Communications and Multimedia Minister Salleh Said Keruak has launched yet another lecture to the media, taking off from the comments of Perak Sultan Nazrin Muizzuddin Shah Sultan Azlan.

While the sultan had commented on the demise of the state-run media, Salleh said it was a timely reminder to both the mainstream and the alternative media against producing biased news reports.

“This is a very timely reminder from the sultan and is something that both the mainstream and alternative media must take note.

"It is necessary that we heed the advice of the sultan and ensure that the media helps in nation-building and not the opposite," he said in his blog posting last night.

"The media must be responsible about how it conducts itself because what it publishes can influence the public and shape public opinion.

“Disseminating false or distorted news can have devastating results and can trigger conflict," Salleh said.

He repeated his criticisms of the media, claiming that it had wrongly reported issues that nearly allegedly caused racial conflicts, and praised his own government for acting quickly.

"Of late, we have seen inaccurate news being published that brought the country to the brink of racial conflict. Only fast action by the authorities managed to avert what could have resulted in bloodshed.

"This is a very timely reminder from the sultan and is something that both the mainstream and alternative media must take note," Salleh said.

Sultan: State media days over

Bernama over the weekend reported the Perak sultan criticising the state-owned media whose credibility deficit has led to the rise of alternative media.

"The era of state-owned broadcasting institutions being at the pinnacle is now coming to an end; in fact, the credibility of state-owned media and communications agencies is increasingly being questioned," said the ruler.

The country's official media should practise ethical journalism and refrain from reporting "half-truths", Sultan Nazrin Shah is quoted as saying.

"News reporting which is impartial (sic) and based on half-truths is not beneficial and counter-productive.

"If the country's official media institutions carry on doing this rampantly, it will eventually create a rift between the people and the government," the ruler said when opening the Sultan Nazrin Muizzuddin Shah Complex in Ipoh last Saturday.