Pak Lah Pun Tak Caye Media Dahhh... Baru Tau Ka..?

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 8 — Some Cabinet ministers are stumped, and upset. Not by the bashing the administration is receiving in blogs and Internet websites over policies but by the tone and the coverage in mainstream newspapers especially the English-language dailies.

At a meeting last week chaired by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and attended by a string of senior ministers including Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak and Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, one of the topics discussed was the reporting on the Budget and other announcements on the economy.

The consensus was that the mainstream newspapers, all owned by Barisan Nasional political parties or politically-connected businessmen, seemed quick to highlight criticisms of the Budget, instead of highlighting its positive aspects.

Several ministers noted that Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim's comments about the Budget and his blanket promise to perform better if Pakatan Rakyat took over control of the government was given inordinate coverage in a few English newspapers.

Muhyiddin was troubled that the newspapers seemed more inclined to report negative news about the economy rather than the fact that foreign direct investment was still flowing into Malaysia and that the country was on track to attract more than FDI in 2008 than the RM58 billion last year.

A government official said: "The general feeling at the meeting was that since the general election, the newspapers have tried overly hard to become critical of the government. There is a sense that policies are not being explained. And this was seen in reporting on the Budget where there seemed to be an eagerness to highlight criticisms.''

It is unclear if the belly-aching by the administration will result in a clampdown on the media. At last week's Cabinet meeting on Wednesday, the role of the press was also raised by several ministers. They felt that newspapers and television stations were pushing the out of bound markers on race and religion.

The Cabinet decided that there should be a media advisory council to perform the role of a media watchdog, investigating complaints of unfair reporting and censuring media outlets that do not meet acceptable standards.

But this council — when it is set up — will not be able to address the government's intangible grievance of less than friendly coverage by the newspapers. Ironically, opposition politicians have for decades complained that they have not received fair coverage by the mainstream media.

This changed somewhat after Election 2008 when Pakatan Rakyat took control of Penang,Perak, Kedah and Selangor, denied the Barisan Nasional its two-thirds majority in Parliament and won 48 per cent of the popular vote.

Realising that the political environment had undergone a tectonic shift, many of the newspapers also gave more ink to opposition policies and politicians, and started to become more questioning of government policies. This new approach was driven mainly by business considerations and the concern that the mainstream media ran the risk of losing ground to the alternative media if it continued to ignore the Pakatan Rakyat.

And the newspapers have been vindicated. Latest circulation figures indicate that all the English dailies and Chinese-language newspapers have kept their readers since Election 2008, with some even growing their base.

Given this fact, ministers are going to have a tough time convincing the mainstream media to turn back the clock.

-TMI