TAN Sri Johan Jaaffar is, in his own words, an "orang surat khabar lama" (an old hand in the newsprint era). He has seen it all.
He is fond of expounding that “Good soldiers do not die, they just fade away. Good editors don’t die – they get fired!”
This badge of honour is proudly carried by Johan, who was removed from his post as group editor-in-chief at Utusan Melayu when Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim was sacked from his post as deputy prime minister in April 1998.
The same fate befell Datuk A Kadir Jasin (group editor-in-chief at New Straits Times Press) who was unceremoniously told to leave after another regime change at the NSTP in the same year.
PETRA News’ own chief executive, Datuk Zainul Arifin Mohamed Isa, was replaced as editor-in-chief at NST by the Najib regime in 2011.
Such are the casualties of political winds of change. And with a general election looming in our midst, we are seeing history seemingly repeating itself in the removal of NST group editor Ahmad Lokman Mansor from his post due to alleged political interference.
While the tone of the mainstream media in its reporting had become more neutral after the 14th general election when Pakatan Harapan came to power with its promise to allow for a more independent press, Johan acknowledges that we still need the mainstream media, regardless of who their paymasters are.
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“As far as the ruling elite is concerned, their control over the media is inversely proportional to their own strength. If they are in a position of strength, they tend to let loose their control over the media. But if they are under threat, they will basically strangle the press. That is worrying. That has happened before.”
How can this be prevented from ever happening again?
Does Johan expect worse things for press freedom going forward?
What can the present administration do to protect the work of journalists?
Is journalism becoming irrelevant in this age of social media, citizen journalism, and Wikileaks – and have the ruling classes come to terms with these new realities? We find out. – The Vibes, September 17, 2022
Presented by PETRA News chief executive Datuk Zainul Arifin Mohamed Isa, executive director Datuk Ahirudin Attan (better known as Rocky Bru) and editor-in-chief Terence Fernandez
Produced by Shazmin Shamsuddin, sound editing by Azim Idris and Ethan Phoon
