After a public event on democratic empowerment recently, a very upset MCA member came up to me and said tersely, 'You have just disgraced your dignity as a journalist by failing to evaluate the BN government's performance in a fair manner. Sheer bias. Why don't you quit commenting on politics and join the opposition?'

My biggest offence? Merely a reminder to the audience of the MCA's well-known servile obedience to Umno.

NONE In return, I told the man I have never been a journalist, but a free-lance columnist at best. Writing columns does not a journalist make. He refused to listen, and was becoming verbally abusive. The organisers kindly advised me to stay back to avoid anything untoward from happening. I heeded their words. After all, I am no stranger to BN-style thuggery.

In retrospect, I can see that the frustrated MCA man is a product of our erosive media, as he continues to live in the fantasy that the government has the right to be treated freely and fairly while denying the opposition and civil society even the slightest opportunity to be heard. It was simply too unpalatable to him that he should have unfavourable criticisms thrust upon his beloved (?) party.

In short, many in the government hold the alternative media responsible for much of their woes today, and foolishly believe their bad luck would be wished away in a tightly controlled media milieu. At least, there would still be a feeble hope that they would not be the only party on the receiving end of the umbrage even if they were to face the public.

Never mind that many a “pro-opposition” political commentator has on many occasions penned disagreements with Pakatan Rakyat, especially on their lawmakers who have something of the night about them.

BN politicians have the nerve to demand impartiality under circumstances beyond their control. And this, as we all know, is despite the fact that the mainstream media are either owned by or closely linked to the ruling coalition.

Duty to inform

Granted, the role of the media is to inform the public so that the ordinary folk can go about their lives safe in the knowledge that educated decisions are being made.

But in Malaysia, political news is heavily one-sided and information is often twisted to the advantage of the authorities. And it gets to the brink of perfidy at election time, the promise by the government to uphold freedom of the press notwithstanding.

Acutely aware of the peril of 'deviation', Malaysian journalists are in some way compelled to place a stronger emphasis on superfluous details or events, either to tip-toe through political landmines or to distract the attention of the audience.

singapore media corp article on rosmah the first lady in waiting 010708 Which is a reason why Rosmah Mansor is given such prominent coverage in the press these days; whether what she does is vainglorious or substantive seems immaterial.

And I do seriously think it is high time the mainstream press salvage their rotten reputation and self-esteem somewhat, by stopping reference to her as “ First Lady ”.

Charles Prestwich Scott of the Guardian once famously wrote that 'facts are sacred, opinion is free'. Yet in Malaysia, the mainstream media can never tell the vital difference between facts and opinion, and tend to lump them together with a view to misleading the public. Whatever information that comes from the corridors of power is taken as gospel truth, and opinion is often added mostly for the purpose of embellishment.

Worse, there are media operators who naively think neutrality is expressed by not taking sides at all. This tendency is, again, more pronounced during elections. However, in conceding much greater space to the government of the day, these media “professionals” have made a travesty of serious journalism, given that voters are unable to make informed decisions based on their media reports.

Keep politicians in check

In Britain, most of the dailies, broadsheets and tabloids alike, are free to advise their readers which party to vote for. Yes, they are not timid to make their view widely known.

During the just concluded General Election, the Guardian ditched the ruling Labour Party and rooted for the Liberal Democrats, while the Daily Telegraph remained staunchly behind the Tories. More importantly, many of their journalists and columnists are not satisfied with speaking truth to power, but seek to challenge it whenever possible.

flash mob read newspaper upside down 020510 05 If the job of the media is to keep politicians in check, why in Malaysia are they so afraid to take the plunge, preferring to be covered by the fig-leaf of impartiality while their news reports are already heavily in favour of the powers-that-be?

Thus, rather than fill the news headlines with propagandistic information or columns that serve no purpose but beat around the bush, the mainstream media should produce more fact-based intellectual reports and critical analyses. They must also be bold enough to take a stance at critical junctures.

The Malaysian public should be mature enough to demand more than gossipy and frivolous news, and some have indeed spoken up last Sunday.

As for the MCA, they have no right to tell anyone to remain neutral when the media under their control continue to dis-inform and infotain the public.

 

JOSH HONG studied politics at London Metropolitan University and the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. A keen watcher of domestic and international politics, he longs for a day when Malaysians will learn and master the art of self-mockery, and enjoy life to the full in spite of politicians.