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Council pitting gov't against new media?
Published:  Jul 26, 2011 8:29 AM
Updated: 12:31 AM

your say 'The day of master-slave relationship between the government and media is over, and has been for some time globally - Malaysia is no exception.'

News portals excluded from govt's media council

Gerard Samuel Vijayan: The Media Consultative Council should be renamed the State Council for Media Control and Propaganda.

The entire composition of the council confirms the previously-held view that the council is designed to exercise further controls over the media to ensure that all news publications toe the government line in order to ensure that the Umno/BN hegemony continues.

If the council is supposed to be independent, why are there so many government representatives, bodies and persons aligned to the government?

Press freedom must be in accordance with the constitution not the law, since the Printing Presses and Publications Act (PPPA) 1984 has effectively killed press freedom and journalistic standards. The media in any democracy is self-regulatory and not beholden to vested state interests.

Media Consultative Council is a shocking development and it confirms that the government is going for total control. Ultimately, it is going to lead to a clash between the people and the government, and we the people must rise to the occasion to save the country from tyranny.

DannyLoHH: The so-called Media Consultative Council is more like a Media Control Council. It is jointly headed by Information Minister Rais Yatim, whom is well-known for spreading misinformation for the government, and Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein, who had just issued warnings to Chinese press for reports deemed too friendly with the Bersih 2.0 rally.

Both of these individuals, by their deeds and actions, are clearly against media independence. Then we have Ahiruddin Atan acting as the ‘new media' representative, a well-known blogger who has a reputation for spinning rather than blogging truthfully.

And there's the father of all press freedom killers, Dr Mahathir Mohamad. Wasn't Dr M the one who singlehandedly killed freedom of press in Malaysia when he shut down newspapers during Ops Lalang in 1987?

It seems the Media Consultative Council is going to be another step backward for press freedom in Malaysia.

Dood: Not only have they excluded the elements that really make up the alternative media such as the news portals, they only include the bloggers who are known to have favourable links to Umno/BN. Why even bother with this play-acting? Nobody is fooled.

Oh My God: As long as BN does not recognise the fact that there are opposing views or opinion in any democratic country, it shouldn't ever claim that we are practising true democracy.

Who actually will lose out? BN themselves, and they don't even realise it as they will never know the issues affecting the rakyat.

Ong Guan Sin: ‘National interests' should be read as ‘BN's interests', so the council sounds more like a BN-friendly media consultative council. The government has chosen to completely disengage the new media. Such ostrich syndrome is only to the peril of BN itself.

Malaysian Born: This is a step in the right direction, but by leaving out the online news portals, which in this case have become more followed than the conventional media, you totally dilute the effort.

Also, you need to have people who understand new media and its implications. By just loading the council with so-called heavy hitters like Home Ministry officials, Mahathir and a laundry list of apple-polishers, you're wasting an opportunity to make this work.

You have to realise that the reason the government has failed miserably is in the online arena. But you're not going to get it through pressure tactics and bullying.

You need to engage with new media and develop a working relationship with them. The day of master-slave relationship between the government and media is over, and has been for some time globally - Malaysia is no exception.

Perhaps getting rid of deadwood like Rais and others who are clueless might be a good first step.

Jimmy Ng: Rais, you have failed miserably in performing your duties. Deliberately refusing to engage with ‘alternative news' media is reflective of your arrogance and continuous high handedness. Too bad.

Until today, you and your compadres cannot differentiate between political parties and government. Until today, you have refused to acknowledge that BN does not own the government.

Acissej: The government should work to ensure the rights of the individual, not plot to take them away. The fundamental purpose of government is to protect its citizens.

Paul Warren: Hey, what about me? I am after all a prolific commentator in blogs as well as news portals. Like me, there are also other commentators as well. We, too, do guide news.

We may not report it, but we do analyse them, interpret them. Or at the very least, we make a nuisance of ourselves when not inconveniencing opinion-makers.

Loo Soon Fatt: In the first place, I wonder how respectable is the government's media council with the exclusion of the popular new portals. To the general public, the objective is to tell us the chosen part only, not the whole story.

The selected members of the council were practically all handpicked and seen to be pro-government propagandists, and do not reflect the media freedom that the rakyat has demanded all this while.

 


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