KUALA LUMPUR: In another move that has journalists infuriated, the Parliament administration slapped a ban on them entering the lobby.More than 100 representatives from various media organisations were allowed at a small corner, where press conferences are normally held.
Photographers and videographers leaving their cameras on the floor at one small corner at the Parliament lobby as a gesture to boycott the restriction to limit the access of press men at the August House.
The journalists retaliated by reporting only on events in the House while boycotting events held at the lobby. These included one press conference by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and two meetings by Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak.
In another report, Chief editors back protest
KUALA LUMPUR: Newspaper and news website chief editors have lent their support to colleagues protesting against restrictive moves imposed by Parliament authorities, saying the decision was an unnecessary hindrance and an insult to the press.
China Press editor-in-chief Teoh Yang Khoon said: “Reporters are never a security threat and we know where to draw the line in respecting the privacy of the Members of Parliament.
The Star group chief editor Datuk Wong Chun Wai, in his chunwai08.blogspot.com entry titled Fast, Furious and Stupid in KL, said the decision infuriated the media.“It is unprecedented. The decision had left reporters stunned and certainly insulted,” said Wong.
Updated 25 June 2007 1.30pm: Members of the media are free to move around again in the Parliament lobby, after the barricades that were set up to confine them in a corner were removed Wednesday.
