The Malaysian Insider :: Opinion
The Malaysian Insider :: Opinion |
| The remedy against the muddy world of spin doctoring Posted: 27 Nov 2011 03:41 PM PST NOV 28 — The line between public relations spin doctoring and independent objective opinion can often be easily blurred and naive experts who are not careful can be caught in between. Just ask Professor Jeffrey Sachs of the Earth Institute, Columbia University, and he can probably tell you. Last week, The Independent broke the news that FBC Media was being investigated by British broadcasting regulator Ofcom in a global news fixing row. The newspaper noted that FBC was said to have tried to "cultivate" the world-famous environmental economist and other leading opinion formers in the green movement for the documentaries it made for the BBC and other news broadcasters, including CNBC. "FBC Media claims in its promotional literature that it targeted Professor Jeffrey Sachs, director of the Earth Institute at Columbia University in New York, to be an 'ambassador' for its corporate client on programmes it made about the controversial palm oil industry in Malaysia," read the report dated November 17. The Independent's story also noted that FBC worked for Sime Darby, the world's biggest palm oil producer. In an immediate reaction, Sachs issued a statement saying that he was "surprised and dismayed to see this completely inaccurate and utterly absurd portrayal of him." "He is not an ambassador or anything else for this company (Sime Darby). He has absolutely no personal relationship with the company and has never, indeed would never, serve as an 'ambassador' or 'champion' to any corporation," the statement noted. In my years as a journalist, I've been privy to plenty of PR spin doctoring. Some of the things I've seen and experienced were innocent and perhaps downright silly or hilarious when I recall them. Other spin doctoring wasn't so funny and left me utterly flummoxed. While I would note that paying money to specialised PR firms to enhance the publicity and image of a country isn't new, the heights to which countries would go today to get ahead have reached an alarming proportion, exemplified by what has happened over this fiasco. Given that palm oil is one of Malaysia's most lucrative commodities, Malaysia needs to boost its image especially when dealing with the thorny issue of deforestation in the palm oil industry. But the way FBC went about conducting its PR spin has not only seemingly blown up in its face but has also brought about international condemnation and vilification of its practices in other media. PR scandals involving large corporations are not new. So what makes this fiasco any different? To begin with, I think it has to do with the fact that it involves not a private company but instead a sovereign nation and very likely public expenditure. These factors make the issue that much more open to public scrutiny. But perhaps the more telling thing is that it involves an alleged collusion between the media, a government-linked company and a government. As someone who's an active practitioner in the media industry, I'm reminded that there must be clear lines drawn between the work we undertake for clients and the work we do as a journalist or in a news organisation. This is why many publications draw the line between an advertorial and an editorial. Thus, it's not uncommon practice to find a publication having separate and clearly demarcated personnel to handle advertorials and editorials. And when the article appears in a reputable publication, clear lines are also drawn between what is deemed to be an independent piece of fact-based journalistic article and what is paid for — or should I say, "a sponsored" article, a term that has been widely popularised by Google. But the thing is, as old-school news organisations stare down the barrel of dwindling advertising, news organisations and indeed the personnel that run them may be tempted to blur the lines between these age-old, prudent and accepted practices. The fact is truth can be conveniently stretched — even outright distorted — and often the power to do that comes in the form of dollars and cents. Although the BBC or CNBC may not have been complicit in FBC's plan to try and pass off its programme as factual news stories, the FBC/Sachs case only demonstrates the fact that even the most reputable of journalistic organisations could have taken for granted the programming they aired, passing them off as independent stories produced by reputable news organisations. The media has often been dubbed as the Fourth Estate, and for good reason too. In a functioning democracy, the media plays its part by watching over the other three pillars of government. But in this increasingly highly competitive, profit-driven world, who will act as the watchdog of the media? At the end of the day, I am of the opinion that only pressure internally and externally can bring check and balances to the media. From within, news organisations must value integrity and truth before revenue and profits. There is nothing wrong with being paid by clients for articles that carry targeted messaging — so long as it is clearly labelled as such — in order that readers or viewers know this fact. Stories that are paid for simply have no place in the sections that pass off as factual news reports. And the external factor that can keep the media in check is globalisation. Because of the interconnectivity brought about by the Internet, other news organisations, media watchdogs, non-governmental organisations and even individuals could potentially keep watch over the kind of news that is being reported by questioning the source of the news reports. In the final analysis, these pressure points working in synergy with each other could possibly be the last bastion of check and balance in today's increasingly competitive world of spin doctoring, ensuring that democracy will remain the order of the day. * The views expressed here are the personal opinion of the columnist. Full content generated by Get Full RSS. |
| Posted: 27 Nov 2011 03:28 PM PST NOV 28 — This year, I was elected class teacher for the second last Year Six class. I must be honest and say that dealing with 12-year-olds wasn't always easy. I am just thankful I made it to the end of the year with my sanity intact. I had six girls in my class. They were a lovely, quiet bunch. I also had 28 boys in my class, each with his own unique personality. Some were rowdy, always getting into fights with one another. Some were quiet, always tending to their own thoughts and rarely giving me trouble. Azam* was one of the quieter ones. All the teachers liked him. A soft-spoken and polite boy, he rarely gave us any trouble in or out of class. Then one day, he started missing school. At first it was just once a week. Then it became worse. Sometimes he didn't turn up for a whole week. I knew something was wrong. Each time he was absent, I made sure I followed procedure. I called his father. I left voice messages on his voicemail service. I sent text messages, asking about his son. Never once has his father responded to any of my attempts to make contact with him. Even the official letter from the school didn't work. We never got a response from him. Azam continued to miss school. All his subject teachers were concerned, myself included. The UPSR was fast approaching. We knew he could do better than just achieving a pass in all his papers. For that to happen, we would need to make sure he came to school more often. Whenever I saw him at school, I would try to talk to him. Maybe if he felt comfortable he would open up a little. He would rarely give me a straight answer, choosing instead to shrug or keep quiet. I tried not to nag but I knew he had to be constantly reminded of the fact that only education could help him create a better life for himself. I knew he understood that I was asking because I was concerned, not because I was trying to make him feel bad. Sometimes he would start tearing up, at which point I would often let him be. It wouldn't do to have him bawling in the staff room. I might start doing the same too! As their class teacher, it was my job to try and understand what was going on so I can help my kids. Azam wasn't one to talk. I couldn't get much information out of him. His father wasn't much of a help too. Luckily, some of the teachers and my pupils lived near his house so they shared with me whatever they knew about his home life. They told me that his parents got divorced a couple of years ago. During their happier days, his Indonesian mother was the one supporting the family. Despite living in Malaysia for many years, she couldn't get her permanent resident status because her husband refused to go through the hassle of applying for it. They weren't rich but at least, somebody was taking care of Azam. When the parents got divorced, his father got a job working at a factory in a nearby district. He moved there to be nearer to his workplace but left Azam to live with his aunt. His father would come and see him once a week. Sometimes he never came. That was when Azam started to pretty much take care of himself. He got into a car accident last year and received quite a large amount of money from the insurance company. Instead of using that money for Azam's education, his father decided to use it to fund his second marriage. Meanwhile, the poor boy was missing school because the father had neglected to pay his school bus fees. I felt very angry when I found out about his father's lack of care for him. How can he expect his 12-year-old son to be responsible for himself when he as a grown man was not responsible towards his own son? Trying to talk to the father was futile. He never responded to any of my attempts to establish some sort of communication with him. Even when we went to his house, we could never meet him as he was living in a different place. As his class teacher, I knew I had to help Azam somehow. His Malay language teacher and I decided to visit him at home so we could see for ourselves what his problems were. That day, we found him at home alone. He hadn't eaten since morning because there was no food in the house. The night before, he only had a simple meal of fried eggs and rice with sweet soy sauce. His aunt was away at work. He told us she would come home late every night due to her work which only finished at 10 each night. We decided to talk to his aunt. The heavily made-up woman certainly didn't look very happy to see us when we sought her out at her workplace. She told us about what happened between her brother and his wife, confirming the stories I had heard. She expressed her frustration over her brother's lack of attention to his own son. She also admitted to not being able to do much for her nephew because she had her own problems to worry about. We talked about him missing school and told her of our hope that he wouldn't keep doing that. His aunt then suggested that one of us pick him up every day so he wouldn't miss school. Bless my kindhearted colleague who quickly agreed to give him a ride to and from school every day because his house was on her way to work. So for the next few weeks, we made sure that he didn't miss any more school. He sat for the UPSR, all three days of it, and managed to pass at least two out of five papers. It wasn't what we had hoped for but at least we had tried. Azam came to see me on the last day of school to thank me for teaching and for helping him. I made him promise to call me if he needed any help with school next year. He promised to, although I doubt he would. He has always been a very proud kid. I always tell my kids to try and not miss school because while they are at school, the teachers can help them. I can help them. Once they are at home, they are lost to me. I cannot help them because some parents don't take too kindly to such help. I have had parents accusing me of being a busybody and trying to stick my nose into their home affairs when in actual truth, it was done with their child's best interest at heart. I don't know where Azam will end up in the future. I can only hope that he will remain the good kid he is and not get mixed up with the wrong crowd. As teachers, there is only so much that we can do to help our students. Parents too must do their part because at the end of the day, they are the ones who brought these children into this world. *Child's name has been changed to protect privacy. * The views expressed here are the personal opinion of the columnist. Full content generated by Get Full RSS. |
| You are subscribed to email updates from The Malaysian Insider :: Opinion To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
| Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610 | |
0 ulasan:
Catat Ulasan