Wednesday 25 June 2008

Editors back Parliament protest

Chief editors have lent their support to colleagues protesting restrictive moves imposed by Parliament authorities (read here) saying the decision was an unnecessary hindrance and an insult to the press.

About 100 journalists covering Parliament staged a boycott Tuesday morning after they were denied access to the lobby. They refused to attend press conferences or take down statements, although they covered developments in the chamber.

The barrier was later removed by the Barisan Nasional Backbenchers Club (see Timeline below).

9.30am: Reporters arrived at Parliament lobby to discover that red tapes were used to cordon off the main part of the lobby and there were security guards around.

Reporters, photographers and camera crew were only allowed to at a small corner where press conferences used to be held. Lim Guan Eng (DAP-Bagan) was at lobby and spoke to reporters separated by the red tape.

Consensus reached among pressmen to boycott press conferences held at the lobby.

10.40am: Photographers, cameramen and journalists left their “working equipment” such as cameras, voice recorders and notebooks on the floor as a sign to stop covering news events at the lobby.

As a result, Najib’s second meeting – the Cabinet committee on sports and Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi’s meeting on palm oil at 3pm was covered only by Bernama.

The Star has the full story here.

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