Umno-owned Utusan Malaysia has accused Malaysiakini of acting unethically in its reporting and surreptitiously operating under a facade of fairness.

In an analysis piece by its editor Zulkiflee Bakar today, the newspaper said Malaysiakini puts up a facade of transparency, but "everyone" knows its inclinations, purpose and hidden agenda.

"Responsible journalism does not entail the reporting of facts that have yet to be verified, not reporting issues that can cause controversies and definitely not distorting the facts for the political purpose of some quarters.

"However, if we look at Malaysiakini's reporting, it is clear that all these (factors) are not in their consideration. Malaysiakini just wants to be popular and possibly profit through its stone age journalism practices," wrote Zulkiflee.

He said fair reporting and maintaining sensitivities were not in Malaysiakini's "dictionary".

"Because of this, it will publish whatever comments by its readers, which are at times rude... even the rulers are not spared from being victim of Malaysiakini's twisted reporting," he said.

In closing, Zulkiflee said it was impossible for Malaysiakini to change public perception that it indeed practised " kewartawanan zaman batu (stone age journalism)" when it was selling " batu bata (bricks)" for a new building.

Zulkiflee was referring to Malaysiakini's campaign to source public funding for its new office.

Contributors will have their names etched onto a brick for display. For details, click here .

Red Bean Army

In a separate article today, Utusan reports that Malaysiakini and the so-called Red Bean Army (RBA) share the same ideals.

The report quotes Jaringan Melayu Malaysia (JMM) Perak chief Hamdan Mohd Salleh as stating that both entities are designed to be propaganda agents and are funded to do so by unnamed parties.

He said JMM had once raised the issue of Malaysiakini's foreign funding but the portal has remained silent about the issue.

" Malaysiakini and RBA want to overthrow the government. Their funding is huge, but they remain silent about it," Hamdan said, despite Malaysiakini having responded to this issue numerous times.