corporate environmentalism in malaysia: exploring the...

Corporate Environmentalism in Malaysia: Exploring the Media’s Pressure on Businesses

MOHDRAFIYAACOBMOHDRAFIYAACOB

Abstrak

Perniagaan berkaitan dengan alam sekitar mempunyai tiga isu asas. Yang pertama, untuk menghasilkan produk, bahan mentah diambil terlalu banyak daripada alam sekitar dan dibuat dengan cara yang berbahaya. Kedua, produk yang dihasilkan menggunakan tenaga, toksin dan bahan cemar berlebihan. Akhir sekali, kaedah pengilangan dan produk itu sendiri menghasilkan sisa yang berlebihan dan menyebabkan kemudaratan kepada generasi masa kini dan masa depan semua spesis termasuk manusia. Satu-satunya cara untuk keluar daripada amalan perniagaan yang tidak mapan ialah melalui kejuruteraan semula aktiviti-aktiviti perniagaan selaras dengan prinsip ekologi. Oleh itu, pengendali perniagaan wajib mengkaji semula apa yang mereka telah lakukan terhadap alam semula jadi dan kesan mendalamnya terhadap kelangsungan hidup manusia. Perniagaan tidak akan berbuat perkara demikian sendiri melainkan terdapat tekanan yang semakin meningkat daripada pihak-pihak berkepentingan termasuk orang awam dan kerajaan untuk meningkatkan tanggunjawab alam sekitar korporat mereka. Dalam usaha untuk mengenakan pengaruh ke atas industri, media perlu lebih proaktif dalam melapor dan menyiasat isu-isu alam sekitar yang berkaitan dengan aktiviti perniagaan. Kertas kerja ini cuba untuk merungkai keberkesanan dan peranan media di Malaysia sebagai kumpulan pendesak kearah pengurusan alam sekitar korporat dalam perniagaan di negara ini. Kertas kerja ini melibatkan kajian kualitatif ke atas empat agensi akhbar utama di negara–dua akhbar harian berbahasa Melayu, satu akhbar harian berbahasa Inggeris dan satu akhbar dwi bulanan. Empat pemberita kanan terlibat dalam temu bual secara bersemuka. Perbualan dirakam dan kemudian dianalisis menggunakan perisian komputer NVivo versi ke-7. Laporan ini antara lain membincangkan cabaran yang berkaitan dengan isu-isu alam sekitar, dan pendekatan media untuk mengenakan tekanan ke atas perniagaan. Ia turut menyiasat keberkesanan media menggunakan pengaruhnya ke atas perniagaan di Malaysia supaya lebih bertanggungjawab terhadap alam sekitar dan langkah-langkah untuk meningkatkan tekanan media terhadap aktiviti perniagaan yang tidak mesra alam.

Kata kunci: Alam sekitar, kejuruteraan semula aktiviti perniagaan, alam sekitar korporat.

Jurnal Pembangunan Sosial Jilid 14 (Jun) 2011: 157–172

158 Jurnal Pembangunan Sosial Jilid 14

Abstract

A business pertaining to the environment has three basic issues. First, in order to produce products it takes too much from the environment and does so in a harmful way; second, the product it makes require excessive amounts of energy, toxins, and pollutants; and finally, the method of manufacture and the products themselves produce extraordinary waste and cause harm to present and future generations of all species including humans. The only way out of the unsustainability of business practices is through re-engineering business activities inline with the principle of ecology. Hence, it is crucial for businesses to take a fresh look at the damages that they have done to the natural environment and their far-reaching impacts to human survival. Businesses will not do so, unless there is an increasing pressure from the stakeholders including the public and the government alike to improve their corporate environmentalism. In order to exert an influence on the industry, the media needs to be more proactive in reporting and investigating environmental issues pertaining to business activities. This paper tries to unfold the efficacy and the role of the media in Malaysia as a pressure group towards corporate environmentalism in the Malaysian businesses. This report involves a qualitative study of four major newspaper agencies in the country – two vernacular daily newspapers, one daily English newspaper and a bi-monthly newspaper. Four senior reporters involved in the face-to-face interviews. The conversations were audio-taped and then were analysed using the NVivo Version 7 software programme. This report highlights amongst other things the media challenges pertaining to environmental issues, and the media approaches to exert pressure on businesses. It also investigates the efficacy of the media to exert influence on the Malaysian industries to be more environmentally responsible and forward ways to improve media pressure against unscrupulous business activities. Keywords: Environment, re-engineering business activities, corporate environmentalism.

Introduction

AccordingtoPaulHawken(1993,p.12)inhisbookentitledThe Ecology of Commerce: A Declaration of Sustainability,abusinesshasthreebasicissuestofacepertainingtotheenvironment:first,inordertoproduceproductsittakestoomuch from theenvironmentanddoes so inaharmfulway; second, theproductsitmakesrequireexcessiveamountsofenergy,toxins,andpollutants;andfinally,themethodofmanufactureandtheproductsthemselvesproduceextraordinarywasteandcauseharmtopresentandfuturegenerationsofallspecies including humans. In his book he argues that the only way out oftheunsustainabilityofbusinesspractices is through re-engineeringbusiness

Corporate Enviromentalism 159

activitiesinlinewiththeprincipleofecology.Hence,itiscrucialforbusinessestotakeafreshlookatthedamagesthattheyhavedonetothenaturalenvironmentandtheirfar-reachingimpactstohumansurvival.Theycouldnothelpbutruntheir businesses sustainably for long-termbenefits and at the same timedogoodfortheenvironmentandhumanbeings.Nevertheless,businesseswillnotdoso,unlessthereisincreasingpressurefromthestakeholdersincludingthepublicandthegovernmentaliketoimprovetheircorporateenvironmentalism.As for the public, who, by and large, depend on the media as a mainsource of environmental information, will only know about environmentaldamagesexacerbatedbybusinesseswhen themediaplays its role tounfoldenvironmentallyunfriendlybusinesses. Inorder toexertan influenceontheindustry,themedianeedstobemoreproactiveinreportingandinvestigatingenvironmental issuespertaining to industries.This paper tries tounfold theefficacyand the roleof themedia inMalaysiaas apressuregroup towardscorporateenvironmentalismintheMalaysianindustries.

Literature Review

Stakeholder Theory

TheStakeholderTheoryofstrategicmanagementemergedinthemid-1980s.Onefocalpoint in themovementwas thepublicationofEdwardFreeman’sbook,Strategic Management: A Stakeholder Approach,in1984(Freeman&McVea,2001,p.189).Thecentraltaskinastrategicmanagementprocessistomanageandintegratetherelationshipsandinterestsofshareholders,employees,customers,communitiesandothergroupsinawaythatensuresthelong-termsuccess of thefirm (Freeman&McVea, 2001, p. 192).Another researcher,Caroll(1996,p.60)definesastakeholderas“anyindividualorgroupwhocanaffectorisaffectedbytheactions,decisions,policies,practices,orgoalsoftheorganization”.Meanwhile,Buchholz(1993,p.347)definesstakeholderas“[A]nindividualorgroupthathassomekindofstakeinwhatbusinessdoesandmayalsoaffecttheorganisationinsomefashion”.AccordingtoClarkson(1995)stakeholdersarepersonsorgroupsthathaveorclaimownership,rights,orinterestsinacorporationanditsactivities,past,present,orfuture.Amongthevariousdefinitions,Freeman’sdefinitionistheonemostwidelyquotedandusedincorporateenvironmentalmanagementliterature(Moir2001;Banerjee,Iyeretal.,2003;Brammer&Millington,2004).

A manager needs to understand the concerns of its stakeholders inorder to developobjectives, that stakeholderswould support, for his or herorganisation’s long-term success. Therefore, the manager should activelyexplore their relationships with all stakeholders in developing effectivebusiness strategies (Freeman & McVea, 2001, p. 190). The number of


stakeholders and the variety of their interests can be quite large; thus, acompany’sdecisionscanbecomeverycomplex(Henriques&Sadorsky,1996,p.383).Butinpractice,it isdifficultandcostlytoidentifyandmeetallthestakeholders’demands.Consequently,itiscrucialforthemanagertoidentifyand analyse themeaning and significance of each individual group and todeterminetheirrespectivepower,inordertobepreparedfortheconflictthatmayfollowfromtheprioritizingofcompetinggroupsofstakeholders(Madsen&Ulhoi,2001).Stakeholderscanbedividedintotwocategories,externalandinternal.Externalpressuresincluderegulators,thepublic,community,mediaand suppliers. Internal stakeholders include shareholders,management, andemployees(Henriques&Sadorsky,1996,p.384).Inanothercategorisation,stakeholders are divided into primary and secondary. Primary stakeholdersrefer to thosewho are critical to the company’s existence and activities, inwhichareincludedstockholders,creditors,suppliers,customers,competitors,retailersandemployees.Secondarystakeholdersarethosepeopleandgroupsinsocietywhoareaffected,directlyorindirectly,bythecompany’sprimaryactivities. Local communities, federal, state, and local governments, socialactivist groups, media and business support groups, are included in thiscategory(Post,Lawrenceetal.,1999).

Businesses and Environmental Pressure

Industry’s attitude towards the environment has come a longway over thepastthreedecades.Duringthe1970sandtheearly1980sbusinessesatlargerespondeddefensivelyagainstenvironmentalpressures.Theyaskedquestionslike‘Whyareoutsiderstellinguswhattodo?’(Greeno&Robinson,1992,p.223).AccordingtoNewmanandBreeden(Newman&Breeden,1992,p.211)businessesviewedenvironmentalconcernsatthattimeaslessurgentbecausetheylackedinformationonthecauseandeffectofpollution,aswellasitslifecyclecost,andhadmisconceptionsaboutanendlesssupplyofrawmaterialanddisposaloptions.

The introduction of the concept of sustainable development orsustainabilityhasstimulatedvariousreactionsfrombusinessesingeneralandthemanufacturingindustryinparticularinresponsetothenewenvironmentalchallenges. In the 1980s, businesses began to accommodate the media toavoid negative publicity against their organisations.Bad reporting not onlyexposes their unfriendly business activities but at the same time exposesthemselvestoregulatorswhocanimposesignificantlegalliabilities(Greeno&Robinson,1993,p.223).Duringthisparticulardecadebusinessesdevelopedtheirowninterpretationsofenvironmentalmanagementandadaptedaseriesofmanagementpracticesthatwereanextensionofpre-existingmanagementskills, frequentlyusing accounting, qualitymanagement systemsandhealthandsafetysystemsasmodels.


Nonetheless, the early 1990s witnessed a significant transformation; therelationshiphadbeguntoshiftawayfrombeingadversarial toapositionofgreatercollaborationandcooperationbetweenbusinessesandtheirstakeholders(Utting, 2006, p. 2).Best practices of environmentalmanagement like ISO14000(issuedbytheInternationalOrganizationforStandardization),andlifecycleassessment(LCA)toolsbegantobeadoptedbybusinesses.Increasingenvironmentalawareness,increasingthequalityofenvironmentalinformationavailabletobusinessesandintroducingeco-managementtoolsandtechniquesenabled businesses to take advantage of the opportunity to improve theirenvironmentalperformance.

The Media

A combination of increased public awareness of environmental issuesand freedom of access to information magnify media interest in business’environmental performance. A reactive environmental strategy may beconfronted with negative publicity campaigns from unfavourable coveragebythemedia(Welford&Gouldson,1993,p.11).Inordertomanagemediaattention,businessesshouldshowthattheymakesignificanteffortstoreducetheir environmental impact. While it may be appealing to allow publicrelationsormarketingdepartmentstoleadthewayanyfalseclaimscansoonbeuncoveredbythemediawhichwouldbeverydetrimentaltothecompanies’public images.Thosewho seek to communicate responsible environmentalperformance should base any claims that theymake to this effect on hardfactswhichtheyarewillingtocommunicatetothestakeholders(Welford&Gouldson,1993,p.10).

Over the decades since the publication of Carson’s Silent Spring(Carson,1962),themassmediahaveshiftedfocusfromtheisolatedsymptomsof environmental degradation towards appreciation of the underlyinginterconnectionsbetweenenvironmentalproblemsandtheircauses(Hutchinson&Hutchinson,1997,p.243).Thoughmediareportingontheissuesincreasedattheendof1980sandreachedapeakintheearly1990sinmanycountries,ithasdeclinedsteadilyafterthat.IntheUS,despitetheactualhighlevelofenvironmentalconcern,themedia’senvironmentalcoverageintheearly1990swaslessthantwopercent(Letto,1995,p.22).Therearesomereasonswhyenvironmentalissuesreceivelessattentionbythemediaincomparisontootherissues.First,businessesputprofitsbeforeanythingelse.Over the last threedecades,newspapers’incomehasdependedlessonsalestoreadersandmoreonadvertising;thismeantthatnewspapershavebecomelessresponsivetotheirreaders,buthavebecomemoreaccessible to theiradvertisers (Beder,2000,pp.181–182).A1992USstudyof150newspapereditors found that90percentoftherespondentssaidthatadvertiserstriedtointerferewithnewspapercontent,70percentsaidthatadvertiserstriedtostopnewsstoriesaltogetherand40percentadmittedthatadvertisershadinfluencedastory(Beder,2000,


p.181).Notsurprisingly,environmentalstoriesinthe1990stendedtohaveaneconomicframing,focusingonthecostsofenvironmentalregulationsintermsofjobsandmoney,insteadofhighlightingenvironmentalcrisesresultingfrombusinessactivities(Spencer,1992,p.15).

Secondly, many media organisations are owned byMNCs who areinvolved in other businesses (Kellner, 1990, p. 82). The owners influencetheselection,shapingandframingofthenews.Thecommonmechanismofcontrolexercisedbymediaownersisthroughtheappointmentofeditorswhobecometheowner’svoice,ensuringthatjournalistscomplywiththeeditorialline (McNair, 1994, p. 42). In theUS,GeneralElectric (GE) ownership ofNBCisacaseinpoint.In1987,thenewsstationairedaspecialdocumentarypromotingnuclearpowerinwhichGEhadavestedinterest.UsingFranceasamodel in its programme, it portrayed the French peoplewelcoming eachnewreactorwithopenarms.Butshortlyafterthat,whenaccidentsoccurredatFrenchpowerstationsandtherewasoppositiontonuclearpoweramongitspopulation,NBCdidnotreportthestoriesoftheseevents(Lee&Solomon,1990,p.78).

Thirdly,bigcorporationshavelearnedthatenvironmentalistshaveusedthemediatoincreaseenvironmentalawarenessamongthepublicandtoputsignificantpressureonthegovernmenttolegislateenvironmentalregulations.Against such a strategy, they also use the media - to counter negativeaccusations. In the US, the major mainstream newspapers significantlydownplayed scientific understanding on the impact of human activities onglobalwarming.Theyportrayedglobalwarmingasaresultofanaturalcycleoftheearth’stemperature(Boykoff&Boykoff,2004).Similarly,inAustralia,theAustralianInstituteofPublicAffairs (IPA),whosebudgetcomes inpartfrom mining companies, has also produced articles and media statementschallenging the greenhouse consensus. In the IPA Review, Aaron Oakley(Beder,2000,p.242)accusedtheAustralianBroadcastingCorporation(ABC)ofbias‘becauseABCreportersmadetheassumptionthatglobalwarmingisreal,someevenmakingassertionstothatend.’Asforthepublic,whodependonmedia, notably television, as a source of information, they are likely toreceivedistortedmessages.Forexample,duetohighpositivemediacoverage,in1991GEmanagedtoreceivehighratingsfromviewersaccordingtoaRoperpoll,butlostitspositionin1993,whenitswasidentifiedinseveralmagazinesasoneofthemostenvironmentallyunfriendlycompanies(Beder,2000).

Research Methodology

According toEasterby-Smith,Thorpe andLowe (2002) social research hasphilosophically twoapproaches:eitherpositivismorsocialconstructionism.


Apositivismapproachreflects that thesocialworldexistsexternallyanditsproperties should bemeasured through objectivemethods.The quantitativeparadigmisbasedonpositivism.Asocialconstructionismapproachviewstheworldassociallyconstructedandsubjective.ThesocialconstructionismisoneofagroupofapproachesthatHabermas(1970inEasterby-Smithetal.,2002)hasreferredtoasinterpretivemethods.Asfarasontologyoftheapproachisconcerned, therearemultiplerealitiesbasedonone’sconstructionofrealitywhichisconstantlychangingovertime.Unlikethequantitativeapproach,inthequalitativeapproachtheinvestigatorandtheobjectofstudyareinteractivelylinkedsothatfindingsaremutuallycreatedwithinthecontextofthesituationwhichshapestheinquiry(Guba&Lincoln,1994).Thissuggeststhatrealityhas no existence prior to the activity of investigation, and reality ceases toexist when the investigator no longer focuses on it. Qualitative researchstressestheprocessandthemeaningsoftopicsofinterest.Techniquesusedinqualitativestudiesincludein-depthandfocus-groupinterviewsandparticipantobservation. Samples are not meant to represent large populations; rathersmall purposeful samples are used to provide valuable information.Unlikea survey in a quantitative study, interviewing is one of themost importantsourcesofcasestudyinformation(Yin,2003p.89).

Inthisstudy,alltogetherfourfull-timereporters-twodailyvernacularnewspapers,adailyEnglishnewspaperandabi-monthlyMalayandEnglishnewspapers were involved in the interviews. The two daily vernacularnewspaperswere respectively labelledasNewspaperAandB.TheEnglishnewspaperwaslabelledasNewspaperCwhereasthebi-monthlyMalayandEnglishnewspaperwerelabelledasNewspaperD.TheselectionofindividualswasbasedontheirwideexperienceinreportingaswellastheirinteractionswithandtheknowledgeaboutenvironmentalissuesinMalaysia.Individualswhowere interviewed fromeachmediaorganisationwere alsowell-knownfigures or those at senior positions in their organisations. The interviewprotocol contained, open-ended questions.Amongst the questions asked bytheresearcherwere:intervieweespositionintheorganisation,howlongtheyhadbeenworkingfortheirorganisations,whatthenatureoftheirjobwasand,howtheyperceivedtheeffectoftheindustryandtheenvironment.Thecruxof the interviewwas related toquestionspertaining tomediapoweragainstbusinesses, how their media exerted pressure on the industry to be moreenvironmentally responsible in their activities, and how businesses reactedtotheirpressure.Inaddition,theiropinionsconcerningwaystoincreasethestrengthregulatorypressureinthefuturewerealsodiscussed.

In order to improve the accuracy of the data collected in the semi-structured interview, each interview was-tape recorded. This was subjectto gaining the permission of the interviewees. All respondents allowed


their conversations to be audio-taped. The interviews took approximatelybetweenone to twohours.Overall, the respondentswere very cooperative.Allinterviewswereconductedatinterviewees’premisesattheirconvenience.Once an interview was completed the taped interview was transcribed onawordprocessor; bydoing so the researchergainedmore insights into thetopicofthestudy,whichprovidenewideasforsubsequentinterviews.Oncetranscribedandcheckedforanyerrors,thetranscriptsoftheinterviewsweresent to the respective interviewees either through ordinary mail or e-mail;this dependedonwhichmeans the interviewees preferred.Bydoing so theintervieweescouldthenmakealterationstothedataandsendthembacktotheresearcher.Outoffourtranscriptsonlyoneintervieweesentbackthetranscriptwithminoralterations.Theresearcherthenamendedthetranscriptionoftheinterviewaccordingly.Anotherrespondentcontactedtheresearcherover thephoneand told the researcher toproceedwithoutanyalternation.For thosewhodidnotreturnthetranscripts,noalterationswereexpectedfromthem.

Atthispointthedatawerereadyforsubsequentprocess-coding.Thedatawerereducedbybreakingthemdownintomanageableunitsofcodesandlabels.Inthisresearchcodingandlabellingdatawerebasedoncontentanalysismethodsofdata interpretation.Acontentanalysis is thesystematicanalysisofwrittenandoralinformationtobuildgeneralisations.Thecontentanalysiswasusedforidentifying,codingandcategorisingtheprimarypatternsinthedata(Patton,1980,p.381).Allcodingwasundertakenwhilesimultaneouslylisteningtothetapedinterviewsandreadingfromthetranscripts.Freecodeswereusedintheinitialstagesandthesewerefurtherprocessedintocodingtreeswhenpatternsemerged(Miles&Huberman,1994).ThenodesforcodingthedatawerestructuredaroundasetofthemespertainingtoregulatorypressureontheMPOI.

InthisstudyQSRNvivo7,wasemployedforthisqualitativeanalysis.Thesoftwarefacilitatedtheresearchqualitativeanalysisinanumberofways.First, the software made importing interview transcripts a relatively easyexercise,astheresearchercouldimportWordfilessavedinRichTextFormat(RTF).Second,byusingNVivosoftware,tediousandtime-consumingmanualmethodsofdatapreparation,managementandretrieval-integralpartsofdataanalysis-wereavoided.Third,thesoftwarehelpedinthecodingexercise.ThecodesweresavedwithinNVivodatabaseas‘nodes’thatcouldthenbereordered,duplicated,mergedorremoved,tohelpvisualiseandlocateanalyticalitemsorcategories.Althoughthissoftwarefacilitateddataanalysis,itiscrucialtorememberthatNVivodidnoteliminatetheneedfortheresearchertothink.Developingvalidandreliablecodingcategoriesreliesonthefamiliarityoftheresearcherwiththeresearchdata. Theresearcherbecamefamiliarwiththedataashewentthroughtheprocessofreviewingtapes,readingtranscripts,coding


developmentandsubsequenttrials.Ithasbeenarguedthatthisprocessmaybethemost important initialrequirement todevelopanobjective,validandreliablecodingsystem(Holsti,1969).

Qualitative Analysis and Findings

Resultsofthisqualitativeanalysisarebynomeansexhaustive,howeverduetothesheervolumeofquotesmakingupthestudy,arepresentativesamplingofonlyoneortworelevantquoteswillpunctuatetheresultsinthefindings.Environmental Issues in Malaysia

WhenthestudyparticipantswerequestionedaboutenvironmentalissuesrelatedtobusinessesinMalaysia,theiranswersrevolvedarounddeforestation,lossofnatural ecosystems, run-off, soil erosion, toxicwaste, heavy sedimentation,flooding,airpollutionduetoopenburning,andwaterpollution.Inefficiencyinthewastedisposalsystemaswellinadequatesolidwastelandfillsacrossthecountrywerealsohighlighted.

Media Challenges Pertaining to Environmental Issues in Malaysia

FromtheanalysisoftheinterviewsfromvariousnewspapercompaniesitwasfoundthatfornewspaperD-anorganfor theoppositionparty’smedia, thegovernment’srestrictiononitsnewspapercirculationandmodeofpublication,from twiceaweek to twiceamonth,wasconsidered themaincontributingfactortoitsfinancialproblems.

Themediaalsofaceslegalchallengesinrelationtoenvironmentalissues.Therespondentssaidtheycouldbesubjectedtolegalactionsinrelationtothenewsthattheypublished.ThatiswhyinMalaysia,reportersaswellnewspaperagenciesusuallytakeextraprecautionsandtheyneedreliablefactsoraccurateinformationtowritetheirnewscontent.BoththeseniorreportersofnewspaperAandBindicatedthattheycouldbesuedforincorrectinformation,andthatsometimesevenbasedoncorrectinformationtheywerenotimmunefromlegalaction.Additionally,fornewspaperDwhichisownedbytheoppositionparty,apartfromtheabove-mentionedlegalchallengewhichwasencounteredbyallnewspapersagencies,ithasafurtherchallengetoactuallysellitsnewspapers.According to the head reporter of the organisation, selling newspapers hasbecomeaproblemsinceitscirculationhadbeenrestrictedbythegovernmentacoupleofyearsago,toonlypartymembersandnottothepublic.Headdedthatevenfortheparty’smembers,thenewspapersmustbesoldatthepartypremises. Government authorities always monitor its circulation and on a


numberofoccasionsthepolicehaveconfiscatedthenewspapers.Toaddinsulttoinjurythegovernmenthasalsoreduceditscirculationfromtwiceaweektoonlytwiceamonth.

Access to information was a further challenge faced by the media.As far as themedia respondentswereconcerned, thishappeneddue to twocircumstances:first,whensourcesdidnotwanttocooperate;andsecond,thedistancebetweenthereportersandthelocationofthenewsevent.Accessofinformationwasworsefortheoppositionparty’snewspaper.TheheadreporterofnewspaperDarguedthatalthoughhisorganisationhadtherequiredpermitofpublicationfromthegovernment(HomeMinistry),hisreporterswereunfairlytreated.Unlikethepro-governmentnewspaperreporters(A,BandC),theydidnotgetaccesspassesfromBERNAMA(GovernmentOfficialNewsAgency).Asaresult,hisreporterswerenotwelcomedbythegovernmentdepartmentsandgovernment-linkedcompanies(GLCs).Theseorganisationsusuallywerenot cooperative because they did not want to put themselves in a difficultsituation, whereby their cooperationwith the opposition party’s newspapercould be misinterpreted and they could be accused by the government ofleaningtowardstheoppositionparties.Afurtherchallengewasallthemediawerecontrolledbypoliticalparties–boththerulingpartiesandtheopposition.Accordingtotherespondentstheirtopmanagementleaderscoulddecidewhatnewstheyweresupposedtohighlight.Itwouldbebetteriftheycouldwritenewsandorstoriesaccordingtotheirinterests,arguedtherespondents.

The Proactiveness of Malaysian Businesses on Environmental Issues

AsfarasenvironmentalstrategiesofMalaysianbusinesseswereconcerned,participantsofallnewspapercompaniesseemedtoagreethatmostMalaysiancompanies adopted a reactive environmental strategy.When the researcherraisedthequestionofwhybusinessesadoptedsuchasstrategy,theiranswerswereobvious–tobeproactiveintermsofenvironmentcostsmoney.

They don’t give priority on that thing (the environment). Itinvolveshighcost.Forourfactoriestheygoforthehighestprofittheycanget.Iftheycan,theywillavoidandtrytoblind(the)government, environmental strategies that they applied onlymakeup,andtheywillonlypayattentionon(the)environmentifcourtactiontakentothem,ifnot,businessasusualforthem,backtosquareone.

(The senior reporter of newspaper B)

However,someofthemarguethatinternationalcompaniesfromJapan,UnitedKingdomandtheUSforexamplearemoreenvironmentallyproactive.Thisisdictatedbytheirheadquarters.


The Media Approaches to Exert Pressure on Businesses

Generallyspeakingthemainapproachofthenewspapercompaniesistoexertpressure on businesses through reporting on environmental issues in theirnewspapers, albeit that these issues are not as frequently reported as otherissues(political,economic,andsocial).Thisisunderstandable,sinceallofthenewspapercompaniesinvolvedinthestudyareownedbypoliticalpartiesand/or large companies,which are politically connectedwith the rulingparties,andwhoseagendaismorealongthepartyline.ItshouldbehighlightedherethattheMalaysianmediaistightlycontrolledbytherulingpartywheremostmedia organisations are government adjuncts. Themedia’s main role is topropagatethegovernmentagendaratherthantoactasaneffectivecheckandbalancemechanism.MediainMalaysiatraditionallytoesthegovernmentline,andanynegativenewsaboutthegovernmentandMalaysiancompanieswillnotbepermittedtobepublished.Instead,localnewspapershavebeenusedbyreportersandthoseconnectedwiththeindustrytocounternegativeallegationsagainstthegovernmentandMalaysiancompanies.OnecaseinpointwastheoilpalmplantationthatthreatenedthelivesoftheOrangUtaninSarawak.

Despiterestrictedpublicationonenvironmental issues,wherebyandlargeenvironmentalissuesarenotonthefrontpage,thenewspapersdotakeprecautionsintheirreports.Ifnewspapersreportanyenvironmentalproblemssuchasairandwaterpollutioncausedbyapalmoilmill forexample, it isnot the policy of these media companies to expose the name of companyresponsible.Thisistoavoidlegalactionagainstthemselves.Therespondentsfrom themedia said the information theyobtained frompublic complaints,aswellastheirownobservationsinthefield,wasnotnecessarilyaccurateasthosesourcesofinformationwerenotreliableenough.Afterall,theydidnothavetheauthoritytoreportsituations.AstheseniorreporterofnewspaperA,said:

Thefactis,notonlytrueforenvironmentalissues,alllikethat.First, let saymillA, local community claimed, they said themillpollutedtheenvironment,thatistheissue,wegotheretoreport,weinterviewedlocalcommunity,however,opinionfromlocalcommunitiesaloneisnotenoughtosaymillApollutestheenvironment.Theyhavenoauthoritytosaythat.Theynotevenhaveanyauthority tosaymillAsoandsobecause this is thesystem inMalaysia,onlyDepartmentof theEnvironmenthastheauthoritytosayso.

Headded:

Weonlymentionedamill.Becauseonlyamillhasitsoperationtherepollutestheenvironment.IfwesaymillApollutestheenvironment,whosayso?local


community.TomorrowDepartmentoftheEnvironmentinvestigatesandfoundoutnopollution,effluentlevelthatdischargesaccordingtotheregulation,wewillbesued.Theriskisthere.

The Extent of the Media Pressure In termsof theextentofmediapressure,allparticipantsadmitted that theirorganisationsdidnothaveanydirectpoweragainstbusinesses.However,intermsofindirectmediapressureonbusinesses,twooppositeviewsweregivenbytheirparticipants.Ontheonehand,astatebureauchieffromnewspaperA andhis counterpart fromnewspaperCbelieved that though theydid nothavespecific influence, theycouldexertpressureon industriesandrelevantauthoritiesthroughtheirnews.Onthecontrary,intervieweesfromnewspapersBandDwereratherpessimisticaboutthat.

Accordingtobothreporterswhobelievedinthesignificantinfluenceof businesses, argued strongly that when they highlighted or reportedenvironmentalissuesintheirnewspapers,theymadepeopleawareoftheissues,andhopedtherelevantenvironmentalauthoritieswouldtakeactionespeciallywhentheyhadpressurefrompeopleatthetop(eg.politiciansandthosewhoholdhigherofficeinthegovernmentservice)and/orfromthegeneralpublic.

Thefactiswedon’thave(direct)powertoforcepeopletodotheir job. But sometimes we made aware, give awareness….whenmediadisclosesany(environmental)issues,okayrelevantauthoritieswill start to take action because they got pressurefrom above. For example here, first it happens in one place,A, this is under whom? Okay local authority, okay it willtakeaction.Afterthat,okayDOEwilltakeaction.Okaylocalauthorityunderstategovernment,sostategovernmentwilltakeaction. Definitely a state’s exco (senior state assemblyman)will question the local authority, ‘what the problems?This isyourarea.’AndatthesametimeDOE,ministrysecretary,willalso takeaction.Becauseministrywillask,directorat federallevelwillaskstatedirector,and in turnstatedirectorwillaskhissubordinateatdistrictlevel.….allwillquestionbecauseattheendoftheday,ministerwillaskaboutthat.BecausereporterwillaskthatMinisteronthatissue.‘Whatyouraction?’,soinreality,thepublicprefertoreporttous,becausetheyseemediacangetthejobdonefaster.Ourjobistoexertpressure,sowehelptheseauthoritiesdotheirjobs

(The senior reporter of newspaper A)


Heelaboratedhispointfurther:

Of courseweput pressure, because sometimeswementionedtheirnames.Wementionedtheirnameswhentheauthoritywenttotheirpremises.Letsayafterwemadeareport,letsayamillinthisvillage,sothenextdaywhathappened?DepartmentoftheEnvironmentwenttheretoinvestigate;okayDOEwouldgothere,sowewenttogethertotheplace.Normallywewoulddofollow-upsowegotogetherwiththeDepartment.WereportedwhenDepartmentoftheEnvironmentvisitedthatarea,andwealsointerviewedmanagementofthemill.

AlthoughtheintervieweefromnewspaperAarguedthatthemediahadinfluence,atthesametimeheadmittedmediapressurewasquitelowandnotmuchhaschangedintermsofthepracticesoftheauthoritiesandthecompaniesontheground.Fromthisperspectiveenvironmentalreportinginnewspapersseemstobesuccessfulinincreasingawarenessamongstreadersandprovidesinformation about the environment, but not to the extent that it can exertpressureonMalaysianbusinessesandthegovernmenttobeenvironmentallyresponsible.

[T]hefactislikethis,whetherindustryorauthority,actuallylike‘ahammerandanail’(Malayproverb),everytimeyouknockthehammer,everytimethenailgoesinsidethewood.Thatwhatishappeningnow.Forexample,nomatterwhathappens,whereandwhateverissues,onlywhenitisdisclosedonnews,eitherinnewspaperortelevision,peoplewillreactandtakeaction.Ifnot,noactiontakenbecausethey(theauthorities)saynocomplaint.Nocomplaint,(asforthosewhowantedtocomplaint)nousetocomplaint to thegovernmentoffices (authorities),because thepublicdon’tknow.Thatisthesituation.

(The senior reporter of newspaper A)

On the other hand, the senior reporter of newspaper B believed hisnewspaper exerted little or no influence since the public do not caremuchabouttheenvironment.Heargued:‘[W]eexpose(environmentalissues)butthepublic awarenessof (the) environment is the same, theydon’t care…Inenvironmentalcase, letsayamill (pollution),whocare? localcommunity?,dustparticlesflyingaroundtheirvillage,weasoutsidersfeelsorryforthem,theydon’tcare.Levelofawarenessisstilllow.’Despitelimitedpressurefromthe media against the Malaysian industries, he agreed newspapers shouldcontinuouslyhighlightenvironmentissues,albeitheadmittedhisnewspapergave less priority to the environment than to other issues such as politics,social,economy,andsport.


Asfortheoppositionparty’snewspaper(newspaperD),itsrespondentbelievedhisorganisationdidnotexertanypressure.Inhisopinion,theownersorthemanagement of the companies responsible for the environmental problemswould become concerned about the environment only when mainstreamnewspapersreportednegativelyontheircompanies.

The Relationship between the Media and Businesses

The relationship between the media and businesses was described as asituational-basedone.Ifthenewsreportsfavouredcompanies,businesseswerewillingtoprovideinformation,butwhentherewereenvironmentalproblemsrelatedtothem,andthemediawouldreportagainstthem,themediawasnotwelcomed.

Ways to Increase Corporate Environmentalism

When the respondents were asked about ways to increase corporateenvironmentalism in Malaysian businesses, almost all respondents wanteda very strong government commitment on the environment. In terms ofenvironmental laws, they suggested proper implementation, stringentlegislation and better enforcement of environmental regulations.Moreover,the interviewee from the newspaper D considered that government actionto increase corporate environmentalism should be through the amendmentofrepressivemediaacts,suchastheOfficialSecretAct(OSA),thePrintingPresses and Publication Act, as well as official intimidation through theInternalSecurityAct(ISA).Bysodoingitwouldgivemorefreedomtothemediatoplayitsdueroleprofessionallyandinturnwouldimprovecorporateenvironmentalisminthecountry,hesummedup.Togetherwithenforcement,the other ways the government could increase corporate environmentalismwerethroughawareness,educationandnegotiation.

Conclusion

Interviewswithseniorreportersofnewspapercompaniesprovidedaninsightinto regulatory stakeholders’ pressure against the businesses. The analysisshowed that the media exerted indirect pressure on Malaysian businesses.Media reporting on environmental issues highlights the importance of theenvironment.However,theirpressureagainstbusinessesseemslimitedastheypreferrednotunfold thenamesofcompaniesresponsible toavoidanylegalaction.Inordertoincreasecorporateenvironmentalism,strongcommitmentfrom the government in terms of strong environmental laws, rewards toenvironmentally-friendly companies, environmental education coupledwithsupportfromcustomersthroughtheirbuyingpracticesaswellasmorefreedominenvironmentalreportingwereproposedbythemedia.


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MohdRafiYaacobFacultyofEntrepreneurshipandBusinessUniversitiMalaysiaKelantanKarungBerkunci3616100PengkalanChepaKotaBharu,Kelantan,[email protected]

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