I was grinning from ear to ear when I read that a recent survey conducted by Merdeka Center showed that six out of 10 Malaysians don’t trust the mainstream media while only one out of five has access to online news.
The Malaysian Insider reported HERE that the survey showed:
Malays
57 per cent polled said they did not trust reports in the mainstream media
33 per cent trusted the media
10 per cent said they did not know.
Chinese community
58 per cent said they did not trust the mainstream media
30 per cent trusted
12 per cent did not know.
Only 590 Chinese and 413 Malays as well as five focus group discussions with Chinese voters in Peninsula Malaysia were involved in the survey.
The Malaysian Insider report said that recent circulation figures show English and Malay-language newspapers like New Straits Times, The Star, Berita Harian and Utusan Malaysia have all suffered significant drop in circulation this year compared to 2009, with some as severe as 20 per cent.
As always, I question the validity of the results a 590 + 413 respondents = 1003 respondents which represent 0.003714814% of the population.
Seriously, I do not know why they bother to conduct a survey based on such a small sample size and how the media can highlight such results.
*yawns*
It has happened so often until I am quite fed up with the way the media and authorities play up on the results (to their advantage of course) even though the findings are highly questionable from the viewpoint of research methodology. I won't even bother to mention previous studies as I have blogged about it and lamented about the research value of such studies which appear to have issues with reliability, validity and representativeness.
For my graduation thesis alone, I used a much bigger sample and one that reflected the demography of my sample location.
Nonetheless, we can see that there is a high probability that the results reported may actually be masking the truth.
As you go out today, take a look at the piles of newspapers at sundry shops or news vendors. Note the pile of newspapers that are displayed. Gone are the days when you could not get a copy of any MSM.
And why?
Most of the MSM are either owned or controlled by the media. In a land where we do not have the freedom to say what we want in that one may lose his/her freedom for speaking up, how much credibility is left in reports? How many would still want to buy newspapers except perhaps to look at the obituary section or to see the classified ads?
My husband buys The Star on weekends for my boy who enjoys the comics! We get our news from reliable online news portals and uncanny as it may seem, sometimes, overseas news portals may reveal more than local ones.
Besides, poor proofreading is another bone of contention but then again, this applies not just for MSM but also online news portals!
Malaysians are not as clueless as what some may think. We do not swallow wholesale all that is offered to us on a stained silver platter. With the click of the mouse, we can access a whole new vista of information and judge for ourselves what is real, true, believable and objective.
The bells are tolling for the MSM and who is responsible for this? Until and unless the management and editors are ready to make a firm stand on journalistic principles, I guess the future may seem bleak as evidenced by the marked drop in circulation.
Oh well, thank goodness we DO have alternative media but even so, they had better buck up in their proofreading!
24 comments to Only 60%? You've got to be joking!
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Anonymous "The bells are tolling for the MSM and who is responsible for this?"
HerringWay of BN - makan ikan bilis
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nick Sis,
Not the Merdeka clown center again??? 60% malaysian do not trust MSM??? Could it be that only 6% Malaysian trust Merdeka clown center polls and surveys??? I think that's about right since I'm using my own household as the respondent and judging by the survey only an infant niece of mine answered favourably for Merdeka (actually she didn't choose, just dribble so I took it as a sign in favor of the Merdeka Clowns).
How did Merdeka conduct their survey when 10% of their respondent are unsure or do not know the answer? Are they implying that 2.6 million Malaysian are so stupid and 'spaced out" that they cannot make out their mind about choosing one choice over the other? Merdeka people got to be kidding me! What kind of outfit are they operating??? "Occasionally independent survey organization unless someone paid them to be bias"??? 1Malaysian are truly creative in creating 1kind of people...the loony ones..that's what!
1Malaysian=1 can short of a six pack or in other word "dumbest thing ever invented since a square wheel".
Good day and GOD bless.
Nick.
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telur dua All the MSM are controlled by either UMNO, MCA or MIC. They are not exactly a bastion of credibility.
To increase circulation I would suggest they drop current affairs altogether. Just stick to sports, classifieds and........cartoons.
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Anonymous "To increase circulation I would suggest they drop current affairs altogether. Just stick to sports, classifieds and........cartoons."
Malay Mail try that but still nonsense.
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Anonymous They can't report any better or else no permit for the next printing. Maybe they should have just ask the foreigners at the airport and the result would have been more accomodating.
Anyway, with their survival they are creating employment and it is a good thing. As for the result, we are the judges and let's shout Merdeka, ok.
~ahoo~
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Anonymous "Anyway, with their survival they are creating employment and it is a good thing."
OTOH, it's not a good thing to promote lies via noose instead of real news.
When the horse and carriage disappeared because of the arrival of the automobile a century back, the blacksmiths and hostlers deserved more sympathy for their sunset than today's conniving "journalism" spewing spins and lies for a living and selfishly making people stupid.
~wits0~
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Foinge I think it means they readers don't believe 60% of what is reported.
So if you take away the political propaganda which make up about 60%, the others like entertainment, sports, classified ads, orbituaries, etc can be trusted.
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Anonymous About 60% say they don’t trust the MSM
About 30% say they trust
About 10% say they don’t know
I look at it this way…
A) Articles, reports and statements that you and I cannot trust:
Those made by all BN ministers, particularly by the PM
Those made by all government ministries, particularly Finance, Education and Trade
Those made by PDRM and Election Commission, MACC, AG
Those made by political parties within BN, particularly the three main ones
Those made by morons about the economy and FDIs
Those made by pro-BN NGOs
Those made by MyDicka Center (This one 100% cannot trust)
(The above makes up about 60% of MSM articles)
B) Articles, reports and statements that you and I can trust:
Car accidents, murders, rapes, fights, robberies, cheating, baby-dumping, entertainment, sports, movies, cartoons, puzzles, commercial advertisements, job vacancies, obituaries, weddings, divorces, lottery results, weather, etc.
(These make up about 30% of MSM articles)
C) Articles, reports and statements that you and I do not know:
Horoscopes, astrology, some aspects of foreign news, scientific debates/reviews about impending calamities to eco systems, greenhouse effects, icebergs sailing into dangerous waters, Loch Nest monster, extraterrestrial beings, or some loony predictions about when is the end of the world, and so on and so forth.
(These make up about 10% of MSM articles)
So, Foinge, I’m with you. Not the % of people who don’t trust the MSM, but the % of articles that cannot be trusted.
StraightTalking
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Anonymous In U.S., Confidence in Newspapers, TV News Remains a Rarity
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Americans continue to express near-record-low confidence in newspapers and television news -- with no more than 25% of Americans saying they have a "great deal" or "quite a lot" of confidence in either. These views have hardly budged since falling more than 10 percentage points from 2003-2007.
http://www.gallup.com/poll/142133/Confidence-Newspapers-News-Remains-Rarity.aspx
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Anonymous The one who conducted such poll must have graduated from a low-class university! Definitely not from Oxford, Cambridge or Harvard!! S/he does not know even simple sampling technique.
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Anonymous "..The bells are tolling for the MSM and who is responsible for this?.."
Definitely, and they have been in total complicit with this regime designed stupefaction effort! They can't deserve much sympathy at all consequently. That would be badly misplaced pathos.
Let their hoodwinking editors and other staffs try a new vocation and let's not allow them to have (taken for granted now)easy streets after all that they have enjoyed at the people's expense and
lack of awareness. Or do we shed silly tears for scummy deeds?
Even Al'Jazeera, despite having a hub here, tells more and makes more sense on TV wrt local happenings.
It's about time to get organised and boycott the irritating, even offensive Pravdas and the local TVs vigorously.
~wits0~
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Unknown Dear Anon @ 11.30a.m.
Very true! Sometimes, it hurts too much for them to come face to face with the truth.
Thanks for sharing. Please keep in touch.
Cheers
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Unknown Dear Anon @ 11.32pm
Brilliant comment! You took the cue from the bells and wrote such a witty pun wrt to Hemmingway :-).
Thanks for your erudite input!
Do keep in touch. Enjoy your weekend.
Cheers
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Unknown Dear Nick
Haha! Yup - you got it. Same centre, same strategy specially designed for obvious reasons.
Love your 1kind description of loony people. Looks like sometimes, those who lie habitually will have difficulties discerning truth from deliberate spins.
Thanks so much for sharing.
Take care and may God really intervene to deliver Malaysia.
Enjoy your weekend.
Salam
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Unknown Dear telur dua
That is a very good suggestion but I doubt people would respond to it positively because of alternatives available in the net.
Lovely to hear from you again. So sorry for this late response. Have been busy with errands and chores.
Take care and do keep in touch.
Cheers!
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Unknown Dear Anon @ 12.04pm
Perhaps the only source of hope is for them to change management and for the PPTA act to be revised - then there could be a new breath of life...
Till then, many will have to suffer their nonsense unless they choose not to expose themselves to their crap.
Thanks for sharing. Take care and have a nice day!
Cheers
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Unknown Dear ahoo
Yup - they have to toe the line or face the boot.
On a positive note, indeed they are providing employment to some but even then, the standard of writing and even that of proofreading is not as good as what it used to be.
Take care and thanks for sharing.
Have a blessed week ahead!
Cheers
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Unknown Dear ~wits0~
Thanks for bringing up another facet of the argument. It is true - with such deplorable standards and the volume of spins, no wonder some may have lost the ability to analyze, scrutinize and rationalize.
Take care and have a great week!
Cheers
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Unknown Dear Foinge
Thanks for sharing that perspective. Very true. It is sad that things have deteriorated to this stage.
Take care and do keep in touch. Have a great week ahead.
Cheers
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Unknown Dear StraightTalking
I am always amazed at the depth of your analytical skills. Thanks so much for such an insightful input in response to the topic of discussion. You have certainly added value to my post.
Take care and have a great week.
Cheers!
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Unknown Dear Anon @ 4.40p.m.
Many thanks for that most informative link. I appreciate your kindness in sharing such vital and relevant information.
Take care and have a great week. Do keep in touch!
Cheers
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Unknown Dear Anon @ 7.20p.m.
Many thanks for that input. I totally agree with your point of view.
Take care and do keep in touch.
Have a blessed week.
Cheers
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Unknown Dear ~wits0~
Thanks for that input. I support your call for a boycott. In fact, the declining statistics should be a clear message to the MSM that the rakyat will not condone anything but the truth.
Take care and have a good week!
Cheers
Anonymous The balans 40% "believers" are believers in the classified ads, auctions, carrefour ads,dan lain lain