ABSTRACT
Malaysia is widely regarded as a semi-democracy, with some of her harshest critics calling the Mahathir administration an authoritarian regime (see e.g. Case, 1992; Crouch, 1996; Alatas, 1997). The ruling coalition directly and indirectly controls all the mainstream media outlets in Malaysia, and media reporting cannot be described as fair or impartial. Information Minister Tan Sri Khalil Yaakob best summed up this policy by publicly declaring that:
The Government pays for RTM’s (Radio Television Malaysia) employees and the equipment used. So whoever is in the Government get to use RTM as their mouthpiece to air their manifesto and promises during a general election . . . RTM is not interested in inviting any opposition party for interviews over its channels. This has been our practice.
