Malaysian Media and Democracy

Abstract

From the perspective of communication, democracy entails the freedom of citizens to articulate their views in the public domain. It provides them the opportunity to exercise their right to engage in a discussion or debate, and to offer criticisms that collectively contribute to the common good of a society. This public dialogue is crucial to the notion of citizens partaking of a decisionmaking process in a thriving democracy.It is in this context that the role of the mass media becomes prominent because they are expected to provide the necessary platform for public discourse. However, in order for citizens to express themselves adequately, it is important that they all have easy and equal access to the supposedly free and responsible media. In other words, there should be sufficient media of public communication that can cater to the needs of every community, class or group in the society concerned.If this is what it takes to bolster democracy, then countries such as Malaysia have indeed made significant progress. The mass media of newspapers, magazines and broadcasting stations in Malaysia have made tremendous strides over the last two decades or so in terms of quantity of publications and broadcasting stations, and the sophistication of information and communications technology used.However, a close scrutiny of Malaysia’s mass media, however, would reveal that all is not that rosy, given the pattern of media ownership and control, the laws governing the media, and the political and social environment in the country. If anything, freedom of expression and the citizens’ democratic right to exchange views has been severely restricted over the years. This paper attempts to examine developments in the mass media in the larger context of national politics, social and economic development, and the country’s democratic process.