journalism
say hi to Chen Yi Ling
Yes, that's me. My Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin name is just that.
In 2010, it was illegal to associate with Raja Petra Kamarrudin, the editor of Free Malaysia Today, who broke the story of then-Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak and his link to the brutal murder of a Mongolian translator. I wrote for Malaysiakini from London under this name to avoid repercussions.
I am grateful to have met to have met individuals from Amnesty International in London who connected me to Anwar Ibrahim, who was then a heavily persecuted opposition leader. Today Anwar Ibrahim finally leads Malaysia as Prime Minister, after a hard fought battle. And I am happy to step out as Chen Yi Ling.
Anwar drums up support in London
Anwar Ibrahim's visit to London will draw more support from the British Parliament and also likely coalesce more sympathy for him and international pressure against the Malaysian government
Mar 21, 2010
RPK emerges from hiding in London
On a warm and sunny Saturday afternoon, Malaysians, political observers and members of the media streamed into BPP Law School in London to listen to iconic political blogger Raja Petra Kamarrudin, popularly known by his initials, RPK.Raja Petra walked into the theatre to a good 10 seconds or so of applause from a crowd that filled up the backseats of the lecture theatre.
May 23, 2010
Justice served in 'racial prejudice' case
The Hong Kong Hospital Authority has agreed to pay a substantial but undisclosed sum in final settlement of legal action brought by the widower of Indian Malaysian lawyer Harinder Veriah 10 years ago.
Apr 5, 2010
Sodomy II under pressure from London
Some London-based Malaysians have started an online campaign to lobby British MPs into exerting pressure on Putrajaya to drop all charges against Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim.
Mar 27, 2010
What makes us different?
Insensitive Coverage of Missing Jet Sparks Twitter Backlash
by Julienne Chan
published by Asian Correspondent
highlighted by the Pew Research Centre
The mystery of the second missing flight of 2014, AirAsia’s QZ8501 was put to rest after the search mission discovered bodies and debris floating in the Java Sea.
The plane had crashed. Debris clumped together with life jackets on the sea. Floating bodies were spotted.
The eyes of the world were brought along on the search mission on the 30th of December 2014, with live camera feed from Indonesia’s TV One.
Anxious relatives watching Indonesia’s TV One were hysterical as they were confronted with live footage of unidentified bodies floating on the Java Sea broadcasted on Indonesian TV One.
Indonesian TV One accompanied search efforts for missing AirAsia flight QZ8501 and its viewers were amongst the first to have seen the bodies.
The camera zoomed in onto the floating body of a woman in her underwear.
https://twitter.com/tomphillipsin/status/549873041828622336
'Suddenly I imagined my son in the water like that. I lost all my hope' - Witjaksono who lost his boy to #QZ8051
A relative collapsed after watching news about the unidentified body floating in the Java Sea. Unpixelated, the footage of the bodies were in focus.
On Twitter, the outrage was immediate with many condemning the complete disregard of next-of-kin’s feelings and the lack of respect shown to those who perished in the crash.
https://twitter.com/CamJourno/status/549857991194083328
Appalled@ IndonesianTV for airing graphic images of #AirAsia8501 victims, +those tweeting details of state of their bodies. Have respect ppl
https://twitter.com/ArifRahimi98/status/549854997593067520
"@Dexedrine50mg: #QZ8501 has been found! pic.twitter.com/JKYwkvO5pM" NOT FUNNY AT ALL , SHOW SOME RESPECT
The spilt screen video-editing of the floating body next to shocked next-of-kin felt calculated.
One twitter user @kixes called it a mix of “grief porn” and “death porn”.
https://twitter.com/MatthewKeysLive/status/549861116642197505
Callous: TV One shows floating body from #QZ8501 in split screen with reaction from grieving families -
https://twitter.com/zdaniel/status/549843464540540928
Please consider tempering discussion of the #AirAsia8501 recovery effort. Yes, it will be awful, graphically so. Consider loved ones.
Indonesian TV One later apologised for airing the footage. TV One’s subsequent coverage of recovery of the bodies from the Java Sea were pixelated.
https://twitter.com/mbachelard/status/549842554796007425
TV One has apologised to families for showing graphic image of floating, near naked body. The image prompted hysterical scenes from bereaved
News outlets that streamed live feed from Indonesian TVOne, such as Channel NewsAsia also broadcasted the graphic footage of the bodies.
Facebook user Pei Jansen called it “journalism at its worst, worst ever”.
Her facebook status read “I cannot believe nor accept in this day and age, we have journalism stoop to that low a level by showing images of floating dead bodies on live TV while grieving hopeful family members are watching. Following which, several online news sites went on to post stills and photos of those images. Really awful and demonstrates journalism at its worst, worst ever. My deepest sympathy goes to families of victims of the Air Asia flight.
The news about the missing flight QZ8501 had dominated headlines internationally, and the process of live feeds and tweets calls into question the role of the editor.
https://twitter.com/kixes/status/549839308606013440
Even if Indonesian TV is showing images of bodies floating in the water (which they shouldn't) other outlets don't need to share it. #QZ8501
https://twitter.com/alansoon/status/549838043696226304
Can all the media covering #QZ8501 stop showing photos of floating bodies on Twitter?
Many in the media industry would argue that news is often harsh, and that the camera never lies.
In a 24 hour news cycle, the pressure to provide breaking news can lead to blunt editorial decisions.
Short term gains in terms of ratings hike with the use of sensational footage will undermine a news outlet’s reputation in the long run.
https://twitter.com/brianoflondon/status/549902944028860416
Note to media: just because you can show live pictures of bodies being pulled out of the sea doesn’t mean you have to. #QZ8501
https://twitter.com/AlfredLam/status/549989350273200128
Reminder to all journalists covering disasters like Flight #QZ8501: Pls protect families' privacy & victims' dignity at this difficult time.
In this case where live footage of floating bodies were shown to grieving relatives, the traumatic cost of sensational journalism are born by the vulnerable and the fragile.
The media’s power to be at the frontlines of breaking stories comes with certain responsibilities. It is the editor’s responsibility to balance the human need to know, with sensitivity and compassion.
