Wednesday, April 16, 2008

NST pg 13 - TV/papers no longer credible

JUST a quick one before work starts full steam today - Information Minister Datuk Ahmad Shabery Cheek said TV and newspapers no longer have the credibility that they once commanded. That's what one newspaper said today.

The NST says the public are more skeptical nowadays, and even demand to know who owns the newspapers and who the editors are. This was not the case before, the minister said.

If what the minister says is true, then something must be done to rectify this. A lot of tax payers money are being spent on state-owned television and radio stations, and they can't all be that bad. As for mainstream newspapers, people do still read them and advertisers can't ignore the considerable following they command, albeit a reduced one at that.

One question though - could this erosion in credibiluty be the reason why many politicians, including those from Umno and the BN are turning to the blogs? Even former Health Minister Datuk Dr Chua Soi Lek has come up with his own blog with his first posting on media freedom, or the lack of it.

But you and I know that politicians from Pakatan Rakyat have had their blogs much earlier. And they have interacted much better with their constituents.

The minister made this comments after opening a media workshop at Universiti Malaya yesterday. After the opening, it was my turn to speak to the 30-odd journalists from Malaysia and other countries.

My take on this is simple - if the mainstream media remain professional, their credibility will be restored. And one immediate step to help them stay professional is to remove whatever hold politicians have on the media, be it institutional or personal.

8 comments:

Salak said...

"And one immediate step to help them stay professional is to remove whatever hold politicians have on the media, be it institutional or personal."

There's one good way to do this. Tear down the restriction on licensing; mebbe set up a public body to approve licences. The MCMC body is a beggar's house set up to pay rakyat' money to people who demean themselves of the God given abilities they have.

Anonymous said...

NST page one - NST sudah marah sama itu orang Umno. Paling teruk kena ialah Hishammuddin. Kesiannnn.

Anonymous said...

tok mat yang dihormati

teorinya mudah saja. bapa borek anak rintik. anak buah buat kerja ikut rentak tari bossnya. kalau tak miss soru ataupun sign saja tawaran vss, walaupun cabaran hidup kat luar pagar msm ni bukannya mudah. rm vss boleh selesai sekelip mata kalau tak bisa merancang untuk hidup sendiri, kerana tak de pengalaman macam mana susahnya hidup berdikari. so kalau x berani, buatlah kerja ikut istilah 'professional' yang difahami majoriti.

atas nama kebebasan bersuara..lah.. maka ramai yang mendapati blog macam tok mat punya ni didapati terdapat info dan luahan bebas dengan saringan atau gatekeeping process yang paling minimum. sebab itulah orang suka baca blog, walaupun sebenarnya tak semuanya ditelan bulat-bulat, sekurang-kurangnya ada saluran untuk meluahkan pelbagai jenis feedback yang tidak boleh dipandang enteng atau sepatah kata orang putih 'take it for granted'...ini memang sukar dilakukan oleh msm..dan sekarang ni pun makin ramai kalangan politikus yang dah sedar kepentingan dan kesan blog, mungkin antara sebabnya kerana 'mereka-mereka' ini dah mula celik IT,..isk,isk,isk...

xmsm

IES Agencies said...

Datuk

today star carried the pig story, the headline said the plan will go on without changes and the picture showed the relevant state exco holding a picture

guess what Malaysiakini said? the picture of Umno Tanjung Sepat rep giving thumbs up while inside a pig farm.

You are a news man, which is the better story and which looks like a spin?

M.I.H said...

ah, not too late to tell it to Kali's face, shabery ...

Anonymous said...

datuk, why your blog slowing down again? tak kan dah penat kut.

Ahmad A Talib said...

Dean Anon 1108, TQ for your short note. Penat tidak, tapi sibuk sikit dengan kerja lain. Dua tiga hari ni, banyak sikit berjalan. Dalam hal blogging ni, yang paling aktif islah Rocky. Kita kena tabik pada dia!Salam!

Anonymous said...

Tutup saja surat khabar. Kalau Perdana Menteri pun tak tau apa yang berlaku dalam surat khabar, apa gunanya lagi. Yang kita tau, orang surat khabar jadi penasihat kat Putrajaya tu. Apa ceritanya ni?