Home minister needs a tutorial in journalism
COMMENT Firstly, I must congratulate Malaysiakini for another excellent expose. Had it not been for this news portal, Ahmad Zahid Hamidi would have got away scot-free.
COMMENT Firstly, I must congratulate Malaysiakini for another excellent expose. Had it not been for this news portal, Ahmad Zahid Hamidi would have got away scot-free.
The home minister crossed the red line with his contentious speech in Malacca last Saturday. To me, it didn't matter whether it was a closed-door affair or not. When a political leader goes up on stage to speak, he is addressing a public audience. When he does that, he should remind himself to mind his language.
If he does not, then he is shooting his own foot with his mouth. Zahid did not and he has nobody to blame but himself for the sticky situation he finds himself in today. He created his own mess.
The venom he spewed out stinks to the highest heavens and many Malaysians were unable to tolerate the stench. That's how bad his sh*t was, to put it in the mildest term.
True to its declared vocation of telling the truth as it should be told, Malaysiakini's reports on the Zahid incident were factual. Tape and video recordings don't lie.
Contrary to Zahid's allegations of Malaysiakini editors' penchant for spinning, we all know the truth now. Malaysiakini reported the truth and nothing but the truth. Zahid knows by now how the truth hurts.
A lot have been reported and said by others about Zahid's devastating and self-incriminating statements. Many, including those from within the BN coalition, have described his speech as atrocious and against common decency and the fundamental tenets of law.
Hence, I will not go down that alley but will concentrate on dispelling the lies the minister told about Malaysiakini, particularly the blatant one about "spinning".
Refreshing change
Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim has asked Zahid to take up some lessons in law. I think the minister also needs a tutorial about the workings of a newsroom.
I have been a career journalist of more than 30 years and spent seven wonderful years in Malaysiakini from 2002 to 2009 with a team of dedicated and professional colleagues.
Having worked in the mainstream newspapers in Sarawak, Sabah and Kuala Lumpur previously, I found Malaysiakini a refreshing change.
For one, editors do not have to answer or take instructions from political bosses. Nobody from Umno, MCA or MIC (or any political parties) would be calling us to spike this or that story. (Editors in the mainstream media will know what I'm talking about.)
Journalists went to Malaysiakini not for the money because there was none. To me, it didn't matter that there was a steep pay cut from my previous employment. Malaysiakini was a vibrant and exciting venture where journalism was viewed as a vocation, not a mere job.
Steven Gan (left), the editor-in-chief and co-founder of the news portal, is an experienced and hard-working professional. He gives his editors the necessary leeway to treat stories accordingly. If he has instructions, he gives it by way of sharing ideas and not by directing. Most important of all, he trusts his editors.
I recall an occasion during the Sarawak state elections of 2006 when I had to hold the editorial fort while Gan was on an engagement overseas. Other than calling us to ensure that we were holding up fine and giving us moral support, never did he once instruct us on anything editorially. That was the general's trust, confidence and belief in his men and women in the field, and that's how things should be in the newsroom.
On my part, it was clear that I had to be fair and objective as an editor. That I had previously fought the Sarawak BN and the Taib Mahmud administration in two state elections - 1996 and 2001 - as an opposition candidate was set aside. I was no longer a politician. I have been a journo long enough to understand this and hold firmly to the ethics of the craft.
I remember we sent a reporter and a photographer to Sarawak for the duration of the state elections that year. We also had the services of our stringer, the late SC Chan, then. We were clear on what to do - be fair and give both sides due coverage.
On days when we realised that we were carrying too many stories from the opposition, we tried our best to rewrite reports from the mainstream media and other publications with new angles in order to balance things up. We were not only factual but fair too.
Ban on Malaysiakini
It must be noted that our lack of BN coverage was due to the ban on Malaysiakini imposed by certain BN leaders to their functions. Yet, we went out of the way to ensure that even those who did not like us were heard.
However, I do not expect ministers, such as the likes of Zahid, to appreciate how and what editors and their teams of journalists have to go through in getting stories out in the public domain.
For journalists, even if you do not like us, we have no choice but to give you coverage if you are newsworthy. For politicians, if they don't like certain publications or editors, you bash them up like the way Zahid dealt with Malaysiakini journalist Lawrence Yong last Friday.
Mr Home Minister, I hope you now have a better idea of how Malaysiakini editors work.
If you are really keen to learn more, I would suggest you sign up for an internship with Malaysiakini. It's an excellent organisation to learn how to be fair, factual and tell the truth.
I've a feeling that the organisation you are attached to now has taught you the opposite - how to tell lies, lies and more lies.
A day after you accused Malaysiakini of spinning stories, the news portal published everything you said in Malacca. Were they not all factual, Zahid? Didn't those words come out from your foul mouth? Why not accuse Malaysiakini of spinning again?
Now, I have to ask you this final question. Do you honestly think it's that easy for editors to spin stories?
If so, teach me. In my long career as a journalist, I have yet to learn that art.
FRANCIS PAUL SIAH treasures the happy days he spent with the young and old in Malaysiakini in years gone by. He currently heads the Movement for Change, Sarawak (MoCS) and can be reached at sirsiah@gmail.com.
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