Irresponsible Media

Our media is under the control of the BN Government through the Ministry of Home Affairs which is empowereduner statute to rescind publishing permit or refuse to renew such permit on expiry if that publishing company or organisation has breached or breaches any of the conditions under which the permmit is granted or fails to heed the warning of the Ministry or violate any of the prevailing rules, regulatons or laws governing media pubication.

The media is controlled by the BN Government through its component parties. The big boys - NST, The Star, Utusan Melayu, Berita Harian, Tamil Nesan, Nanyang Shang Pao and Sing Chew etc are operating under the thumbs of the Government, which determines what news and reports the public should read and know.

The newspapers have the reputation of being biased and not too truthful in their publications. Unlike other newspapers in the West, there are more reports and news than advertisments and rubbish filling the pages. No wonder, many people are just fighting shy of buying these newspapers - which have been playing the role of the Government's mouth piece.

Everyday, one never fails to read about crimes - robberies, rapes, divorces, criticising the opposition parties etc. News that are untoward towards the UMNO/BN Government are often blanked out. Investigative journalism is seldom praticed; if at all done, it is always to the disdvantage and tarnishing the opposition parties.
A point in time was the damaging reports that filled the space of the local media before the Altantuya's case was being investigated by the police!

The public would want to know how the UMNO/BN cronies are performing their work the public entrusted them, the offences they have committed, the money they had siphoned out into their pockets, the disappearance of public funds like the PTPTN Scholarship Fund and the number of students to which the money had been loaned out and how much they are owing,the actions they have taken to recover these loans and the deficit that it is likely to face in the near future etc.

No wonder the Penang State Government and the Kedah State Government recently decided to ban reporters of UMNO/BN conrolled papers from their public functions. Why? The reason is quite obvious. Irresponsible reporting is the main reason.

Do I need to speak more?