The proposed merger of two major Malaysian newspaper groups has drawn fire from activists who say it will tighten the ruling party's hold over the media and deal a blow to press freedom.
The New Straits Times Press (NSTP) and Utusan Melayu Berhad Friday suspended trade in their shares ahead of what they said was a "material announcement" to be made on Monday.
Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi has confirmed talks are underway to create what would be the country's largest media company.
The Kuala Lumpur-based Centre for Independent Journalism said the merger would curtail media freedoms which are already severely limited in Malaysia.
"There are two major concerns. One is the increasing concentration of media ownership in Malaysia as a general concern," said its executive director Sonia Randhawa.
"The other is the increasing direct political control the merger brings with it," she told AFP.
Malaysia's largest media conglomerate, Media Prima, holds a 43 percent stake in NSTP, which publishes the influential English daily the New Straits Times, and the Malay-language Berita Harian.
Media Prima has embarked on an aggressive acquisition of media companies and now owns all four of Malaysia's private free-to-air television channels, two radio networks and the country's largest outdoor advertiser.
State-linked entities, including the government's Employees Provident Fund, are major shareholders in the company - whose outlets rarely stray far from the government line.
Rival Utusan Melayu is majority-owned by the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) which has ruled Malaysia for 50 years since independence from Britain. It has a stable of Malay-language publications including the Utusan Malaysia daily, which has long identified with the concerns of the nation's majority Malays.
The Bangkok-based Southeast Asian Press Alliance said the merger would see UMNO become a direct stakeholder in most local media, through joint ownership with Media Prima.
"With UMNO at the top of this chain, controlling almost all channels of information, the media landscape does not look promising as regards diversity of opinion," it said in a statement.
"As it is, the government-controlled media have a poor record in allowing the exchange of opinions, ideas and information."
Randhawa said the move came after the media had gained a little more freedom after the departure of veteran premier Mahathir Mohamad three years ago.
"This is yet another blow for media freedom this year, with UMNO trying to rein back the space the media has clawed over the last couple of years," she said.
"If management structures are streamlined, then the political influence will be more direct and stronger, because the government will only need to deal with one pressure point instead of two," she said.
General Secretary for the National Union of Journalists Malaysia, Hong Boon How, said journalists were concerned over a lack of editorial freedom if rivals Berita Harian and Utusan Malaysia were under the same umbrella. "If you have different newspapers you may explore different angles but if you are owned by one person, anything that is critical against the particular owner may be suppressed," Hong told AFP. "If the final shareholder is UMNO, they should leave the running of the newspaper to journalists and editors rather than politicians," he added.
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