Clare Rewcastle Brown
Encyclopedia
Clare Rewcastle Brown is a British investigative journalist. Born in the Malaysian state of Sarawak
, she is the founder of Sarawak Report
and Radio Free Sarawak
which are openly critical of the Barisan Nasional
-led state government of Sarawak.
to British parents (before the territory joined Malaysia
) and attended the local primary school. Her mother, Karen, was a midwife who helped look after indigenous babies at remote clinics. She moved to the United Kingdom when she was eight, attended private boarding school and subsequently obtained her masters degree in international relations from the London School of Economics
. She became a journalist, joining the BBC World Service
in 1983.
Clare is married to Andrew Brown
, the younger brother of former British Prime Minister Gordon
. Andrew was implicated for accepting payments for a cleaner through the Prime Minister's expenses during the expenses scandal
in May 2009. In a letter to The Guardian
, Clare hit back at the accusations, saying her husband and Gordon were both using the cleaner's services under a "very ordinary" arrangement and sharing the expenses. The Telegraph, the newspaper which ran the story, later acknowledged that Andrew never received any improper benefit.
in the state. However, when she began probing into the issue, she became blacklisted from the state and received death threats.
In June 2010, she founded Sarawak Report
, a blog seeking to highlight the destruction of Sarawak's tropical rainforests for profit and alleged corruption by the state government led by Chief Minister Abdul Taib Mahmud
. Sarawak Report alleges that Taib and his family have profited from the land taken away from Sarawak's indigenous communities and have multiplied their wealth in assets and properties across the world.
In December that year, Brown also set up Radio Free Sarawak
to broadcast her findings on the radio to local Sarawakians. Radio Free Sarawak's DJ is Peter John Jaban, who was fired by one of Sarawak's state-controlled radio stations for allowing callers to criticize Taib. Brown met Jaban in 2008 while reporting on a by-election in Sarawak and invited him to become the voice of Radio Free Sarawak in London.
Before February 2011, Sarawak Report and Radio Free Sarawak operated anonymously. However, Brown and Jaban decided to go public after one of her informants, a former Taib aide, was found dead. Ross Boyert, who used to head Taib's supposed real estate arm in the United States, was found dead in a Los Angeles hotel room with a plastic bag around his head in September 2011. Boyert had claimed that he and his family had been harrassed since he filed a lawsuit against the real estate company in 2007.
During the period leading up to the April 2011 Sarawak election
, Brown said Sarawak Report was forced to constantly switch its address after an onslaught of cyber attacks. She blamed the ruling Barisan Nasional
for the disruption. She also claimed that Radio Free Sarawak's signal was jammed by an agent hired to broadcast at the same frequency as the station. Brown worked closely with opposition politicians during the election, including Baru Bian
.
Malaysian Deputy Information Communication and Culture Minister Joseph Salang Gandum
called Radio Free Sarawak illegal as it was not licensed with the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission
. In March 2011, Taib's party, Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB), filed a police report against Radio Free Sarawak.
and the BBC
among others, had been doubling as a public relations firm for Malaysian politicians, including Taib. It alleged that FBC produced shows designed to cover Taib and the state government in a positive light. In light of the revelations, CNBC cancelled World Business
, a program produced by FBC, while the BBC suspended all FBC-produced shows from their programming.
Brown had earlier suggested that a PR firm commissioned by Taib had been conducting a "defamation campaign" against her, including hiring journalists from The New Ledger
to carry out attacks against her. She also accused the PR firm hired by Taib of creating a "rival" blog, known as Sarawak Reports, to attack her and post "propaganda material promoting Taib," and editing her Wikipedia
entry by citing discredited allegations from such attack sites. The "rival" blog has since been taken down while FBC Media went into administration on 24 October 2011.
Sarawak
Sarawak is one of two Malaysian states on the island of Borneo. Known as Bumi Kenyalang , Sarawak is situated on the north-west of the island. It is the largest state in Malaysia followed by Sabah, the second largest state located to the North- East.The administrative capital is Kuching, which...
, she is the founder of Sarawak Report
Sarawak Report
The Sarawak Report is a Sarawak investigative journalism news online resource in UK founded by Clare Rewcastle Brown, sister-in-law of former UK prime minister Gordon Brown...
and Radio Free Sarawak
Radio Free Sarawak
Radio Free Sarawak is a radio station established by social activist and journalist, Clare Rewcastle Brown and helmed by Sarawakian social activist, Peter John Jaban better known by his on-air pseudonym, Papa Orang Utan, and Michael Ngau...
which are openly critical of the Barisan Nasional
Barisan Nasional
Barisan Nasional is a major political coalition in Malaysia, formed in 1973 as the successor to the Alliance . Along with its predecessor, it has been Malaysia's federal ruling political force since independence...
-led state government of Sarawak.
Early life, education and career
Brown was born in SarawakSarawak
Sarawak is one of two Malaysian states on the island of Borneo. Known as Bumi Kenyalang , Sarawak is situated on the north-west of the island. It is the largest state in Malaysia followed by Sabah, the second largest state located to the North- East.The administrative capital is Kuching, which...
to British parents (before the territory joined Malaysia
Malaysia Agreement
The Malaysia Agreement or the Agreement relating to Malaysia between United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Federation of Malaya, North Borneo, Sarawak and Singapore is the name used for the decolonization of North Borneo, Sarawak, and Singapore which it was union in 1963 with...
) and attended the local primary school. Her mother, Karen, was a midwife who helped look after indigenous babies at remote clinics. She moved to the United Kingdom when she was eight, attended private boarding school and subsequently obtained her masters degree in international relations from the London School of Economics
London School of Economics
The London School of Economics and Political Science is a public research university specialised in the social sciences located in London, United Kingdom, and a constituent college of the federal University of London...
. She became a journalist, joining the BBC World Service
BBC World Service
The BBC World Service is the world's largest international broadcaster, broadcasting in 27 languages to many parts of the world via analogue and digital shortwave, internet streaming and podcasting, satellite, FM and MW relays...
in 1983.
Clare is married to Andrew Brown
Andrew Brown (media strategist)
Andrew Brown is a Scottish former journalist and broadcaster who is now a media strategist with EDF Energy. He is the younger brother of Gordon Brown, the former UK Prime Minister....
, the younger brother of former British Prime Minister Gordon
Gordon Brown
James Gordon Brown is a British Labour Party politician who was the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Labour Party from 2007 until 2010. He previously served as Chancellor of the Exchequer in the Labour Government from 1997 to 2007...
. Andrew was implicated for accepting payments for a cleaner through the Prime Minister's expenses during the expenses scandal
United Kingdom Parliamentary expenses scandal
The United Kingdom parliamentary expenses scandal was a major political scandal triggered by the leak and subsequent publication by the Telegraph Group in 2009 of expense claims made by members of the United Kingdom Parliament over several years...
in May 2009. In a letter to The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
, Clare hit back at the accusations, saying her husband and Gordon were both using the cleaner's services under a "very ordinary" arrangement and sharing the expenses. The Telegraph, the newspaper which ran the story, later acknowledged that Andrew never received any improper benefit.
Sarawak Report and Radio Free Sarawak
During a visit to Sarawak in 2005 to speak at an environment conference, Brown was asked by local journalists and activists to help publicize the deforestationDeforestation
Deforestation is the removal of a forest or stand of trees where the land is thereafter converted to a nonforest use. Examples of deforestation include conversion of forestland to farms, ranches, or urban use....
in the state. However, when she began probing into the issue, she became blacklisted from the state and received death threats.
In June 2010, she founded Sarawak Report
Sarawak Report
The Sarawak Report is a Sarawak investigative journalism news online resource in UK founded by Clare Rewcastle Brown, sister-in-law of former UK prime minister Gordon Brown...
, a blog seeking to highlight the destruction of Sarawak's tropical rainforests for profit and alleged corruption by the state government led by Chief Minister Abdul Taib Mahmud
Abdul Taib Mahmud
Pehin Sri Haji Abdul Taib bin Mahmud is the fourth and current Chief Minister of Sarawak. He is also the state Financial Minister and Planning and Resource Management Minister. Taib is the President of Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu , which is part of the Barisan Nasional coalition...
. Sarawak Report alleges that Taib and his family have profited from the land taken away from Sarawak's indigenous communities and have multiplied their wealth in assets and properties across the world.
In December that year, Brown also set up Radio Free Sarawak
Radio Free Sarawak
Radio Free Sarawak is a radio station established by social activist and journalist, Clare Rewcastle Brown and helmed by Sarawakian social activist, Peter John Jaban better known by his on-air pseudonym, Papa Orang Utan, and Michael Ngau...
to broadcast her findings on the radio to local Sarawakians. Radio Free Sarawak's DJ is Peter John Jaban, who was fired by one of Sarawak's state-controlled radio stations for allowing callers to criticize Taib. Brown met Jaban in 2008 while reporting on a by-election in Sarawak and invited him to become the voice of Radio Free Sarawak in London.
Before February 2011, Sarawak Report and Radio Free Sarawak operated anonymously. However, Brown and Jaban decided to go public after one of her informants, a former Taib aide, was found dead. Ross Boyert, who used to head Taib's supposed real estate arm in the United States, was found dead in a Los Angeles hotel room with a plastic bag around his head in September 2011. Boyert had claimed that he and his family had been harrassed since he filed a lawsuit against the real estate company in 2007.
During the period leading up to the April 2011 Sarawak election
Sarawak state election, 2011
The tenth Sarawak state election was held on April 16, 2011 after nomination for candidates on April 6. The purpose of the election was to elect 71 representatives to the Sarawak State Assembly...
, Brown said Sarawak Report was forced to constantly switch its address after an onslaught of cyber attacks. She blamed the ruling Barisan Nasional
Barisan Nasional
Barisan Nasional is a major political coalition in Malaysia, formed in 1973 as the successor to the Alliance . Along with its predecessor, it has been Malaysia's federal ruling political force since independence...
for the disruption. She also claimed that Radio Free Sarawak's signal was jammed by an agent hired to broadcast at the same frequency as the station. Brown worked closely with opposition politicians during the election, including Baru Bian
Baru Bian
Baru Bian is a Malaysian politician from the Parti Keadilan Rakyat in the Pakatan Rakyat opposition coalition. He gained prominence as a campaigner for native customary rights in the state of Sarawak, Malaysia....
.
Malaysian Deputy Information Communication and Culture Minister Joseph Salang Gandum
Joseph Salang Gandum
Dato' Joseph Salang Gandum is a Malaysian politician. He is currently the Member of the Parliament of Malaysia for the Julau constituency in Sarawak, representing the Parti Rakyat Sarawak . He is the Deputy Minister for Information Communication and Culture in the Barisan Nasional coalition...
called Radio Free Sarawak illegal as it was not licensed with the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission
Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission
The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission or Suruhanjaya Komunikasi dan Multimedia Malaysia is the regulator for the converging communications and multimedia industry in Malaysia...
. In March 2011, Taib's party, Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB), filed a police report against Radio Free Sarawak.
FBC Media
In August 2011, Sarawak Report highlighted the fact that FBC Media, a media production company which produced programs for CNBCCNBC
CNBC is a satellite and cable television business news channel in the U.S., owned and operated by NBCUniversal. The network and its international spinoffs cover business headlines and provide live coverage of financial markets. The combined reach of CNBC and its siblings is 390 million viewers...
and the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
among others, had been doubling as a public relations firm for Malaysian politicians, including Taib. It alleged that FBC produced shows designed to cover Taib and the state government in a positive light. In light of the revelations, CNBC cancelled World Business
World Business
World Business was a weekly half hour features programme on CNBC presented by Raya Abirached. The show covered recent trends in global business, technology, luxury markets and the business of sport...
, a program produced by FBC, while the BBC suspended all FBC-produced shows from their programming.
Brown had earlier suggested that a PR firm commissioned by Taib had been conducting a "defamation campaign" against her, including hiring journalists from The New Ledger
The New Ledger
The New Ledger is an American web publication which pairs aggregated and ranked news stories with right of center opinion articles by free-market minded moderates, libertarians and conservatives...
to carry out attacks against her. She also accused the PR firm hired by Taib of creating a "rival" blog, known as Sarawak Reports, to attack her and post "propaganda material promoting Taib," and editing her Wikipedia
Wikipedia
Wikipedia is a free, web-based, collaborative, multilingual encyclopedia project supported by the non-profit Wikimedia Foundation. Its 20 million articles have been written collaboratively by volunteers around the world. Almost all of its articles can be edited by anyone with access to the site,...
entry by citing discredited allegations from such attack sites. The "rival" blog has since been taken down while FBC Media went into administration on 24 October 2011.
External links
- Sarawak Report
- The fight for Sarawak on the Australian Broadcasting CorporationAustralian Broadcasting CorporationThe Australian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly referred to as "the ABC" , is Australia's national public broadcaster...