Promote a free and independent media

Free media essential for democracy

Home Minister Syed Hamid Albar’s decision to approve the permit to allow an Opposition party to publish its own newspaper is a positive sign for more press freedom in the country.Syed Albar is absolutely right in saying that we need press freedom in order for us to have a check and balance of the Government. In this regards it is timely for him to review the Printing Press and Publications Act and boldly implement his plans to issue the license only once upon application and do away with the annual renewal of a permit.

Apart from giving permits to political parties to have their own newspapers it is also important for the mainstream media not be owned or controlled by any political party. The mainsream media is the media of the masses. They should be allowed to be truly independent so as to enable them to be run professionally and ethically without undue harassment by their political masters.

Their reports must be based on real facts and not one-sided, favoring a particular party. The recent elections had shown how grossly lopsided reporting by the mainstream media had brought defeat instead of victory for the ruling party.

The mainstream media should be not be a one way channel for the government to get its message across to the people but it should also be an important channel for the people to provide their ideas and feedback to the government. These feedbacks, especially the critical ones, should be encouraged so that the government is kept aware of its shortcomings and the real situation on the ground.

The government can have all the sophisticated statistical indices to measure its successes but the most important is the satisfaction of the people and the best way to gauge that is through the feedback from the them. The mainstream media should play its rightful role in transmitting the true feelings of the people without bias.

With the tremendous advancements in Information and Communication Technology, the people today readily have the access to the alternate media such as the internet,E-mail, blogging and SMS. These are not only cheap but dissemination of information through them is almost instant. We have reached a stage where we can contact anybody at anytime without any hassle.

These alternate means of communications have become the more important means of obtaining news for the younger generation and they are going to replace the mainstream media as the provider of accurate and unbiased information if the latter does not rise up to their expectations.

The government should not exert absolute and indiscriminate control over the media, mainstream and alternate, but use them positively so that all citizens can use them as channels to contribute their ideas and feedback that are so essential in nation-building. A free and independent media is essential for the proper functioning of democracy.

Dr.Chris Anthony