Building an Independent Newsroom That’s a ‘Pain in the Neck’ to the Powerful, Brick by Brick

In 2003, police raided the Malaysiakini newsroom after the outlet published an anonymous letter deemed seditious by the youth wing of the ruling party. The officers demanded to know the author’s identity, and when staff refused to provide a name, police seized their computers and servers.

Within hours, around 200 supporters gathered outside the newsroom for a candlelight vigil. One reader came lugging a monitor, processing unit, and keyboard, saying that the Malaysiakini journalists needed it more than his child.

Next year Malaysiakini, a GIJN member organization, will be the co-host of the 2025 Global Investigative Journalism Conference, which will take place in Kuala Lumpur.

The team had barely recovered when they received an eviction notice ordering them to pack up the newsroom. Steven Gan, Malaysiakini’s co-founder and former editor-in-chief, said he believes their landlord faced pressure from the government as a result of their independent journalism.

In the more than two decades since it began, Malaysiakini has been slapped with government fines and all sorts of nuisance legal suits as part of the backlash to its intrepid reporting. But each time it has managed to survive.

In 2021, Malaysiakini was hit with a fine of RM 500,000 (approximately US$122,000) for contempt – not for anything the site had written – but over five comments readers had made on the site. (Readers had used the comments section to mistakenly vent against the courts after a decision by the Attorney General to discontinue the prosecution of a former senior minister for corruption.)

It was not the first time that Malaysiakini had earned the ire of the government, but still, the figure was a shock, and was seen by the team as a move to bleed the publication of financial resources and drive them out of business.

Malaysiakini again called on its readers for help. Within five hours, reader contributions ensured they had enough to cover the fine, with money to spare for the publication’s legal defense fund.

“We didn’t realize how strongly the public felt about our case,” recalls Gan.

With a long track record of speaking truth to power, and persistently covering issues that other publications avoided, Malaysiakini has long prided itself on being a thorn in the side of the powerful. For example, in early 2000s, Malaysiakini’s dogged coverage of the country’s Reformasi Movement — which called for then-Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad’s resignation — had led to him labeling the news site as “traitors” and banning their journalists from government news conferences. But years after Mahathir stepped down, he offered this assessment of the outlet: “During my time, the pain in the neck was Malaysiakini.”

Next year Malaysiakini, a GIJN member organization, will be the co-host of the 2025 Global Investigative Journalism Conference, which will take place in Kuala Lumpur.

Malaysiakini “directly and explicitly challenged the authority of the elites and gave ordinary Malaysians a safe space to express their opinions about taboo subjects like race, royalty, and religion.” — Media historian Janet Steele

“Asia has its fair share of authoritarian governments. By holding its first Global Investigative Journalism Conference in this part of the world, GIJN sends an unmistakable message to these governments that they will be held to account for their actions. Citizens in these countries are often kept in the dark — they can smell the stench of corruption but they cannot see. Our task as journalists is to turn on the light,” Gan says.

In a country where the media is tightly controlled by the government and self-censorship is a means of survival, Malaysiakini’s persistent independent journalism has earned the trust and support of its readers, created a demand for critical reporting, and changed the media landscape.

Where Independent Reporting Is ‘Revolutionary’

Gan and his co-founder Premesh Chandran started Malaysiakini as a completely digital news site in 1999. The two had worked together at Malaysian newspaper The Sun and were disillusioned by the de facto pro-government reporting in publications and stations that were either owned by the state or by political parties.

For example, the Media Prima Group, the largest media conglomerate in the country, is part-owned by figures aligned with the party that ruled the nation up until 2018. It operates TV3, the country’s most widely viewed network. Likewise, the state-owned Radio Television Malaysia (RTM) runs more than 30 radio stations and three TV channels. And opposition parties run a smattering of their own publications.

Twenty-five years ago, internet networks were dialed into, computers were clunky boxes that sat on desks, and cell phones came in the size and weight of bricks. But the government had promised not to censor the web and digital news represented an opportunity to publish critical reports, and give Malaysians a non-partisan view of the country’s political situation.

It was also a new age of political activism, marked by a wave of protests spurred by the sacking and subsequent arrest of Deputy Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim in 1998. Anwar’s dismissal, the government’s heavy-handed response to the resulting protests, and Malaysiakini’s online reporting on these political developments formed the trifecta of events that broke the government’s stronghold on information.

“Making a political impact was easy. Just with our reporting and by giving space for Malaysians to express their opinions, we were already different,” Gan explains.

During years of reporting about Malaysiakini, Janet Steele, a media historian and professor at George Washington University, has had unfettered access to its newsroom, editorial meetings, and real-time coverage of sensitive issues. She used that research, interviews with Malaysiakini staff, and the study of the publication’s operations for more than 15 years to create an ethnography of the site: “Malaysiakini and the Power of Independent Media in Malaysia.”

“At a time when we had massive restrictions, where the media was nothing but incessant propaganda, Malaysiakini was there. [I’m saying this] not because you have been kind to me — you have been tough against me, too — but as a pillar (of democracy), that is how an independent media should function.” — Prime Minister of Malaysia Ibrahim Anwar

“Malaysiakini did something badly needed,” Steele explains. “It directly and explicitly challenged the authority of the elites and gave ordinary Malaysians a safe space to express their opinions about taboo subjects like race, royalty, and religion.”

Steele had witnessed the level of self-censorship in the mainstream press, where journalists avoided stories unlikely to withstand editorial approval or that would anger the government. Instead, they would pass on stories they could not report on to their friends at Malaysiakini. When Malaysiakini was banned from meetings or left out of press conferences, other journalists would share their audio recordings.

“Malaysiakini is not pro-government or pro-opposition. They are independent. They report on everyone,” Steele notes. “It may seem simple, but in a non-democratic media environment, Malaysiakini’s independent, non-partisan reporting is truly revolutionary.”

“Their unique strength is their readers, who are proud of their support for Malaysiakini and share their vision for the future,” she added. “The idea of creating a Malaysia we want to live in, through independent journalism and freedom of expression, is inspiring and contagious.”

After Anwar’s release from prison, he went on to become the country’s prime minister in 2022, and he commended Malaysiakini for its critical reporting.

“At a time when we had massive restrictions, where the media was nothing but incessant propaganda, Malaysiakini was there. (I’m saying this) not because you have been kind to me — you have been tough against me, too — but as a pillar (of democracy), that is how an independent media should function,” Anwar said in a 2018 interview with Malaysiakini.

Malaysia’s Complicated Press Landscape  

The most recent Reporters Without Borders (RSF) World Press Freedom Index saw Malaysia drop from 73rd to 107th place, as the organization noted how the country’s government still “exerts a great deal of political pressure to deter the media from tackling sensitive subjects or from criticizing politicians and government officials.”

Malaysian online media, in particular, are also affected by a rise in restrictions imposed by the authorities. Since last year, RSF has reported an increase in the blocking of websites in Malaysia that publish information considered sensitive by the government.

“According to our respondents, this is due to an increase in topics considered ‘taboo’ within Malaysian society,” concluded Aleksandra Bielakowska, the Taipei-based advocacy manager for RSF.

“We are witnessing a concerning deterioration in press freedom and the right to information in Southeast Asia in recent years. Journalists in the region are working under increasing pressure, facing legal harassment as well as physical and online violence, which hinders their ability to report on topics of public interest,” Bielakowska tells GIJN.

In the official government response to the drop in the rankings, Malaysia’s Communications Minister Fahmi Fadzil promised to “formulate sustainable efforts” to improve press freedom.

And while Malaysian journalists are rarely the target of physical attacks, they still face a litany of serious challenges that range from punitive fines to legal challenges when reporting on sensitive subjects. There have also been incidences where the work permits of foreign journalists have been revoked.

Over the years, Malaysiakini has been a frequent target as well. The CPJ has documented numerous incidents of harassment against its staff, including against the political cartoonist Zulkiflee Anwar Ulhaque, known as Zunar, and reporter Susan Loone, who was detained and interrogated by police in response to a critical report she wrote about the purported treatment of an opposition leader while in detention.

Attempts to shut down Malaysiakini’s reporting have ranged from cyberattacks timed around political events and elections to a purported black magic spell and vandalism that saw their walls splashed with red paint, and a box filled with rice noodles and a nearly dead duck left at their doorstep. In a defiant response to this intimidation, the duck was adopted, nursed back to health, and Malaysiakini invited readers to suggest a name for it. (The bird, who lived for five more years, was ultimately called “Tessy.”)

Sustaining Independent Reporting

Malaysiakini’s humble beginnings saw a handful of employees set up in a nondescript office in Petaling Jaya, a residential suburb outside the Malaysian capital, Kuala Lumpur.

These days their office is a hive of activity where a mix of about 60 to 70 journalists, graphic designers, and video producers publish multimedia stories and videos across four languages (English, Bahasa Malaysia, Chinese, and Tamil).

The building, called @Kini, was unveiled in 2014, on Malaysiakini’s 15th anniversary, a testament to the site’s tenacity and the willingness of readers to dig into their pockets to support and sustain independent journalism. It funded the purchase through a “Buy a Brick” campaign, where readers contributed RM 1,000, which was about US$260 then, to have their names inscribed on a brick for the building.

Malaysiakini’s current business model relies on a mix of reader subscriptions, website ads, and paid content from advertisers, providing stability against revenue fluctuations tied to political developments, explains Seenhau Tham, Malaysiakini head of operations

“We’re like a mosquito — too small to pose a major threat, but always buzzing, asking tough questions and annoying the government,” says Chandran about Malaysiakini surviving the threats to its operations which included the burst of the dot.com bubble, being labeled a traitor by one prime minister, and singled out for closure by another.

Gan and Chandran had the foresight to know that the hard-hitting journalism they wanted to do needed a business model that was not overly reliant on any one revenue stream. The duo have now stepped down from day-to-day operations – Gan remains as an editor-at-large and Chandran, who served as CEO, remains on the board of directors. As part of their succession plan, the two founders are relinquishing some of their shares to a new foundation created to ensure Malaysiakini’s continued independence.

That foresight that guided them more than 20 years ago still holds true today in the age of social media influence on news production and consumption, and competition among other online news outlets. The 2024 Reuters Institute Digital News Report ranked Malaysiakini as the most widely accessed online news outlet in the country, with a public trust rating of 60%. But Chandran warns that news sites must continue to evolve: “Websites now are going the way of newspapers. Malaysiakini has a legacy brand, but if we don’t pivot, we may go the way of other legacy brands like Nokia and Kodak.”

Malaysiakini’s current business model relies on a mix of reader subscriptions, website ads, and paid content from advertisers, providing stability against revenue fluctuations tied to political developments, explains Seenhau Tham, head of operations, who took over running the business side of Malaysiakini after Chandran stepped down from the CEO role in 2022.

In addition to its core political reporting and award-winning coverage of elections, which built its reputation, Malaysiakini has diversified its news content to include multimedia investigative reports on issues like the environment and gender.

Currently, Malaysiakini is the only news outlet in the country to report in four languages. Chandran and Tham stressed that reporting across different languages is not simply a matter of translation, but finding out the best medium that will cater to the needs of each audience.

For example, when Malaysiakini launched in Tamil, it started with video to address the needs of the Tamil audience and consider the way that Tamil, as a language, is used. “Tamil has its own alphabet and may not be as widely read as it is widely spoken,” Chandran explains.

Malaysiakini has also adapted to its readers’ needs in a shifting news landscape, pursuing stories that drive change beyond the realm of politics.

Aidila Razak, Malaysiakini’s special reports editor, shared that an award-winning report about baby snatching in Sabah, on the island of Borneo, began as a story about how the statelessness of the indigenous Bajau Laut people served as an obstacle to healthcare access. However, a disturbing detail kept cropping up in interviews.

“Mothers were scared to go to the hospital and preferred to give birth at home. They had heard so many stories from other mothers about their babies taken away from them,” Aidila says. The story revealed the stunning practice of how babies born to stateless women were being given away for adoption without their consent.

“More mothers are more aware of their rights [now]. They know that the welfare department cannot just determine them as unfit mothers and take away their babies,” Aidila notes, speaking about the impact of the piece.

And then there is one of the most recent examples of Malaysiakini’s willingness to plot an independent course. Earlier this year, the bodyguard of the Crown Prince of Johor, Malaysia’s second most populous state, was accused of physically assaulting a deaf ride-hailing driver who couldn’t hear a demand to move his vehicle and make way for the royal entourage. The incident was captured on a dashcam and presented during a press conference.

The crown prince issued a statement calling for justice for the driver along with a promise not to stand in the way of investigations. Most outlets who attended the press conference still did not report on it for fear of embarrassing the crown prince. Other sites that did, later took down their stories due to the sensitivity of reporting on royalty.

But Malaysiakini? “Malaysiakini reported on the story per normal,” Aidila says.

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Ana P. Santos is a journalist with over 10 years of experience. Her work has been published by Rappler, DW Germany, The Atlantic, and The Los Angeles Times. She specialized in reporting on gender issues related to sexual reproductive health, HIV, and sexual violence, and as the Pulitzer Center 2014 Persephone Miel Fellow, she reported on labor migration in Europe and the Middle East.