YOURSAY 'If the government is smart, they should stop living in denial and let the media have a free hand in reporting.'

MP: Opposition has wider reach via online media

Magic Mountain: Kota Belud MP Abdul Rahman Dahlan, if you are trying to show that you are smart, then you are doing a very bad job.

Utusan Malaysia , The Star and New Straits Times lost their credibility approximately 12 years ago and it's a wonder that these papers are still in print. Maybe it's because people are buying them for the advertising, sports or cartoons.

Is anyone still watching TV1, 2 and 3? I am sure only the kampong folks, who cannot afford Astro, are patronising these channels. That is why there are still people believing in BN.

As for Umno Youth exco member Lokman Adam, maybe your comments are so stupid and offensive that Malaysiakini has to delete them, but mine never got deleted.

If BN did not try to control the media, you would have lost power 12 years ago. So you go figure it out.

Thank goodness, we have the Internet and even with this medium, the BN government tried to hack into Malaysiakini and Malaysia Today websites not too long ago.

Myop101: It is my choice. I am paying for what I am reading. Why should I bother if BN want to spread their propaganda via profit-oriented MSM (mainstream media) or government-funded (taxpayers' monies) RTM?

If the government is smart, they should stop living in denial and let the media have a free hand in reporting. Over time, people will opt to read MSMs again if and only if MSMs become independent and gives equal airtime to the opposition.

Until then, stop crying about Malaysiakini .

Anonymous_3f4a: Malaysians from all walks of life prefer to read Malaysiakin i than Utusan for obvious reasons.

Mainstream newspapers in Malaysia are controlled, biased, unfair, unbalance, tilted and simply not readable. If the MP from Kota Belud doesn't seem to understand, that shows he lacks insight on how ordinary citizens think, feel and act.

He is unfit to be the people's representative. In fact, he doesn't serve any purpose in Parliament except the interests of his political bosses. He is not there to represent the rakyat but Umno-BN.

Michael ng 34f2: Abdul Rahman, don't speak rubbish. The core support of BN comes from the kampong folks in the rural areas where they do not have Internet, kept illiterate if possible, away from the electronic media.

Besides all these, there is the "gerrymandering" by the Election Commission in Sabah and Sarawak, thus giving BN a greater edge in securing a larger number of MPs despite that they are representing a lower overall percentage of voters.

KFC_sucks: Give Malaysiakini the permit to print daily newspapers, then you can come back and talk about level-playing field.

Don't worry about whether online is mainstream or not. Online is online, hardcopy dailies are hardcopy dailies.

If you want a level-playing field, let Malaysiakini have their own daily. What you are doing is comparing apples and oranges.

Gandhi: Malaysiakini tops all the other online media and mainstream media because of its up-to-the-minute news.

Before Malaysiakini , I had to wait for 24 hours to read any important headlines in the mainstream media.

There's no watered down version in Malaysikini as they report without any slant to any particular party.

Wira: What the Kota Belud MP trying to say is if Pakatan Rakyat can spread truth through the online media to urban folks, Umno and MCA papers must have equal opportunity to spread lies through the printed and terrestrial TV media to the rural folks.

He doesn't understand that a level-playing field means both Pakatan and BN should be given equal opportunity to get their viewpoint and policy to all Malaysians through both the online and traditional media.

Comment: One must be crazy to say the likes of Malaysiakini matches government and their ruling party 100 percent directed mainstream newspapers, radio and TVs.

This also shows the shallowness of the thinking of the government side to think they can get away by trying to confuse the facts with fiction.

The truth is growing awareness amongst the people, especially the youth, that it is better to believe the opposite of what the mainstream media is portraying as truth.

Quigonbond: Going by Abdul Rahman's logic, since there's no online limitation against the ruling coalition, it would make perfect sense to free up mainstream media to opposition views, no?

Why is it that when it comes to good governance, BN must always look to Pakatan to take the first step? If BN is used to be led by the nose, might as well let Pakatan take over the federal government and show BN real leadership.

Fencesitter: Abdul Rahman, what make you so sure that Malaysiakini readers are pro-opposition?

As for me, Malaysiakini reports are uncensored and does not tilt to BN or Pakatan, simple as that.

Honestly l have stop buying The Star and stopped watching ‘berita' (news) from TV. Do you think I am pro-opposition. The answer is ‘no'.

1M: So, why doesn't Umno make full use of its online media as well, and give permits to others to publish their newspapers? Scared or what?

The above is a selection of comments posted by Malaysiakini subscribers. Only paying subscribers can post comments. Over the past one year, Malaysiakinians have posted over 100,000 comments. Join the Malaysiakini community and help set the news agenda. Subscribe now .