masterwordsmith-unplugged

Back in January 2008, my family were very disappointed with MSM. I still remember what happened when my newspaper vendor came to my house one evening to deliver the bill for that month. We had reached the end of the road in view of the one-sided propaganda that was being churned out in favor of the status quo before the 2008 elections.

When I told him we wanted to terminate our subscription to xxx xxxx, he protested and said that it was tough going for him as many households had made the same decision. He then explained that some maintained status quo in their subscriptions with the vernacular press which till today, remains fairly stable.

The truth of the matter is that the quality of the media – television, radio, newspapers – has deteriorated in regard to political coverage during the past two decades. If we look at media content or even headlines, it is clear that key decisions on what is newsworthy are controlled by higher hands. Do they show awareness of current issues as seen from the rakyat's perspective? Do they encourage input from the public in other ways apart from the letters to the editor section? Do they bother to engage us at all? Such a scenario has serious consequences on the voting behavior and political attitudes of the rakyat!!!

Why are many quite apathetic towards the political climate of the country? Well, most of MSM are practising selective reporting. They don't highlight the real issues that we face today such as key concerns of the masses. What they dish out when expounding elite issues do nothing but insult our intelligence.

In reality, the Home Ministry(Kementerian Dalam Negeri ) can flex its muscles via Printing Presses and Publications Act (PPPA), Official Secrets Act (OSA), Sedition Act and more. Click HERE and OVER HERE for more information.

Thus, media personnel dare not criticize government policy in a hard-hitting manner because of self-censorship for fear that they might stir up political controversy which might make them lose their publications license. They may also fear alienating advertisers or corporate sponsors. Are dollars and cents more important than fulfilling their moral obligation to society at large? Besides, they also pay considerable attention to the stock market and worse still, become the mouthpiece of the upper middle class who hold the purse-strings for advertising budgets.

We are paying $$$ to read bland government propaganda which skirts or avoids REAL and IMPORTANT issues that plague the nation. The reporting style used when covering elections is one-sided as it favors the government in power. The MSM should rightfully inform or educate the public about the need to exercise their right to vote and the importance of voting by their conscience and not by party or other trivial factors. Think. Do they bother?

Have you ever seen any article in MSM that questions or highlights the influence of corporate power over the media and the government? Have they featured articles that show how these have undermined democracy?

Seldom do we see probing investigative reporting with a few exceptions such as Citizen Nades and the recent disclosure by Star Probe. Pathetically, we can see that in many writers do not explore issues in responsibly without fear or favor.

The type of news we get seems to focus on sensational and catastrophic stories, and political one-upmanship and entertainment news especially celebrity gossip. What we seem to get would be shallow, practically useless biased discussion that serve elite interests and not that of the rakyat.

Currently, Malaysians must be involved in the reform movement such as in:

*media reform
*election reform
*or any political reform

Then only can we tackle the issues that are undermining the foundations of our current system. We ALL MUST become politically engaged if we are serious about our goal to bring about change in our country and it has to be seen in very important areas of society such as in political and communication systems.

The time is NOW with no time to waste!! We must realize that without a democratic media free from the control of business and government...without a fair election process, we would no longer be a free and democratic society. We would be morphing more and more into a plutocracy where by there exists a government ruled by the wealthy and serving the wealthy rather than the rakyat!!!

And do you want that to happen?