I am amused at the way some well-placed mainstream journalists earn their keep nowadays.

In their columns, they blithely throw names of very important people with whom they wine and dine. In return for the privileged invitations, some help to reposition perspectives and perceptions of adverse issues attributed to the hosts. Writers short o­n finesse often offered themselves as the politicians' outriders.

Reading the local news, we do not know for sure the road o­n which journalists soldier o­n these days. But there's o­ne thing we are more than certain: the credibility of Malaysia's mainstream media is at stake.

Lately, I came across many exclusive stories o­n Islamic militancy linked to Malaysia, as carried in both tabloids and broadsheets.

A recent o­ne, penned by a senior editor who shared a by-line with a senior journalist, caught my attention. It's a story that pinpointed Abdul Hadi Awang, Terengganu menteri besar and MP for Marang, for having attended a three-day Islamic congress in Makassar, Sulawesi, in October 2000.

The two journalists said the Makassar rendezvous was intimately linked to Islamic militants Abubakar Basyir and Agus Dwikarna, who are now captured, and Hambali (also known as Riduan Isamuddin), the mastermind of Jemaah Islamiah (JI) and al-Qaeda's operations leader in Southeast Asia, who is now at large.

The next day, the same paper carried a clarification by Abdul Hadi who said he attended the event as a guest of the Islamic congress in his capacity as head of a state government.

In the story, Abdul Hadi claimed his invitation was from Universiti Hassanuddin and several NGOs in the Sulawesi city, who asked him to give a talk in conjunction with the amendment of Indonesia's constitution to provide autonomous powers to its provinces, including Sulawesi. The Opposition Leader also denied his involvement or link with any radical or militant group, leader or activity, either in Malaysia or abroad.

Subsequently, Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad, his deputy Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and the IGP Norian Mai said the authorities would investigate the matter to determine whether PAS has links with militancy. With the floodgates opened, many "me-too"s followed suit to say their piece.

Make no mistake, we are fearful of the religious militancy currently active in the region and throughout the world. We have no doubt that the authorities, with their vast intelligence networks, will get to the bottom of the probe o­n Abdul Hadi and take appropriate action if something can be established fast of an event that is over two years old.

But as a plain vanilla newspaper reader, I do expect these senior writers who put the Islamic militants o­n their microscope to do nothing less than a follow-up o­n their investigative reporting. They are not the breeds with a record for holding trials by media.

My trust o­n them shall remain steadfast unless they choose to screw it up.