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Malaysian government plans for a media council to enforce by law journalists compliance with a code of ethics have moved ahead with a second round of discussions yesterday between editors and journalists and the attorney-general (AG) and his team.

The governments moves are described as part of reforms in the name of press freedom, following on from the prime ministers announcement in September to end annual newspaper licences.

In April, amendments to the Printing Press and Publications Act (PPPA) replaced annual licences with a one-off licence good until cancelled, and slightly curbed the home ministers powers over the press, opening his decisions to challenge in court.

However, these reforms do not move Malaysia forward towards greater press freedom but merely return to the regime of control that had existed before 1988, and before Operasi Lalang.

(That was when the Mahathir government, locked in a vicious internal power struggle over the proceeds of privatisation, locked up dissidents and critics and closedThe Star, WatanandSin Chew Jit Poh. They were allowed to re-open six months later, under stringent conditions.)

The April amendments to the PPPA merely restored thestatus quo ante. The difference is that press editors agreed to submit to self-regulation in return for withdrawal of annual publishing licences and the government has expanded the scope of self-regulation to include broadcasters and online media.

A new regime of media control is thus taking shape, and journalists are being co-opted into this process by being part of the governments consultations. These discussions are expected to include the mechanisms of the new regime: how to control, who to control, and how to punish.

Although the government views this favourably as self-regulation, control of the media lies at the heart of the governments as yet unseen proposals, and editors and journalists have become part of the process.

It is common knowledge that:

Public backlash anticipated

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A new regime of media control taking shape