PUTRAJAYA, Malaysia—Jonathan Edward, a reporter, stood recently in the sun near a pack of photographers and cameramen who jostled for a shot of former Prime Minister Najib Razak as he entered Malaysia’s anticorruption agency for interrogation.
For years, Mr. Edward said editors at the Malay Mail killed or altered his articles to avoid offending the government. But after Mr. Najib’s United Malays National Organization lost May elections after over 60 years in power, Mr. Edward and much of country’s media have discovered a...