VIDEO l 1.59 mins

DAP’s Internet TV station UbahTV has vowed to invite Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak to be its first guest to prove that they are liberal and will give the right of reply to all sides.

"Out of courtesy, it should be Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim (to be invited), but we are inviting Najib to be our first guest.

"It’s true that UbahTV is started by DAP to give our side of the story, but we are willing to give the other side the right of reply," secretary-general Lim Guan Eng told a press conference after launching the Internet channel in Kuala Lumpur today.

As the channel would be questioning BN and government policies, Lim said, it was only right that they allow the PM the right of reply.

In contrast, he said, this right has been denied to the opposition, despite it being lambasted day-in and day-out by the BN-controlled and government-owned mainstream media.

UbahTV ’s main aim, said Lim, is to break BN’s “monopoly of lies” and stranglehold over the mainstream media.

He also repeated his criticism of the offered promise of 10 minutes for opposition political parties to air their pre-recorded manifesto on national broadcaster RTM as not good enough to reverse BN’s iron grip on the media.

“As if to give 10 minutes is equivalent to press freedom,” he sniped.

The 10 minutes, he said, is an insult to democracy, fair elections and press freedom.

Lim argued that truth and facts must prevail and the public has a right to be given both sides of the story for them to judge for themselves what is really happening.

UbahTV , said Lim, aims to do just that, and hopefully see a better informed electorate come GE13.

DAP national publicity secretary and UbahTV project leader Tony Pua, who was also at the launch, said that the Internet TV will work in synergy with existing Pakatan Rakyat video portals like HarakahTV and SelangorTV to maximise their reach, though they also encourage others to post their videos on other platforms as well.

“We will not sue those who take our content to re-post it on their YouTube accounts, for example. The more people who view it, the better,” reasoned Pua.

Pua said that other than their main facility and crew in the Klang Valley, they also have production facilities and crews in Johor, Perak, Penang, Malacca, Sabah and Sarawak, though they are hoping to supplement their coverage by enticing citizen journalists and individuals with video equipment and know-how to help out.

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