Controlling media ownership in Malaysia: Lessons from the USA

The American Telecommunications Act 1996 requires the Federal Communications Commission to review its media ownership rules every four years and to determine the necessity in the public interest. This requirement provides a dynamic process to deal with the matter arise in the communications and media convergence phenomenon including the question of incorporating the Internet services in determining the percentage of a medium owned by one owner. The USA provides an established benchmark for Malaysia in handling the issue of media ownership with a regime based on the economic participation. In Malaysia, the trend is towards an enforced media monopoly, which allows the formation of one gigantic conglomerate controlling majority of the market. This paper aims at examining the extent of the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Act 1998 in addressing the issues of media consolidation. The paper argues that little effort is taken in dealing with structural control and national audience-reach share in Malaysia as compared to those of the USA.