KUALA LUMPUR – Malaysian Media Council (MMC) chairperson Tan Sri Nallini Pathmanathan has addressed some of the remarks against her appointment to lead the newly formed self-regulatory body, explaining that her lack of direct ties to the media industry strengthens, rather than undermines, its independence.
Speaking at the MMC Media Dialogue Session on the Rapid Response Election Initiative, the retired Federal Court judge responded to concerns over the selection of a non-journalist to head an organisation representing media practitioners.
She acknowledged that she has no newsroom background but said this was consistent with the design of the Malaysian Media Council Act, which seeks leadership independent of competing institutional interests.
“I am not a journalist. I have never run a newsroom, never closed a front page, never met a deadline at a news desk,” she said.
“The Act that created this Council requires that its chair stand apart from politics, the civil service and the legislature. The law wants this seat occupied by someone outside the competing interests.”
She stressed that the council’s legitimacy would not come from authority or enforcement powers, but from public trust in its fairness and independence.
“A self-regulatory council exists to set standards, receive complaints and, at times, decide them. Its authority does not rest on power. Its authority rests on being trusted to be fair,” she said.
Nallini, 67, holds the distinction of being the first ethnic Indian woman elevated to the Federal Court. She began her legal career at Skrine & Co in 1986, joined the Bench in 2007 at the Shah Alam High Court, rose to the Court of Appeal in 2014, and served in the Federal Court from 2018 until her mandatory retirement last August.
During her tenure, she presided over cases involving press freedoms, human rights and citizenship.
Drawing on her 18 years on the Bench and over two decades in legal practice, Nallini said her contribution would not be to direct journalistic practice, but to ensure due process and institutional integrity.
“Fairness between parties to whom one owes no allegiance, decided on the evidence and explained openly with reasons given, is the discipline of a long period on the Bench. It is the principal thing I can bring to this table,” she said.
“What I can do is protect the independence of this Council, insist on fair process and endeavour to ensure that when the Council speaks, it does so without fear or favour.”
She added that her separation from the media industry should be viewed as a safeguard for credibility rather than a limitation.
“My distance from the industry is not a weakness to be excused. It is the very reason a council such as this can be trusted by all its members equally, and by the public it ultimately serves,” she said.
She further warned that the council’s effectiveness would depend on its ability to remain free from influence by both government and industry stakeholders.
“This Council can be of use to government, to the industry and to the public alike only for as long as it is owned by none of them. Independence of this kind is not declared in a speech; it is shown, decision by decision, in whom we prove willing to disagree with,” she said.
Established this year, Malaysian Media Council is an independent body tasked with strengthening journalism standards, promoting ethical reporting and providing a platform for handling complaints involving the media. – June 20, 2026