So it looks like the Barisan Nasional's mega-ringgit ad blitz and other media campaigns in the run-up to the recent general elections eventually paid off to some degree. Which is why there were a lot of self-congratulatory messages in the mainstream media soon after the entire poll results were announced.

For those who are short on memory but long on patience, we will try to recollect what happened the week when all hell broke loose, in particular some of the most unethical and crude advertisements and reports that were dutifully carried by Malaysia's mainstream media.

There was a series of ads which conveyed the message that to vote for the "loony" Opposition is to flirt with danger, nay, help bring about violence. This, we were ghastly warned, is not good for our political stability and economic progress.

If such dire messages weren't enough to convince at least those who are mentally challenged, images of political instability and violent demonstrations in countries other than our peace-loving nation helped do the trick.

And if that was not enough, Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, wife of the jailed former deputy prime minister, made a "rare appearance" in the mainstream media - but, of course, only to appear distrustful of her husband. Then, there were loads of so-called journalistic pieces and reports that tried to make the equation: a vote for DAP is a vote for PAS, and thus a vote for an Islamic state.

BN, to be sure, tried every conceivable trick it could think of in its zeal to win the hearts and minds of the Malaysian people, especially the fence-sitters. Thus, you got, for example, a star-studded appeal to vote for the development-oriented BN. A Malaysian actress, Michelle Yeoh, was even released from her "Bond-age" to embrace whatever BN stands for. A case of beauty and the beast?

This is not to mention that there were individuals who had faked the much-sought after Harakah . As you would predict, its contents were clearly meant to discredit PAS and, by implication, the Barisan Alternatif. It also needs to be noted here, though, that this Not-The-Harakah version isn't something that you can proudly place in the same league as Sabri Zain's famous Not-The-New-Straits-Times endeavour.

For one thing, the former lacks finesse, the very ingredient which, as already intimated earlier, was also missing in most of the ad blitz. This fakery is indeed a poor flattery of the real thing.

That said, the ads and a few reports crafted by spin doctors, especially the ones that were calculated to scare the non-Malay electorate, in particular the Chinese community, apparently achieved to some degree what they set out to do.

However, soon after the poll results were announced a few mainstream newspapers, The Star in particular, started to ask some nagging and important questions pertaining to the overall electoral performance of the BN. For instance, there were a number of pieces that tried to unearth answers to Umno's poor showing in the Malay heartland, in particular the northern states.

To those who are inclined to be a bit generous, this apparent practice of "investigative journalism" could be argued as one of the ways in which the mainstream media strive to redeem themselves and, therefore, regain whatever credibility that is left.

Further sample of news reports would strengthen the contention that the media were about to recover their sobriety and sense of right and wrong. Some days later, a few newspapers even published reports that suggest a crack in the much publicised unity of the BN.

The Star , for instance, carried a front-page news of two Gerakan assemblymen planning to leave the party and possibly to join the MCA. The duo's main gripe was the alleged poor leadership of the Penang Chief Minister, also head of Penang Gerakan, whom they said was responsible for what they saw as Penang's slow economic progress.

The sceptics, however, would insist that this is all a show, a pretense. The query about Umno's loss of popularity in the Malay heartland did not, they would argue, go deep enough into the heart of the matter: what needs to be raised are important questions such as the nature of Mahathir's leadership and his mistreatment of his former protege, Anwar Ibrahim - all of which have an adverse impact upon the minds of the Malay electorate in particular.

As for the Gerakan problem, one may need to see it in the larger context of BN's intraparty rivalry. That is to say, you may not want to discount the possibility of the MCA-controlled The Star having an axe to grind in highlighting the political problems faced by Penang Gerakan.

There are other instances of biased reporting which would only reinforce the sceptics' suspicion. The mainstream press, for example, is not letting up its desire to lambast opposition politicians such as DAP's Lim Kit Siang and Karpal Singh. The post-election DAP is painted as a party that is reeling from its electoral defeat, uncertain of its political survival and direction.

The Barisan Alternatif, too, is said to be facing possible disintegration, what with the relatively poor performance (in terms of seats) of KeADILan and PRM. The Terengganu Pas' plan to introduce the kharaj, the tax on non-Muslims, only gives fodder to these modern-day scribes.

An incident that occurred in the pro-government New Straits Times may very well give us a better clue as to what lies ahead for Malaysia's mainstream press. Writer Amir Muhammad's "Perforated Sheets" fortnightly column, where the real message can only be found between the lines, was eventually axed after a continuous run of four years.

The last straw for the NST management and owners was when his last piece, with a rather ominous title, "The need for alternatives", managed to escape the editor's scissors in the run-up to the general elections.

The mainstream media as a whole have a long way to go before they can regain, if at all, their credibility and dignity. Indeed, reputation and credibility take a long time to take root; but it takes a very short time to destroy all that should be dear to us.