RTM junks another pro-people series: producer
Lee Weng KeatPublished: May 11, 2010 2:42 AM | Updated: May 11, 2010 4:31 AM
Barely a week after it axed a documentary series under its 'Galeri Mandarin Nasional' slot, RTM has apparently done the same for another series planned for that slot.
Barely a week after it axed a documentary series under its 'Galeri Mandarin Nasional' slot, RTM has apparently done the same for another series planned for that slot.
This one focused on the Rawang New Village residents' longtime protest against the construction of high-tension cable towers in their village by Tenaga Nasional Berhad.
The residents there have been protesting the construction of the towers through their village since 2005. Under the project, sixty-one houses was scheduled to be demolished.
The residents, who have the support of Selangor's Pakatan Rakyat government, have refused to budge and insist that TNB use an alternative route and land given by the state government.
'Galeri Mandarin Nasional' Rawang New Villages series was undertaken by producer Chin Hueyi and reporter Tan Ean Nee with Chou Z Lam as the co-producer. Chou was also the producer of the ‘Bakun Dam' series under the 'Galeri Mandarin Nasional' segment which was taken off the air by RTM on April 28.
'Galeri Mandarin Nasional' airs for 10 minutes from 12.20pm from Monday to Friday, right after the noon Chinese-language news broadcast.
The Sarawak ‘Bakun Dam' series received the chop after first two episodes were broadcast on April 26 and 27. The last was scheduled for May 7. Chou alleged that RTM withdrew the remaining episodes on fears they could negatively affect the ruling government's chances for success in the Sibu by-election in Sarawak on May 16.
‘Resign now'
The Rawang New Village series comprises of five episodes of ten minutes each and was scheduled to have begin broadcasting yesterday. However, Chou said RTM extended the Mandarin news broadcast to cover the 10 minutes allocated to ‘Galeri Mandarin Nasional'.
In his blog post yesterday, Chou (right) said the Rawang New Village series was put off by RTM without any prior notice or explanation.
He said this was yet another case of self-censorship by RTM and infringed on the right of the people to be heard as well as on the right of the public to know what was happening in the nation.
"I urge those who have humiliated the profession of journalism to resign from their posts in RTM and to apologise to RTM's audience as well as those who had contributed their time and effort to the production of the Rawang New Village and Bakun documentary series," he said.
Following Chou's allegations of censorship, state-owned RTM denied that had pulled out his series on the Bakun Dam because of its possible impact on the Sibu parliamentary by-election.
"RTM is free from political meddling when it comes to making decisions on shows for any of its channels," said the station's director-general of broadcasting Ibrahim Yahaya.
Ibrahim claimed that the RTM's director of the current news affairs had merely asked Chou to make his editing more ‘compact'.
"(Chou) did not want to and instead asked for a written directive. It is RTM practice to give verbal orders in its daily operations without having to put them in writing," he said.
‘Overzealous self-censorship'
Deputy Information, Communications and Culture Minister Heng Seai Kie (left) also had a different version to why the Bakun Dam series was taken off the air
She said that Chou's work only focused on the relocation problems of the native community around the dam but failed to present the views of the state government and dam builder.
Chou is yet another in a long line of journalists who have also claimed political meddling in the course of their work.
Former NTV7 producer and award-winning journalist Joshua Wong recently resigned from his position as producer of the popular talk show ‘Editor's Time' as a result of ‘overzealous self-censorship and government interference'.
His former colleague at the station Florence Looi was also recently demoted to field reporting after panelists and viewers on her show gave not-so-flattering comments on Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak's performance in his first 100 days in power.
This one focused on the Rawang New Village residents' longtime protest against the construction of high-tension cable towers in their village by Tenaga Nasional Berhad.
The residents there have been protesting the construction of the towers through their village since 2005. Under the project, sixty-one houses was scheduled to be demolished.The residents, who have the support of Selangor's Pakatan Rakyat government, have refused to budge and insist that TNB use an alternative route and land given by the state government.
'Galeri Mandarin Nasional' Rawang New Villages series was undertaken by producer Chin Hueyi and reporter Tan Ean Nee with Chou Z Lam as the co-producer. Chou was also the producer of the ‘Bakun Dam' series under the 'Galeri Mandarin Nasional' segment which was taken off the air by RTM on April 28.
'Galeri Mandarin Nasional' airs for 10 minutes from 12.20pm from Monday to Friday, right after the noon Chinese-language news broadcast.
The Sarawak ‘Bakun Dam' series received the chop after first two episodes were broadcast on April 26 and 27. The last was scheduled for May 7. Chou alleged that RTM withdrew the remaining episodes on fears they could negatively affect the ruling government's chances for success in the Sibu by-election in Sarawak on May 16.
‘Resign now'
The Rawang New Village series comprises of five episodes of ten minutes each and was scheduled to have begin broadcasting yesterday. However, Chou said RTM extended the Mandarin news broadcast to cover the 10 minutes allocated to ‘Galeri Mandarin Nasional'.
In his blog post yesterday, Chou (right) said the Rawang New Village series was put off by RTM without any prior notice or explanation.He said this was yet another case of self-censorship by RTM and infringed on the right of the people to be heard as well as on the right of the public to know what was happening in the nation.
"I urge those who have humiliated the profession of journalism to resign from their posts in RTM and to apologise to RTM's audience as well as those who had contributed their time and effort to the production of the Rawang New Village and Bakun documentary series," he said.
Following Chou's allegations of censorship, state-owned RTM denied that had pulled out his series on the Bakun Dam because of its possible impact on the Sibu parliamentary by-election.
"RTM is free from political meddling when it comes to making decisions on shows for any of its channels," said the station's director-general of broadcasting Ibrahim Yahaya.
Ibrahim claimed that the RTM's director of the current news affairs had merely asked Chou to make his editing more ‘compact'.
"(Chou) did not want to and instead asked for a written directive. It is RTM practice to give verbal orders in its daily operations without having to put them in writing," he said.
‘Overzealous self-censorship'
Deputy Information, Communications and Culture Minister Heng Seai Kie (left) also had a different version to why the Bakun Dam series was taken off the airShe said that Chou's work only focused on the relocation problems of the native community around the dam but failed to present the views of the state government and dam builder.
Chou is yet another in a long line of journalists who have also claimed political meddling in the course of their work.
Former NTV7 producer and award-winning journalist Joshua Wong recently resigned from his position as producer of the popular talk show ‘Editor's Time' as a result of ‘overzealous self-censorship and government interference'.
His former colleague at the station Florence Looi was also recently demoted to field reporting after panelists and viewers on her show gave not-so-flattering comments on Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak's performance in his first 100 days in power.
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