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More in media inspired to back Bersatu cause, claims Kadir
Published:  Nov 7, 2016 11:56 AM
Updated: 4:50 AM

Former New Straits Times group chief editor Abdul Kadir Jasin said he understands journalists who remain with the pro-government mainstream media, as jobs are scarce today.

However, Kadir said, his appointment as Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) supreme council member has inspired and gained support from those in the media profession.

He said he has received messages from his former colleagues in the mainstream media, some of them saying they have joined Bersatu as members, while others are working to help the new Umno splinter party expand its membership base.

He said he understood the difficulty for those who work for the pro-government media to support Bersatu, which has joined forces with the opposition to tackle BN in the next general election, as he had been part of the same machinery.

"I know it is not easy for them to change direction and mindset, after serving so long on the Umno track, which I admit I myself has had a hand in taking them in that direction," Kadir said on his blog today.

"Those who still choose to work for the government and the mainstream media, I understand their position.

"No need to apologise, justify or feel inferior.

"I understand now the unemployment rate is rising - over 515,000 are now unemployed - and if you quit, it is hard to get a new job," he said.

He added even those who want to pay journalists' salaries "have to beg".

"However, I am confident they (journalists in the mainstream media) themselves are aware that whatever they had championed in the past is no longer the foundation on which the government operates on today.

"The situation has changed. Whatever cause there is left to champion, it is only for their own pockets," Kadir said.

"The slogan 'for race, religion and country' is now only sweet talk.

He said the model they had been working on in the past no longer works today.

Instead, he added, "what we have struggled for in the past is being destroyed today".

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