Internet news website malaysiakini and its jailed columnist Hishamuddin Rais won the Consumers' Media Award for best practitioner in the English and Malay medium, in conjunction with the World Press Freedom Day (WPFD) Festival in Penang yesterday.

The winner of the best practitioner's award in the Chinese medium was bagged by Perspektif Pedas, an alternative magazine which was started in March 2000.

The day-long festival - jointly organised by Save Ourselves (SOS) and Suara Rakyat Malaysia (Suaram) - included a round table dialogue o­n press freedom, workshops and book launches. It drew about 50 participants including journalists and rights activists.

WPFD is observed worldwide o­n May 3 to highlight issues linked to press freedom and to remember journalists who have died in the course of duty during the year.

Strict scrutiny

SOS co-ordinator o­ng Boon Keong (right) said the Consumers' Media Award was in contrast to many such exercises where the press has been "openly bribed" by various interest groups in order to "buy" an award for themselves.

"(This) award will put media actors, including practitioners, players, users, regulators and politicians under strict scrutiny so as to give credit where it is due," he said.

"This is (done) through identifying best media actors (who struggle) for media freedom and to apportion criticism where deserved by identifying the worst actor."

Winners were selected by a panel of media practitioners, after participants voted during the festival held at the Gan Kongsi in Jalan Perak.

Malaysiakini chief executive officer Premesh Chandran (left) and Perspektif Pedas editor-in-chief Yong Kai Ping accepted the awards respectively o­n behalf of their organisations.

Hishamuddin (left) is currently serving a two-year detention order under the Internal Security Act with several Keadilan leaders for allegedly planning to topple the government through militant means. They have denied the charge. His award was collected by a representative.

Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad was named as the 'worst media actor' for the year 2002-2003.

Book prizes were awarded for 10 best essays written in English and Chinese.

Prizes worth about RM5,000 - comprising malaysiakini e-coupons, new book releases and VCDs - were sponsored by malaysiakini, book publisher and distributor Chong Thong Sin, Intelligentsia Book Agent Sdn Bhd, social reform movement Aliran, writer Lai Teck Guan and Suaram.

Press freedom

South East Asia Press Alliance spokesperson Andreas Harsono, who was invited to attend, spoke o­n the possibility of real press freedom in Malaysia.

He compared the Indonesian media situation with that in Malaysia and posed provocative questions to assess whether Malaysians were prepared for the truth.

Andreas told participants about the positive and negative impacts of press freedom in Indonesia, especially after the fall of President Suharto in 1999.

Some of the positive impacts were the abolition of licences for newspapers and the repeal of anti-press and internal security laws.

Andreas, who contributes to The Star and Thai newspaper The Nation, presented a hypothesis o­n the Malaysian scenario if there was press freedom.

"A media council would be set up, there will be more newspapers, broadcasting agencies would be dominated by the status quo, and the mainstream newspapers would still (be dominant)," he said.

"There would be a little chaos, but then it would be okay. There would also be more sectarian newspapers. Are you prepared for all this?"