May 13, 2013
| An academic, Dr Mustafa K. Anuar would still like to believe that the world is flat so that all the elements of social injustice, bigotry and tyranny on this earth can be pushed off the edge. |
MAY 13 — Many concerned and discerning Malaysians have for a long while been averse to much of the mainstream media because the latter has been peddling stuff and fluff which, for all intents and purposes, matters only to the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition while information and issues regarding the Pakatan Rakyat (PR) and other dissenting voices have been distorted, downplayed or marginalised.
The recent keenly-contested general election, which brought out the worse in the media concerned, only hardened the resolve of these Malaysians to disregard them and possibly increased the number of people who felt that these media had short-changed them.
Furthermore, many such Malaysians feel that their intelligence is often insulted by unethical journalism and overtly and overly propagandistic commentaries that these media unabashedly flaunt.
Thus, to reiterate, it is no surprise that over the years many Malaysians have made that paradigm shift to shy away from the mainstream media and opted for what is perceived to be more credible and fair journalism of online news portals.
As things now stand, according to media observer James Gomez, both Berita Harian and Utusan Malaysia witnessed their combined circulation declining from 1,147,126 in 2008 to 890,446 in 2012.
The same goes with the English-language dailies, namely New Straits Times, The Star and The Edge, the combined circulation of which plummeted from 936,664 in 2008 to 813,994 in 2012.
Okay, one may argue that the drastic drop in these papers is not necessarily because some Malaysians have totally given up on them; they have merely chosen the online edition of these publications, which incidentally are free of charge, as suggested by the February 2012 report of the Malaysian Digital Association: For instance, thestar.com.my, utusan.com.my and bharian.com.my have attracted 2,221,763, 1,171,578 and 769,772 unique visitors respectively.
But, then, at the same time, news portals, namely malaysiakini.com and themalaysianinsider.com have registered an impressive showing of 1,858,649 and 1,117,500 unique visitors respectively. This indicates a substantial preference for online publications.
In the meantime, Internet penetration in the country has climbed by a whopping 300 per cent in 2012: from 1,718,500 since the last general election of 2008 to 5,839,600 in 2012. Such a phenomenal increase in Internet penetration partly explains the popularity of not only news portals, but also the social media, such as Facebook and YouTube, where the users share information, news and video clips they cull from elsewhere as well as post their brief commentaries on current issues.
The interactive nature of social media obviously makes for an exciting time because the user is both the producer and consumer of messages, textual and audio-visual. It is this interactivity that attracts particularly the young people to social media and at the same time move away from the mainstream media even though both media have also a fair share of information "noises" and distortions.
There are a number of ways the mainstream media, particularly the press, have proven their time-tested ability to alienate themselves from the discerning and the young readers. For one thing, the social reality that the mainstream press present often doesn't square with the one that members of the general public possess, which can be frustrating and disappointing to the latter.
Just to pick a simple example: the rallies organised by the PR, or the ones held by Bersih, were downplayed to such a degree that the estimated size of these huge gatherings was consciously "reduced" by the editors in order to give the impression that they failed to attract a big crowd and that the "majority" of Malaysians disagreed with the objectives or ideals of these rally organisers.
In their inherent desire to serve, nay please, their political masters, these mainstream newspapers violate journalism ethics and subsequently become out of sync not only with social reality, but also and especially with the younger generation who do not take what is offered by these dailies hook, line and sinker nor take kindly to disinformation.
Furthermore, this is a group of young people who are keen to participate in the democratic process of the country, but to do so they require as much information as possible — which the mainstream press and broadcasting stations are not willing to do.
Thus, it is to the horror of most right-thinking Malaysians, particularly the young ones, when, for instance, Bersih, which is a movement for fair and free election, was portrayed by the mainstream media as a collective that was laced with subversive elements out to inflict trouble and chaos upon this otherwise peaceful, multiethnic country.
Such a ghastly depiction of Bersih, which caught the fertile imagination of many young people, had unfairly eclipsed the noble intentions of the popular movement.
Another example of how these mainstream newspapers committed a disservice to themselves is when they got themselves into the act of fear-mongering especially in the run-up to the recent general election.
In particular, the MCA-owned Star went on a kind of rampage to paint the blackest possible picture of its "favourite" political twins of the DAP and PAS via the hudud controversy. The casting of aspersions by the daily was done in a fashion that could pit one ethnic and religious community against another to the detriment of the unity and ethnic relations of the larger Malaysian community.
Worse still, such distorted coverage of religious issues is tantamount to promoting Islamophobia among non-Muslim Malaysians. Malaysians in general should pat themselves on their backs for having been able to resist the ethno-religious bait that was cunningly shoved by both politicians and media concerned.
In this regard, it is indeed disingenuous on the part of the purported "people's paper" to have been carrying stories in the aftermath of the 13th general election that were supposedly meant to promote and prioritise unity among the diverse ethnic groups in the country. It appears that Malaysians, particularly the young, who crave for a politics of inclusivity, have not been visibly excited by this journalistic charade.
Having said that, at least one could charitably argue, if at all possible, that unlike The Star, the rabid Utusan Malaysia has been consistent in its political flogging of the DAP horse in a bigoted fashion even after the recent general election. But that's another story that cannot be told in this limited space.
Then there are the sycophantic commentaries penned by columnists in certain English-language newspapers who in reality are akin to brazen cheerleading of the BN coalition.
In contrast, the news portals have made attempts to present free, fair and responsible journalism. There are certainly weaknesses in these alternative media, such as occasional factual errors and limited resources, but at the very least they have consciously tried to offer space for politicians from both sides of the political divide. For most PR leaders, these virtual news outlets are the very few platforms available for them to talk about their manifestos, policies and stand on certain issues.
In fact, these alternative media serve as a much-needed mechanism through which the PR politicians could attempt to defend themselves in the face of ideological attacks made against them via the mainstream media. To be sure, the right of reply is not offered (or provided sufficiently) nor respected by much of the mainstream media.
But equally important, inquisitive and discerning readers are able to get as much information as possible pertaining to the political situation in the country as well as incisive and no-holds-barred commentaries from the news portals.
So what appears in the country's media landscape so far is that the mainstream media largely cater to the needs and interests of the BN politicians while the key news portals and other alternative media by and large offer space for PR politicians. This led, rather disturbingly and incredulously, a certain BN politician to conclude recently that there is indeed freedom of the media in Malaysia as both types of media serve their respective constituencies! Journalism 101 at its infancy.
For Malaysia to move forward, the country's leadership as well as concerned Malaysians will have to revisit the old questions of restrictive media laws and media ownership and control so that at the end of the day the ordinary Malaysians can reclaim their right to information and voice their opinions. In this way, the coveted politics of inclusivity can be made possible and celebrated.
As for the mainstream media and their political masters, ignoring the writing on the wall can only be done at their own peril.
* This is the personal opinion of the columnist.
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