By Murray Hiebert in Kuala Lumpur

October 8, 1998

Frustrated by what they call biased reporting about Anwar in local newspapers and television newscasts, Malaysians are turning to alternate sources of news--anywhere they can find them. Some troll the Internet, others turn to foreign newspapers, wire-service reports and satellite TV news for updates on the biggest political crisis to rock Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad's 17-year rule. And even those without access to computers or satellite broadcasts can buy videotapes of Anwar's speeches advocating reform, made before his arrest on September 20.

The wealth of information new technology delivers is one factor that makes Anwar's challenge to the leadership of the ruling United Malays National Organization different from previous ones, when banishment from Umno spelled an immediate plunge into political obscurity. It also appears to be a source of frustration for Mahathir, who is accustomed to controlling the levers of power in Malaysia. The prime minister has accused foreign journalists of trying to engineer his downfall, while officials have blocked foreign news organizations from transmitting scenes of street demonstrations.

The Malaysian press has not ignored the Anwar story. But many Malaysians feel that it has overlooked one side--and gone overboard in reporting the other. Many express shock at the graphic accounts in the country's normally staid media describing Anwar's alleged sexual exploits in lurid detail. "I've never seen such a sordid description of things totally meant to destroy a person's credibility," says social scientist Syed Husin Ali, who heads a small opposition party. "But it seems they haven't succeeded," Husin says. "Most people don't believe it."

Malaysia's legal community worries that the detailed press coverage of Anwar's purported crimes makes a fair trial difficult. "The condemnation of any detainee through the media by the disclosure of alleged incriminating evidence would amount to a trial by the media and impede the conduct of a fair hearing in the court of law," the Bar Council warned in an official statement.

Others complain that local news organizations, all of which are linked to the ruling coalition, have abandoned efforts to report Anwar's side of the story. "Press coverage is very one-sided," says Adnan Hussein, who teaches journalism at the Science University of Penang. "We're far from Kuala Lumpur and the press isn't giving people here what they want to know about what's going on in the capital."

The Internet is providing an outlet that wasn't available during earlier political crises. "Before, officials had absolute control over the dissemination of information," says P. Ramakrishnan, editor of Aliran, a magazine published by a Penang-based social reform group. "Now the Internet is giving them a headache. There's a lot of information coming through that they're not able to rebut."

The shortage of reliable local information has also bolstered foreign news sources. "People now seem to trust foreign papers and CNN more," says Samad, the retired journalist. He compares current reporting to the days of the Emergency in the 1950s when the British colonial army was fighting communist insurgents in Malaysia. "Locals then turned to ABC and BBC when they wanted to know how many casualties there were in a battle," Samad says of the Australian and British international broadcasting services. "Today there's a honeymoon with the Asian Wall Street Journal and CNN." (The Journal, like the REVIEW, is owned by Dow Jones.)

This perception has fostered markedly differing attitudes toward the foreign and local media among Anwar supporters as well as ordinary bystanders. Moments before the huge anti-Mahathir demonstration at the national mosque on September 20, a middle-aged civil servant noticed a Malaysian journalist taking notes, and started accusing him of being "unfair" and "lopsided" in his reporting. When the journalist protested that he didn't work for the local press, the man began chatting with him enthusiastically. A week later, when a group of foreigners arrived at a demonstration at the headquarters of the Islamic party Pas, the crowd began chanting "CNBC, CNN, welcome, welcome" without even knowing the journalists' affiliation.

Mahathir has a sharply different perception of the foreign press, accusing them of spreading lies about his sacking of Anwar. "Of course, I'm remaining in power because of my family and my cronies," he declared sarcastically hours before CNBC on September 25 aired a videotape in which Anwar accused Mahathir of corruption, "and you are free to air this every half an hour because you own the media and you can tell lies to the whole world and influence the world against us."

After police had spent several days chasing street protesters with tear gas and water cannons, local TV companies stopped feeding the footage to international news channels. "All foreign broadcasts have to be flown out," says one Western TV executive. "There aren't any rules, but no one wants to do career damage by feeding foreign stuff," he says of local TV officials.