Mass media in Malaysia

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The mass media in Malaysia includes television, radio, newspapers, and web-based media such as bloggers. Many media outlets are either owned directly by the government of Malaysia (e.g. Bernama) or owned by component parties of the Barisan Nasional coalition which continuously form the government during Mahathir Mohamad's tenure until May 2018 (e.g. the Media Prima group, which is owned by the United Malays National Organisation).^[1] Opposition parties during this era like the Islamic Party and People's Justice Party publish their own newspapers, Harakah and Suara Keadilan respectively, which are openly sold alongside regular publications.

Malay language newspapers in Malaysia are often noted by scholars for their lack of analytic critique towards government policies compared to their English counterparts as far back as 1970s; one Utusan Melayu executive even remarked that "it is not the newspapers' role to check on government. The papers here are...supporters of government".^[2] Since conventional media is so tightly controlled by the government, Malaysia has a lively alternative media scene, characterised by such news portals as Malaysiakini and The Malaysian Insider which take advantage of the government's pledge not to censor the Internet despite its stranglehold on most mass media outlets.^[3]