Neutrality may have been text book journalism but increasingly the practitioners are discovering that they cannot remain neutral in an evolving media environment.

Top investigative journalist Mark Lee Hunter, author and co-author of some 200 investigative reports, said this is particularly true when dealing with investigative journalism.

"People understand that investigative reporting is about changing something. You want to be honest about facts, we don't make up facts to get the change.

"But we are going to use the facts to say what must change - this is not exactly new, but it's new in this context because for half a century, journalists were told they must not do this," he said during a forum entitled 'Strengthening Democracy through Investigation Journalism' in Kuala Lumpur today.

He said this was increasingly prevalent among NGOs which have set up their own media units, carrying out their own investigations such as the Greenpeace movement as the media loses its appetite for such reporting.

Hunter, who is also a founding member of the Global Investigative Journalism Network, pointed out that in the meantime, the traditional media, despite espousing objectivity, is hardly believed by the public.

'Objective or not, people don't buy it'

For example, in the United States, only about 25 percent of the population thought the media was objective, he said.

"If we can't be objective then how can we appeal to people to believe in us? We have to be transparent," said Hunter, an adjunct professor and senior research fellow at France's Insead, one of the world's leading business schools.

He said readers and viewers no longer wanted only to be informed but also want to be part of solutions, therefore it is for the media to be honest about its intentions to guide the public.

Echoing this is Zaharom Nain, a communications studies professor at University of Nottingham, said the old notion of journalistic neutrality was flawed.

He added that journalists needed to have commitment to use the limited space to report on things that go beyond the official version.

"The notion we have to be neutral when we live in a non-neutral world and a non-neutral country - I think there needs to be an attempt to counter that non-neutrality and not just stay on the fence," Zaharom said.

Likewise, he added that this new mind-set should be adopted by educators.

'Fear to challenge authority'

Zaharom lamented the feudal nature of the country's education system which has created a generation of students reluctant to question authority, an aspect important for investigative journalism.

The forum, moderated by Nottingham's University's assistant professor in media and communication Tessa Houghton, saw Southeast Asian Press Alliance executive director V Gayathry and Malaysiakini editor-in-chief Steven Gan also among its speakers.

Houghton had noted that another hurdle to investigative journalism in the country was the distractions from right-wing groups.

"There is this constant procession of court jesters - most recently Isma - which make outrageous statements on a daily basis and everyone falls at their feet to cover them.

"In the background, there are huge structural issues that are going on distracted by this daily chaos (and) soap opera," she said.

The forum, hosted at Kuala Lumpur-Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall, was organised by Nottingham University together with news portal Malaysiakini and the Southeast Asian Press Alliance (Seapa).