| Summary: | 碩士 === 國立政治大學 === 新聞學系 === 104 === There were studies mentioning self-censorship of Chinese-language newspapers in Malaysia, but no systematic study has been conducted. This study reviews self-censorship of Chinese-language newspapers on four major factors of politics, ownership, advertising and the Chinese community, through in-depth interviews with a total of 22 journalists of four newspapers and independent media practitioners.
Media control through regulatory intervention, which already existed during the colonial period, became more apparent after Malaysia achieved independence and reached its peak during Mahathir's times. During Abdullah's and Najib's eras, media law fundamentally did not deregulate, but the rise of news media on the Internet, "casual" relaxation of political control on traditional media, coupled with the rise of opposition forces during the 2008 election and the change in public thinking, gave way to "anti government" sentiment, Chinese-language newspapers opened up in terms of freedom of speech in response to social pressure, and yet still carried out self-censorship by practicing dilution or bias. Although political news reporting experienced the maximum relaxation of self-censorship, Chinese-language newspapers still preferred highlighting official rhetoric and echoing official thinking, thereby not offending both the "market" and the "authority." The author identifies this as the bottom line of self-censorship relaxation of Chinese-language newspapers, and the bottom line varies among different topics. In terms of Chinese community's social issues, the traditional position of not undermining the image of Chinese associations was apparently loosened; in terms of advertising, Chinese-language newspapers still found to be strictly maintaining image of particular major advertisers. Relaxation of self-censorship seemed to be least on the three sensitive issues of race, religion and the royal family, as well as the interests of its owner.
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