Political owners cause bad journalism

Who owns the media?

• Umno owns Utusan Melayu, the publisher of Utusan Malaysia and other papers.
• Umno’s proxies own Media Prima and New Straits Times Press, publishers of the New Straits Times, Berita Harian and other papers, and owners of TV3 and all other commercial TV stations.
• The MCA owns The Star and its other media properties.
• MIC politicians or their families own Tamil Nesan, Malaysia Namban and Makkal Ossai.
• Barisan-friendly business tycoon Vincent Tan and son own The Sun
• Barisan-friendly timber tycoon Ting Hieng Kiew owns Sin Chew, Nanyang Siang Pau, China Press and Guang Ming.
• Barisan-friendly business tycoon Ananda Krishnan owns Astro, the satellite TV channel, and a monopoly on satellite television broadcasting
• Pas owns and publishes Harakah, DAP publishes the Rocket, and PKR Suara Keadilan. They are party organs.

Who controls the media?

• Businessmen, frightened of offending Umno, have control of the media’s future by choosing not to advertise in campaigning newspapers or non-BN media
• Umno politicians control the information ministry, which runs the state-owned Radio-Television Malaysia networks, the state-owned Filem Negara and the Film Censorship Board
• Umno politicians control the state-owned news agency Bernama
• Umno politicians control the home ministry, which issues yearly licences for newspapers and magazines, and controls book imports
• Umno politicians control the Multimedia Commission, which issues broadcasting licences for TV and radio stations
• Umno politicians control the home ministry, which supervises the police, which enforces the Internal Security Act, the Official Secrets Act, and the Sedition Act, which keep editors in line
• Umno politicians control the home and information ministries which jointly censor advertisements

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