COMMENT | PN should hold regular press briefings to cement ‘legitimacy’

COMMENT | It was not so long ago that Utusan Malaysia headlined an op-ed “Apa lagi Cina mahu?” Chinese readers then reacted with "Apa lagi Melayu mahu?" These racial spats emerge during each communal rivalry like sand-bubbler crabs on the shore.

Malays perceive the Chinese as an economic threat, an ungrateful lot generally living in the lap of luxury. The Chinese could only see themselves as persecuted second-class citizens, with the Indians being the worst off.

Our national conversation is highly segmented. This is mirrored in the editorial focus of the Malay, Chinese and Tamil media. The consequence? Verifiable facts and contexts are compromised and politics become overly racial, notwithstanding journalists’ claim to non-partisan reporting and "objectivity".

Politicians from both sides of the aisle tend to instigate an “Apa lagi (fill in the blank) mahu?’’ exchange when their power position becomes uncertain. Journalists are not completely blameless either. They perpetuate such racialised diatribe when they merely report instead of fact-checking to facilitate a reasoned dialogue during times of uncertainty.

I wrote soon after BN was ousted in May 2018 that under Pakatan Harapan, we might just see a transformation in Malaysian journalism – from an unapologetically pro-BN-Umno coverage by the mainstream media to a more contextual reporting of in-depth news and sourcing for diverse views.

I said then: “The onus falls on veteran journalists and editors to show their reporters that they will work to higher standards in representing the people’s interests and to be more vigilant in watching over the Harapan government to ensure that they do not repeat the decades of malfeasance under BN, which Mahathir led for 22 years.”

Journalists did taste some newfound freedom, but ...