By being completely online the paper escapes the worst of state regulations that forbid publishing or broadcasting without an operator licence.
The site - which has picked up two international awards - was started a year ago by a small group of journalists who were tired of press intimidation and the self-censorship of the established national papers.
At its launch it had just three staff and a handful of PCs; it now boasts 13 staff members and 116,930 unique visitors daily.
Founders Steven Gan and Premesh Chandran launched the news site on a wave of publicity by revealing that Malaysia’s biggest Chinese-language papers had removed the former deputy Prime Minister from a published photograph of members of the Malaysian ruling party. The papers eventually apologised.
The journalists describe the site as an oasis of independent journalism. "It is great being malaysiakini journalists because we are recognised by government and non-government leaders for our aggressiveness, frankness, speed and integrity for delivering the truth," said malaysiakini journalist Susan Loone.
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