LETTER | Journalists have been absent from the real debate surrounding the next general election. There are some good pieces in the mainstream media despite the name-calling and abuses of mainstream journalists.

Philip Gollingai and Joceline Tan try their best to get in and explore the hearts and minds of our electorate as the campaign proceeds apace. There are those who criticised them as lackeys of BN as they work for a BN-affiliated newspaper.

And yet, if we look at the non-mainstream journalists, Malaysiakini and Malay Mail Online, we cannot but also raise questions on their journalism. Why are there no more critical, reflective pieces on the opposition?

It would seem that many non-mainstream journalists do not just ‘report the news that matter’ but are equally biased in favour of the opposition.

We could pretend that the mess that Malaysia is in is just some accident visited on the rakyat or better still, the mess was created by Najib Abdul Razak as Dr Mahathir Mohamad proclaimed.

But we would be lying for if we did that, it would be intolerable, unconscionable and unprofessional. And that is the failing of contemporary journalists and the opinion piece writers. The hard work that is required is not done.

In a recent piece which I sent to Malaysiakini, Malay Mail Online, The Star and Free Malaysia Today, on which I wrote on Pakatan Harapan’s spending promises and their lack of fiscal responsibility, only FMT saw fit to publish it.

I expected brickbats and the kitchen sink to be thrown at me and the comments reflected that. I was called a supporter of BN, a BN apple polisher and a paid dog/agent for Najib, And also that my analysis was not credible and that it was all guesswork.

I was also told that we need to save Malaysia from a corrupt government and the comments also suggested that any budget shortfall could be solved by a crackdown on corruption.

These comments are in many ways, a failing of our journalists, a failure in that many simply had not done their work rigorously.

Many (including the non-mainstream journalist in Malaysiakini, MMO) have not been able to provide sound and solid analyses of substantive policies nor were they prepared to do the hard work that is required of good journalism.

To start with, I am and have never been a supporter of BN. I have never voted for them and I received no pay from any Malaysian government or agency. I have problems with BN’s policies but there’s already a plethora of work done on that.

There is so much sloppy and lazy-thinking amongst the commentators and journalists allow these to flourish; indeed, they cheer on these misinformed comments.

For example, weeding out corruption in Malaysia would solve all our funding problems. The current government's expenditure is RM319.3 billion, our national international reserves stand at US$103 billion (RM391 billion) and the national debt is RM685 billion (and not as one commentator asserts RM1 trillion).

My article shows significant liabilities, well over RM366.87 billion in Harapan’s promised extra government expenditure on top of the current RM319.3 billion.

In other words, if we are to maintain our current schools, hospitals, fund our infrastructure and spend on welfare, we would be spending RM686.17 billion.

This is excluding Harapan’s promise of making university education free; maintaining the BRIM pay-outs and cutting excise duties for imported cars for first car buyers. If they are factored in, committed government expenditure would be far, far greater than the RM686.17 billion.

My question remains: where is the funding coming from? Why are journalists not asking these hard questions?

Can we, as our informed commentators tell us, get rid of corruption and these budgetary problems will be resolved? This is real stupidity at its best, if not idiotic and moronic. Corruption can stop some leakages but more often than not, it is effective probably only once and with crackdowns, savings become less over the years.

And that brings further problems for if we take the expenditure and assume that they are spent over a five-year term, total government expenditure would be RM2.586 trillion.

Again, where is the money coming from? What government spending programmes would have to be cut? Can corruption plug a RM2.6 trillion black hole in Harapan’s manifesto?

One schoolteacher commented that my figures are based on guesses. They are actually based on figures provided by DAP political figues, DAP-affiliated think-tanks, the national budget, the national statistical office and the World Bank. If any, I have even been more conservative not factoring in any increased due to inflation or the increased shortfall in GST revenue vis-a-vis the SST.

Journalists have a duty to report the news; they also have a duty to inform and challenge themselves in the face of “alternative facts” and an absence of a commitment to truth. I am not suggesting that journalists suspend their own judgement nor am I suggesting that they should pretend that all perspectives are inherently equal.

Instead, it is incumbent upon reporters and journalists to apply professional judgement informed by a rigorous assessment of the facts, with the objective of informing readers and viewers and not let alternative facts pollute and corrupt good journalism and portray journalists whether they are mainstream or not, as sycophants.

We need to restore journalism to its venerable space as a venerable institution that seeks truth and accountability from our politicians. We need to recreate trust, for trust is the key to the survival of solid, dependable journalism in an era when just about everything (from blogs to fake news and authoritarian regimes) is ranged against it.

Without trust we have nothing. And trust requires truth-telling without fear or favour and sadly that is missing even in our non-mainstream media.

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysiakini.