TWO OF MALAYSIA’S longstanding mainstream newspapers most closely affiliated to the ruling party UMNO are about to be merged. The New Straits Times and Utusan stables will become one if things go according to the plan of those who are willing it to happen. (For details go to http://archives.thestar.com.my/last7days/)
Will it make a difference to the ordinary person on the street? NO. Why should it. Its same-o, same-o right? Except now there is no need to pretend that there might be a difference. Its one big, happy family feeding us the tripe that has become this country’s staple. Here the media has taken the bottom line to heart. Take in the advertising dollars at whatever cost. And, given that the editorial line is all about self-censorship and sucking-up what else is there left to give to the readers other than banality and mediocrity ubiquitously referred to as “human interest”.
Let’s be clear here. The advertising dollars would flow in fast and furious too if we did have a free press. Malaysians have been known to read, and vociferously, in the days when their intelligence was not being sorely insulted; when news was really newsworthy and the newspapers were indeed the Fourth Estate. Then the pen was free and mighty and hence able to act as a check and balance mechanism to the possible excesses of government.
Not that this power is no longer there. Rather it has been hijacked to spin the spin in favour of the vested interests that have ignored past ethical practices such as the popular political maxim that business and politics do not mix in liberal democratic systems. Period. No ifs or buts and that the line separating them should be glaringly clear. Just look at all the standard texts on politics and government and tell me that I am wrong. It is these kinds of blurring of the lines that have made media freedom and objectivity a lost cause. For, when politics and business mix public opinion (i.e. you and I), which the media shapes and modulates, cannot be allowed the pleasure of rocking the capitalist boat of wealth creation.
Things have changed dramatically since those days of innocence. (To my detractors I'm sure it is derided as days of naivete.) Once upon a time it is possible to pick up a newspaper or listen to a radio report and know that what is being written and said is as near to objective truth as is humanly possible. Once upon a long time ago ethics was taught to children at school. Remember the Civics classes? Yes, much of the moral high ground is but sweet memories of a bygone age. Nowadays even the ambitions of the young have changed. In the old days, as the expression goes, children wanted to be doctors and lawyers. Today far too many of our young contemplate a future in business and politics regardless of what their academic disciplines are. Now that success is measured in monetary terms, can you blame the kids for not knowing better?
To add insult to injury, in today'sMalaysia there are no sacred cows. Only one thing matters: money and more money the means to ostentation. And, if standards have to be sacrificed, traditions forfeited, so be it. Profit margins must be kept fat at whatever cost. Success is no longer measured by such noble intangibles as service to the community and the nation, but rather a wonderfully black balance sheet that keeps the fat cats fat.
Or, have we as a nation bred a population that has little need for true human agency and thus have no real interest in newspapers that carry issues that will substantially impact our lives? Instead, in this age of instant gratification, is it enough for Malaysians to be fed accurate information on where to shop for wants and needs and to be told where the good value for money is? In short, is it true that all today's readers want is to know where the "value buys" are? Sadly, going by the look of the country's most successful English newspaper this is probably very near the truth.
Or, have we as a nation bred a population that has little need for true human agency and thus have no real interest in newspapers that carry issues that will substantially impact our lives? Instead, in this age of instant gratification, is it enough for Malaysians to be fed accurate information on where to shop for wants and needs and to be told where the good value for money is? In short, is it true that all today's readers want is to know where the "value buys" are? Sadly, going by the look of the country's most successful English newspaper this is probably very near the truth.
And so, who will be badly affected by this proposed merger of the country's flagship newspapers? Not you and me mate, our fate vis-a-vis the media was sealed when the boundaries between politics and business were withdrawn. It is the fat cats in there. Who will survive the merger? Remember, its lonely at the top and who will that loner be? That will probably depend on who the "senior partner" is in this takeover bid. Not that it matters really. Going by precedent, golden handshakes in either stable is nothing to be sneezed at.
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