Website gives voters access to electoral 'hot spots'
Updated 17 April 2013, 22:50 AEST
Journalists work on their stories at a news website Malaysiakini office in Kuala Lumpur. (Credit: AFP)
A leading Malaysian news website is delivering its
content for free during the country's election period, saying it wants
to 'reach all voters'.
Malaysiakini, a subscription-based news agency, says it is important that all Malaysians have access to a free, independent news source that is not government-controlled.
Malaysiakini says it expects about one million readers to view its coverage of the election.
Founder and chief executive officer Premesh Chandran has told Radio Australia's Asia Pacific the news site will cover all the electoral 'hot spots', giving viewers a ringside seat to the campaign.
CHANDRAN: We really want Malaysiakini to maximise its reach to all voters. We want voters to be able to read contents of Malaysiakini, before they vote. Particularly because know that the traditional media - print and broadcast - are very much controlled by the government and political parties affiliated with the government. And so, we feel that we want to voters access to alternative information before they vote.
LAM: And aside from providing a public information service in the lead up to GE13 (13th general election), you're also preparing for possible attacks on Malaysiakini's servers during the election campaign - can you tell more about this?
CHANDRAN: For the past two to three years, we've been attacked on a regular basis, particularly doing big events, like political rallies, or state elections or by-elections. But even so, even on a regular basis, every week we have different types of attacks against us. So it's much easier for us to defend the site, when the content is distributed free as opposed to when the content is under a subscription wall. It also allows us to distribute content onto Facebook, to Twitter, to other platforms, and direct our readers to those platforms, to read Malaysiakini, without actually anything from being behind a subscription wall.
LAM: And do you have any idea who might be behind these attacks?
CHANDRAN: It's hard to tell. Basically people who don't want Malaysiakini to be accessible during this critical period.
LAM: What do you say to the charge in some quarters, that Malaysiakini is exceedingly friendly to the (Malaysian) Opposition?
CHANDRAN: Malaysiakini tries its best to give both sides of the story - often we try to speak to government leaders about their perspectives, but often they're not forthcoming. For example, there's a big debate by civil society, and they invited both the ruling Barisan Nasional, as well as the Opposition (Pakatan Rakyat) to present their manifestos, but again, only the Opposition accepted the offer and are coming.
So in many cases, when we reach out to the government, they're hesitant to answer our questions - indeed, our questions are difficult to answer, and that's perhaps why they shy away from working with us. In the last few days, they've banned all online portals from attending their press conferences. It's not so much that we're biased, but they (the government) are actually refusing to engage with online media. And that's why this perception is created.
We do carry stories from Bernama, the national news service. We also report what's already been reported in the traditional media, in newspapers. It may be secondary news, but we try our best to present that information. Obviously there're some contacts within government who will speak with us - sometimes on record, sometimes off-record - so we also include those views in our stories.
LAM: From the response of readers to GE13, do you think they're fully engaged, is there an impression of ownership, that these are the 'people's elections', that they have a stake here?
CHANDRAN: Definitely, GE13 will be the most decisive election in our history. For the first time, there's a real chance that a coalition other than the incumbent, will win power. So for a whole generation of people, this election is very meaningful, and they'll express their views and engage in this political drama. And Malaysiakini would like to cater for those views. It's a very interesting time for the country. Elections have been called for a couple of years, and been building up dramatically over the years. I'm not sure what will happen after the election, especially if there's no change of government. But definitely, it's a period of very high political engagement.
LAM: Malaysiakini is one of the pioneers of online news coverage, fearless news coverage (in Malaysia). How influential do you think is the internet and social media on Malaysian politics and indeed, Malaysian voters today?
CHANDRAN: Statistically, they believe internet penetration is about sixty to seventy percent - 70 percent of voters will be accessing information online. Even online, you get a variety of sources, both pro-government and anti-government and independent sources. But definitely much more dynamic than traditional media. So I think that most people will be going online and trying to get information online from various sources, and interacting online. So I think the online media will have a major impact in all parts of the country - definitely in urban areas, and may be less in rural areas, but still there'll be an impact even in rural areas.
LAM: The Najib government a couple of years ago, amended the Printing Presses Act to free up the media - has that had an impact on how you operate?
CHANDRAN: Actually, that's not true. The traditional media is controlled as previously. The only little amendment is that if you're already in print or broadcasting, you don't need to renew your licence every year. But there's been no amendment to allow new entrants into the market. That is why traditional media is very much controlled by the government. The online media is very much more open and dynamic, but there's been very little change in traditional media.
LAM: And Premesh, how many people read Malaysiakini?
CHANDRAN: Yesterday we had about 500,000 readers. Today, after going free, we expect to hit close to a million readers per day.
LAM: And very briefly, tell us about Malaysiakini's coverage of GE13?
CHANDRAN: Malaysiakini will be covering all the major electoral hot spots - Johor, Negeri Sembilan in the southern part of Malaysia may see a transition. Very, very distinct. Penang, of course, Selangor, being the national heartland of the country. We'll be focussing on these major battlegrounds.
Malaysiakini, a subscription-based news agency, says it is important that all Malaysians have access to a free, independent news source that is not government-controlled.
Malaysiakini says it expects about one million readers to view its coverage of the election.
Founder and chief executive officer Premesh Chandran has told Radio Australia's Asia Pacific the news site will cover all the electoral 'hot spots', giving viewers a ringside seat to the campaign.
CHANDRAN: We really want Malaysiakini to maximise its reach to all voters. We want voters to be able to read contents of Malaysiakini, before they vote. Particularly because know that the traditional media - print and broadcast - are very much controlled by the government and political parties affiliated with the government. And so, we feel that we want to voters access to alternative information before they vote.
LAM: And aside from providing a public information service in the lead up to GE13 (13th general election), you're also preparing for possible attacks on Malaysiakini's servers during the election campaign - can you tell more about this?
CHANDRAN: For the past two to three years, we've been attacked on a regular basis, particularly doing big events, like political rallies, or state elections or by-elections. But even so, even on a regular basis, every week we have different types of attacks against us. So it's much easier for us to defend the site, when the content is distributed free as opposed to when the content is under a subscription wall. It also allows us to distribute content onto Facebook, to Twitter, to other platforms, and direct our readers to those platforms, to read Malaysiakini, without actually anything from being behind a subscription wall.
LAM: And do you have any idea who might be behind these attacks?
CHANDRAN: It's hard to tell. Basically people who don't want Malaysiakini to be accessible during this critical period.
LAM: What do you say to the charge in some quarters, that Malaysiakini is exceedingly friendly to the (Malaysian) Opposition?
CHANDRAN: Malaysiakini tries its best to give both sides of the story - often we try to speak to government leaders about their perspectives, but often they're not forthcoming. For example, there's a big debate by civil society, and they invited both the ruling Barisan Nasional, as well as the Opposition (Pakatan Rakyat) to present their manifestos, but again, only the Opposition accepted the offer and are coming.
So in many cases, when we reach out to the government, they're hesitant to answer our questions - indeed, our questions are difficult to answer, and that's perhaps why they shy away from working with us. In the last few days, they've banned all online portals from attending their press conferences. It's not so much that we're biased, but they (the government) are actually refusing to engage with online media. And that's why this perception is created.
We do carry stories from Bernama, the national news service. We also report what's already been reported in the traditional media, in newspapers. It may be secondary news, but we try our best to present that information. Obviously there're some contacts within government who will speak with us - sometimes on record, sometimes off-record - so we also include those views in our stories.
LAM: From the response of readers to GE13, do you think they're fully engaged, is there an impression of ownership, that these are the 'people's elections', that they have a stake here?
CHANDRAN: Definitely, GE13 will be the most decisive election in our history. For the first time, there's a real chance that a coalition other than the incumbent, will win power. So for a whole generation of people, this election is very meaningful, and they'll express their views and engage in this political drama. And Malaysiakini would like to cater for those views. It's a very interesting time for the country. Elections have been called for a couple of years, and been building up dramatically over the years. I'm not sure what will happen after the election, especially if there's no change of government. But definitely, it's a period of very high political engagement.
LAM: Malaysiakini is one of the pioneers of online news coverage, fearless news coverage (in Malaysia). How influential do you think is the internet and social media on Malaysian politics and indeed, Malaysian voters today?
CHANDRAN: Statistically, they believe internet penetration is about sixty to seventy percent - 70 percent of voters will be accessing information online. Even online, you get a variety of sources, both pro-government and anti-government and independent sources. But definitely much more dynamic than traditional media. So I think that most people will be going online and trying to get information online from various sources, and interacting online. So I think the online media will have a major impact in all parts of the country - definitely in urban areas, and may be less in rural areas, but still there'll be an impact even in rural areas.
LAM: The Najib government a couple of years ago, amended the Printing Presses Act to free up the media - has that had an impact on how you operate?
CHANDRAN: Actually, that's not true. The traditional media is controlled as previously. The only little amendment is that if you're already in print or broadcasting, you don't need to renew your licence every year. But there's been no amendment to allow new entrants into the market. That is why traditional media is very much controlled by the government. The online media is very much more open and dynamic, but there's been very little change in traditional media.
LAM: And Premesh, how many people read Malaysiakini?
CHANDRAN: Yesterday we had about 500,000 readers. Today, after going free, we expect to hit close to a million readers per day.
LAM: And very briefly, tell us about Malaysiakini's coverage of GE13?
CHANDRAN: Malaysiakini will be covering all the major electoral hot spots - Johor, Negeri Sembilan in the southern part of Malaysia may see a transition. Very, very distinct. Penang, of course, Selangor, being the national heartland of the country. We'll be focussing on these major battlegrounds.
No comments:
Post a Comment