Press Statement by DAP Secretary-General And MP For Bagan Lim Guan Eng in Kuala Lumpur on 12.2.2012
Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak Should Direct His Prime Minister’s Office(PMO) To Apologise For Paying RM84 Million To Burnish The Najib Administration’s Image On Global Broadcast Networks Just As The BBC Is Apologizing For Accepting Payments In Exchange For A Positive Image For Countries With A Poor Record Of Democratic Practices And Corruption.
According to news reports, the BBC World News will today broadcast the apology “from Kuala Lumpur to Khartoum” in four time slots worldwide for having compromised its editorial integrity through programmes involved in the recent “news fixing scandal The UK daily The Independent said that FBC Media made eight pieces for the BBC about Malaysia while failing to declare it was paid £17million by the Malaysian government for “global strategic communications”.
According to The Independent, the global apology by BBC to an estimated 74 million people around the world for a news-fixing scandal is expected to read:
“A small number of programmes broadcast on BBC World News between February 2009 and July 2011 broke BBC rules aimed at protecting our editorial integrity. In the case of eight other programmes, all of which featured Malaysia, we found that the production company which made the programmes appeared to have a financial relationship with the Malaysian government. This meant there was a potential conflict of interest, though the BBC was not aware of it when the programmes were broadcast.”
According to the report, investigations into the scandal “uncovered 15 breaches of editorial guidelines” of which eight were related to FBC’s programmes on Malaysia. It is extremely shameful when the Government has to resort to such tactics worthy of African tinpot dictators in trying to whitewash its image. What’s worse, this was all done at taxpayer’s expense.
This has also been confirmed by Prime Minister Dato’ Sri Najib Tun Razak who last year admitted in a written parliamentary reply that the Government had paid RM83.8 million to media consultancy company FBC Media for the duration of three years from 2007 for “consultancy services, advice and management of a communication campaign”. This was as part of a contract between the Prime Minister’s Office and FBC Media that was signed in 2007 and renewed twice.
The BBC also used FBC to make a documentary about the spring uprising in Egypt without knowing the firm was paid to do PR work for the regime of former dictator Hosni Mubarak. Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak should direct his Prime Minister’s Office(PMO) to apologise for paying RM84 million to to burnish the Najib administration’s image on global broadcast networks just as the BBC is apologizing for accepting payments in exchange for a positive image for countries with a poor record of democratic practices and corruption.
Lim Guan Eng
—- Mandarin Translation —
民主行动党秘书长兼峇眼区国会议员林冠英于2012年2月12日在吉隆坡发表声明 ：
英国广播公司BBC将针对本身节目置入行销，为民主与贪污记录恶劣的国家粉饰太平和打造正面形象的丑闻，正式道歉。拿督斯里纳吉也应该指示首相署为粉饰纳吉的官方形象而支付8400万令吉给国际广播网络而道歉。
根据新闻报道，BBC世界新闻将在今天4个时段播放题为“从吉隆坡到喀土穆”的道歉短片，为本身涉及通过播放的节目，违反编辑规范。英国《独立报》说，《独立报》指出，FBC为大马制作了8部片子，却没有公布它曾接受大马政府总值1700万英镑（或8300万令吉）的“全球策略沟通”费用的做法。
《独立报》 也说，BBC这项针对上述丑闻进行全球广播的道歉短片，估计将有7400万人可以看到：
“BBC世界新闻在2009年2月到2011年7月的一小部分广播节目违反了BBC旨在保护编辑正直的条例。在其他8个都是关于大马的节目当中，我们发现，制作该片子的公司似乎跟大马政府有金钱来往。这意味可能存在利益冲突的问题，虽然BBC在播放这些节目时并不知情。”
该报指出，调查发现，FBC关于大马的片子违反了15项编辑规范。这是极度丢脸的事，我国政府竟然要像非洲那些平庸的独裁者那样，为自己的形象“漂白”，更糟的是，政府花的是纳税人的钱。
首相拿督斯里纳吉也在去年回答国会问题的书面答复中指出，政府已经缴付8380万令吉给媒体咨询公司FBC ，自2007起进行为期三年的“咨询服务、宣传活动的建议及管理”。这便是首相署与FBC媒体之间签署的合约内容之一，于2007年签署 、更新两次。
英国广播公司也采用FBC所制作的关于埃及阿拉伯之春起义的记录片，当时，它并不知道有关公司收取前独裁者慕巴拉克的金钱、并为他服务。英国广播公司BBC将针对本身节目置入行销，为民主与贪污记录恶劣的国家粉饰太平和打造正面形象的丑闻，正式道歉。拿督斯里纳吉也应该指示首相署为粉饰纳吉的官方形象而支付8400万令吉给国际广播网络而道歉。
林冠英