HOW is our media measuring up to its role? If some newspapers’ treatment of what constitutes news is anything to go by, it is clear that some among the Malaysian media are not only unprofessional. They are also causing harm to vulnerable groups. Without a doubt, there is evidence that some media are targeting the […]
Commentary
A non-Malay PM: How possible?
By Deborah Loh
IN envisioning federal power, one of the Pakatan Rakyat (PR)’s trickiest points is where to place the DAP (read, a Chinese Malaysian) in the executive line up. As prime minister? God forbid, not in this Malay-Muslim majority country. As deputy prime minister? But what about PAS?
1Malaysia pageant vs fatwa
By Jacqueline Ann Surin and Shanon ShahDURING a press conference in 2003, then Perlis Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Shahidan Kassim tried to defend the state’s decision to loosen conditions for polygamy. Perlis had decided that Muslim men did not need to seek their first wife’s consent to marry another woman. At the press conference, which Jacqueline Ann Surin covered, the Perlis […]
Najib’s call to the media
By Shanon ShahIs Najib serious? (pic courtesy of theSun) “BUT to shape society’s knowledge, so that we are more intellectual, critical, and can think objectively, this is also the role of the press. You can’t report only stories that are sensational, hot or about conflicts only.” These were Umno president and Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak‘s […]
Reporting on Sibu
By Ding Jo-AnnInvestigating frontpage stories after the Sibu by-election… (© clarita | morguefile.com) (Corrected at 5.55pm, 18 May 2010) THE day after Sibu fell to the Pakatan Rakyat (PR) in a closely-watched and fought by-election, what kind of frontpage stories greeted Malaysians in the press? With some newspapers relegating the news of the week to a second […]
Politicised mosques
By Shanon ShahZaidPARTI Keadilan Rakyat (PKR)’s Datuk Zaid Ibrahim is under attack yet again, this time for characterising the Selangor sultan’s “decree” for mosques not to be politicised as a “personal opinion”. It all started when Selangor executive councillor in charge of religious affairs Datuk Dr Hasan Ali delivered a pro-Pakatan Rakyat sermon at a mosque during […]
When alcohol trumps polygamy
By Shanon ShahLET’S assume that in a democracy, the purpose of journalism is to provide the public with accurate and reliable information to function as individuals and members of society. By this definition, Umno-owned Utusan Malaysia should then be an accurate and reliable provider of public interest information to Malay-speaking readers across the nation. During the period […]
Jumping off the PKR train
By Deborah Loh(Pic by Jascha400d / sxc.hu) IS the timing of the resignations from Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) before and during the one-week Hulu Selangor by-election campaign purely coincidental? Two days before nomination day on 17 April 2010, Bakar Arang assemblyperson Tan Wei Shu became an independent lawmaker in the Kedah state assembly. As if knowingly, Deputy […]
Is Zaid’s drinking relevant?
By Shanon ShahIT probably had to happen sooner or later. The Hulu Selangor by-election has finally descended into an orgy of attacks against Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) candidate Datuk Zaid Ibrahim‘s personal piety and morality. First, the Umno-controlled media started highlighting Zaid’s opposition towards the Kelantan PAS government’s hudud legislation back when he was still in Umno. […]
Anwar, Israel and the King
By Shanon ShahOPPOSITION Leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim must have a lot on his mind: his ongoing sodomy trial, the upcoming Hulu Selangor by-election, and Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR)’s loss of four parliamentarians earlier in 2010. But one other thing is surely preoccupying his thoughts: Israel. In fact, he is clearly bothered by two things Israeli: How […]
