). UUM COLGIS Universiti Utara
Malaysia.
Kim, W. L. (2007). Media and democracy in Malaysia. Javnost-The Public, 8(2), 67-88.

Lashmar, P. (2011). The Future of Investigative Journalism: reasons to be cheerful. [online]
openDemocracy. Available at:
https://www.opendemocracy.net/ourkingdom/paul-lashmar/future-of-investigative-journalism-
reasons-to-be-cheerful [Accessed 12 Sep. 2017].
Nain, Z., & Kim, W. L. (2007). Ownership, control and the Malaysian media. Who Owns the
Media. Penang: Southbound, 249-270.
Netto, A. (2007). Media freedom in Malaysia: The challenge facing civil society. Media Asia,
29(1), 17-23.
Spark, D. (2012). Investigative reporting: A study in technique. Taylor & Francis.