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Monday, July 8, 2013

Mainstream media will only change if BN loses, says Kadir Jasin

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(TMI) - Kadir said Umno and the government used the media to vilify Anwar but the BN did badly in the 1999 general election as the Malays were split. The government then was returned to power because of the support of the non-Malays.
The mainstream media owned by Umno and MCA are not expected to change its ways despite the poor performance by the Barisan Nasional in the last general election, an industry veteran said today.
"Things will remain the same," said blogger and former New Straits Times Press group editor-in-chief Datuk A. Kadir Jasin.
He said no editor would change the editorial policy when the media, whether print or electronic, was owned by the government or political parties.
"They have to follow the agenda set by the owners," he said at an international seminar titled "General Electon 13: An analysis and aftermath" held at the International Islamic University in Gombak today.
"The public will have to put up with them as Umno has became stronger in winning more seats compared to 2008," he said.
In fact, he said some segments of the media reinforced old issues like playing up race and religion.
Kadir said the mainstream media will change only when the party which controls them loses in the election.
He said only then the media will change as what happened in countries like Indonesia, Thailand and South Korea.
Kadir, who helmed NSTP for 12 years until 2000, said his own experience showed that it was difficult to promote change.
He said it was the media which transformed former deputy prime minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim when he was in the government.
"The government then attempted to use the media to destroy Anwar in a short span but failed miserably," he said.
Kadir said Umno and the government used the media to vilify Anwar but the BN did badly in the 1999 general election as the Malays were split.
The government then was returned to power because of the support of the non-Malays.
Kadir, however, said the mainstream media was still important as it had a following but the public need not necessarily believe them.
He said that during the election the media became the mouth piece of the BN.
"But the election result on popular votes garnered by the opposition seem to suggest that it failed to set the agenda," he said.
Another panelist, Tay Tian Yan of Sin Chew Daily said the newspaper had to perform a balancing act to fulfill the demand of the establishment and its readers.
"To the government, we were seen as pro-opposition while opposition and their supporters attacked us for not being neutral," he said.
He urged the government to repeal or review the Printing, Presses and Publications Act 1984.
He said conventional media needed better guidance, not interference.
Tay said that the digital media had an upper hand compared with print media.
"There must be a level playing field, added the Sin Chew editor.

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