Media and CSR

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) and the media go hand in hand, with the media disseminating CSR activities and information to the public. But what does CSR mean to the media industry?  Executive Director of Malaysia’s Centre for Independent Journalism (CIJ), Gayathry Venkiteswaran, shares her thoughts on CSR and the media.

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) usually means differing things from industry to industry. What does CSR mean for media businesses in Malaysia?

There could be a perception that the CSR of the media companies is to provide coverage of the poor, handicapped, and unfortunate who need money for surgery, daily expenses, etc. Some of it is necessary, mainly because these stories need to highlight the weaknesses in the socioeconomic and political systems that lead to a segment of population that does not have access to basic rights and amenities.

If we look at the Media Prima homepage (updated in 2006), for example, they list among their social responsibilities as these programmes and emphasise the patronage of VIPs and issues linked to Prime Minister’s wife. These are listed for TV3.  New Straits Times is reported for its English improvement project for the young in school, and both have promoted the Humanitarian Award, which is a positive point indeed.

The last two are areas that can be continued and expanded.

CSR usually means going beyond compliance. However, there is no code for compliance in Malaysia for the media, aside from the Printing Presses and Publications Act 1984 (PPPA) for print media. What else can media businesses do to fulfill their CSR?

I think the PPPA, for instance, is something that should be challenged because it does not encourage good journalism, what more CSR. For CSR to thrive, legal restraints for the media need to capped and adequate space  given for redress. I think, in general, because of the legal pressures through the PPPA, the Official Secrets Act 1972 (OSA) etc, most media companies indulge in light or soft issues and entertainment, where the commercial returns are greater.

Is transparency important for media businesses? Why? Do Malaysian media businesses practise this?

Most certainly important because, if we look at the news media, a bulk of the work should be to check on the powerful, be it the government, judiciary, businesses, etc. Through the media, the citizens expect these institutions to be transparent for the sake of good governance. To be effective, the media too need to be transparent, like civil society organisations.

Dr Mahathir Mohamad was famous for asking if the media were the watchdogs, who then watches the media? To me, it should be the people, the citizens, who assess how well the media has done its job. In terms of transparency of the media, most big companies comply with the routine disclosure mechanisms (for listing, company submissions like annual reports and AGM) but often decisions that involve the editorial policies are not so transparent. This has an impact on the perception of integrity of the media company.

Is it the business of media companies to ensure that advertising content / advertorials are clearly marked as such? Why (not)?

Yes, certainly. This is important to distinguish content that is paid for and where you expect that there will be some promotion, as opposed to news or features that should be impartial. Most media do mark these clearly but what we don’t see shared in a transparent manner is the extent to which commercial interests can influence editorial decisions, for example to prevent a story from being reported or to persuade a particular angle that is favourable to them. Added to this also is the implicit and sometimes explicit political endorsements of commercial services and goods that get covered in the news and features spaces and are seen as statement of truth and facts.◊

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