During the recent general elections, the mainstream media, perhaps more than any other institution in Malaysia, were arguably the biggest miscreants. Indeed, they were certainly the most pathetic, sycophantic, unethical and unprofessional. But much of their crudely one-sided coverage was nonetheless anticipated by the Barisan Alternatif and concerned Malaysians generally.

Immediately following the elections, however, their partisanship mellowed. There were, indeed, moments when it seemed that the media were reeling from losses incurred by their political benefactors, the Barisan Nasional, particularly Umno, and were even beginning to talk seriously about - shock, horror - reforms within Umno and the need to (finally) acknowledge that the Malay community was indeed split.

But such rare soul-searching couldn't last. Once their political masters recovered somewhat from the hangover of losing Terengganu and Kelantan to PAS and seeing their majority in other states being whittled away, apparently word came down from the top to the compliant media to desist from further navel-gazing.

Instead, the media were told that it was open season again on the opposition. PAS, especially, needed to be ostracised, indeed demonised.

And while all this is going on, the onslaught continues on yet another front through threats to silence PAS' newspaper, Harakah , because it allegedly had contravened the requirements of the oppressive Printing Presses and Publications Act (PPPA). Surely this latest threat to Harakah by no less than the Home Minister (and Deputy Prime Minister), Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, will put paid to the silly and naive notion among many that he is "Mr Nice Guy".

It certainly reveals that despite the smiles and assurances that he would "look into" the memorandum by mainstream journalists in May this year to repeal the PPPA, it would seem that thus far he has done anything but.

Nice try, boys and girls in the press, but where are you now when Harakah is being threatened? Isn't this what the May memo was all about? So, why the deafening silence now? Indeed, how can you folks in the mainstream media be taken seriously - by the rakyat and even politicians like Abdullah - when you remain silent at a time like this?

So, despite the shameful coverage during the last elections, and despite the problems now facing Harakah , it certainly looks like it is business as usual as far as the mainstream media is concerned. The question now is: what can be done to reverse this state of affairs, to make the mainstream media more accountable to the public, to make the media more democratic, indeed genuinely responsible?

Quite a lot, actually, as long as we realise that just as those who purportedly "wield power" can put pressure on individuals and organisations using oppressive laws, so can, and must, ordinary citizens work together to seek and attain change using peaceful means.

And there are certainly a number of strategies available. Each of these, on their own, may yield minimum benefits, but together their impact would be quite substantial.

First, of course, is the act of boycotting the mainstream media, by refusing to buy mainstream newspapers especially. This, unfortunately, has limited effects, primarily because most major newspapers these days do not depend on circulation for the bulk of their revenue.

Instead, what's important for them is advertising revenue. Hence, their circulation may fall, but as long as they get the advertisers, this more than compensates for the falling circulation, at least in the short run.

Subsequently, for the act of boycotting specific media to be more effective, such an act needs to be supplemented by a second strategy - as proposed by a wise colleague - that of boycotting the major goods which these media advertise.

It wouldn't take much time and effort, for example, for a small group of people to work out who are the main advertisers in mainstream newspapers - and even in television - and then draw up a list of similar, alternative products which are not advertised. Citizens who are disgusted at the coverage of events by these newspapers can then be urged to buy these alternative products and not those advertised.

A successful two-pronged campaign of this nature would, on the one hand, hit the circulation of the newspapers and, on the other, put considerable pressure on advertisers to reconsider buying advertising space in the newspapers concerned. I don't think I need to add what the cumulative effect of a successful campaign would be.

A third strategy essentially is a challenge to those whom one local mainstream journalist recently heralded as "conscientious editors and journalists who do what they can to push those imaginary boundaries". Now, if these true-blue, dedicated professionals really want to put their money where their collective mouth is, they really should act by sending material which they know will be censored or totally spiked by their organisations to more independent establishments which will publish them.

"But wait", I hear these professionals squeak, "that would be unethical!". My immediate response to that would be, "Ethics, my eye!"

Let's face it, mainstream journalism in Malaysia is very much in the gutter right now, so let's not kid ourselves about ethics. Indeed, when the environment we find ourselves in is so unethical, so immoral, let us please not use "ethics" as an excuse for inaction. Indeed, such an excuse merely condones, legitimises this repulsive environment.

On top of these viable strategies, of course, would come the continuous, sustained, wider strategy of guiding the mainstream media towards greater democratisation and accountability by pressing for the removal of undemocratic laws, and through the setting up of independent commissions of enquiry into the role of the media. All this certainly will take time to yield positive results.

But the alternative, surely, would be what we have now - only worse.