special report The media have been collectively blamed for reporting that the woman detainee who was forced to strip naked and performed ear squats at a police station was a Chinese national.

The mistake has caused a flap in the ties between Malaysia and China. However, in the wake of the revelation that the detainee was a Malay Malaysian, many Umno politicians have been baying for blood, putting some top editors on the defensive .

But which media organisations misled the public?

A quick survey of local dailies on Nov 25, the day after member of Parliament Teresa Kok exposed the 71-second clip showing the woman detainee in nude doing ear squats in front of a police woman, revealed that the news had made it into all their front-pages.

Their reports showed that most local newspapers had jumped to the conclusion that the woman detainee was a Chinese national or "believed to be" a Chinese national.

In its lead, Umno-linked New Straits Times says a "female Chinese national" was depicted in the video being stripped and mistreated by the police.

Rival English-language newspaper, the MCA-owned the Star , says "a Chinese-looking" naked woman was shown doing ear squats, also in its lead paragraph.

Similar spin

Meanwhile, the headlines of Malay-language daily Utusan Malaysia , which is owned by Umno, screamed 'Rakaman video wanita rakyat China bogel hangatkan Parlimen' (Video recording of naked female Chinese national rocks Parliament).

Another Malay daily, Berita Harian , which is indirectly linked to Umno, mentioned that the woman was believed to be from China in its first paragraph.

Most Chinese-language newspapers also produced similar spin in their coverage of the scandal.

While MCA-owned Nanyang Siang Pau did not mention that the woman was a Chinese national in its headlines and lead paragraph, it nevertheless said that the detainee was a Chinese later in the report.

China Press , another MCA-owned daily, also did not highlight the nationality of the woman in its lead, but mentioned that the clip had created suspicion that it was linked to the four Chinese nationals who had earlier complained about being strip searched by the police.

Top selling Chinese-language newspaper Sin Chew Daily , owned by Sarawak's timber tycoon Tiong Hiew King, reported in its frontpage headlines that the woman was believed to be a Chinese national.

The only exception are free newspaper The Sun and independent online daily malaysiakini . Both their reports made no mention of either the ethnicity or nationality of the detained woman.

The following are the headlines and lead paragraphs of the newspaper reports on Nov 25, obtained from their respective websites:

New Straits Times - Lockup outrage

A video clip purportedly showing a female Chinese national being stripped and mistreated by police had MPs all abuzz at the lobby of Parliament House this afternoon.

The Star - Nude woman ordered to ear squat

A controversial video footage showing a woman in uniform instructing a Chinese-looking naked woman to do ear squats caused an uproar after it was made public yesterday.

The Sun - Caught in the act

A 71-second video clip shown to two government ministers and several members of Parliament left them speechless and stunned. [ The Sun did not mention the ethnicity and nationality of the woman.]

Malaysiakini - Naked woman police abuse clip sparks uproar

A one-minute mobile phone video clip showing a woman being forced to strip naked and do ear squats in a police station has sparked an outroar with both the government and opposition calling for the police to be taken to task.

[ Malaysiakini did not mention the ethnicity and nationality of the woman. This report appeared on Nov 24, one day earlier than the other newspapers.] Bahasa version l Chinese version

Utusan Malaysia - Rakaman video wanita rakyat China bogel hangatkan Parlimen

Lobi Parlimen hari ini dihangatkan dengan tayangan rakaman video seorang wanita dipercayai rakyat China yang bogel dan diarahkan membuat ketuk-ketampi oleh anggota polis wanita.

Berita Harian - Gempar VCD tahanan dibogel

Belum pun reda kontroversi membabitkan pelancong China dikasari pihak berkuasa, kini tersebar klip video seorang wanita dipercayai rakyat negara itu yang dipaksa berbogel dan melakukan `ketuk ketampi' ketika dalam tahanan polis.

Sin Chew Daily - Suspected Chinese national humiliated, handphone video widely circulated

After the attention generated from the case of the three Chinese nationals, there is now a handphone MMS video clip showing what is believed to be a Chinese national being asked by a policewoman to strip and do ear squats in a room which appeared to be a lock-up.

Nanyang Siang Pau - Video of police humiliating woman detainee shown in Parliament

A video clip showing a policewoman humiliating a woman detainee stirred outrage in Parliament today, with parliamentarians and ministers hotly discussing the issue.

[In the report, Nanyang Siang Pau says that the woman was a Chinese.]

China Press - Naked video submitted to PM, DPM

A MMS video clip showing a woman detainee, suspected of being asked by a policewoman to stripped and punished in a lock-up, has caught the attention of cabinet minister.

[ China Press did not mention the ethnicity and nationality of the woman. However, it mentioned that the video created suspicion it was linked to the four Chinese nationals who had earlier complained about being strip searched. The newspaper's evening edition on Nov 24 was first to report the video where it specifically mentioned the victim was a Chinese national. But that report was not available online.]

Note: New Straits Times and Berita Harian do not provide free links to their archive stories, while Oriental Daily does not have an online edition.

Related report: Woman's nationality withheld because of by-election?