Making government look good
By Ding Jo-Ann (The Nut Graph)
WHY is the Home Ministry chiding journalists for not getting the government’s view when it is the government that frequently gives journalists the run-around or prevents journalists from writing the truth?
Ministry secretary-general Datuk Seri Mahmood Adam Mahmood reportedly advised the print media to let government agencies tell their side of the story when these agencies were being portrayed negatively. He said this during a special discussion in early November with representatives from various print media organisations.
Entahlah kenapa…
Mahmood must be unaware that government guidelines and policies restrict civil servants’ contact with the media. And from experience, government agencies make for extremely poor sources of the news especially when the media is trying to hold government accountable.
Obstacle course
Gayathry Venkiteswaran Centre for Independent Journalism executive director Gayathry Venkiteswaran highlights to The Nut Graph that civil servants are barred from speaking to the media on policies without a superior’s written approval. This is provided in Clause 17(1) of the General Orders and Administrative Guidelines which applies to all civil servants.
“Journalists frequently face a problem because of these guidelines,” says Gayathry. “If you call, then they’ll say, ‘You have to speak to the DG (director-general).’ If you speak to the DG, they might say, ‘Please speak to the secretary-general.’ If you speak to the secretary-general, he or she might say, ‘Oh, for this, you better speak to the minister.'”
It seems paradoxical for the government to urge the media to get government responses on one hand but on the other, restrict government officials from speaking about their policies and programmes to the press.
Read more at: http://www.thenutgraph.com/making-government-look-good
