KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia - The Mandarin news team of state
broadcaster RTM has been 'punished' purportedly for airing an unflattering photograph
of the prime minister.
According to Chinese news reports, the RTM Mandarin
newsreader was made to read the report without any accompanying video footage
for the whole 20 minutes of the programme aired at noon today.
RTM's head of Mandarin news Tan Lee Won confirmed to
Malaysiakini about the directive banning the Mandarin news team from using any
visuals.
Tan said the directive - issued by RTM's management
yesterday - took effect today for both its Mandarin news programmes at 12pm and
8pm.
- Sources however claimed the punishment was due to the news team’s usage of a photograph of Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak in its 8pm broadcast on Tuesday.
- The image was displayed when the RTM Mandarin newsreader was reporting on Najib's successful bid in staying PKR's lawsuit against him for allegedly breaking general election spending regulations.
- The image, which was produced by Malaysiakini, showed Najib looking down solemnly, with a collage of other photographs related to 1MDB in the background, including a picture of Penang-born billionaire Jho Low.
- Following the 'punishment', the newsreaders on RTM2's noon and 8pm (photo) Mandarin news today were seen reading continuously for the whole of the programme.
- The script for the Mandarin news programme at noon was also not adjusted to deal with the absence of footage, as the newsreader made references to visuals and images which did not appear on the screen.
Meanwhile, Communications and Multimedia Minister Salleh
Said Keruak(photo) said he was not aware of any such directive coming from the
ministry level.
"I am not aware (of) any instruction from (the)
ministry," he told Malaysiakini in a text message.
Source: MK
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