*Updated 4 April 2011 GOOD journalism involves asking the right questions. Asking who, what, when, where, why and how is part and parcel of any journalist’s toolkit. But how effectively did the traditional* print media apply these tools when reporting on the recent Government Transformation Programme (GTP) first year celebrations? Were there some questions, perhaps, […]
Commentary
Utusan Malaysia, Interlok and the azan
IT’S commonly accepted that the media play a role in shaping public perception. But how exactly does that happen? Here’s an analysis of Utusan Malaysia‘s coverage on two issues: the controversy over Interlok, and the request for the dawn azan’s volume to be lowered at a Kampung Kerinchi mosque. Interlok Let’s first look at the […]
Ancaman hubungan sejenis di Malaysia
Pada 15 Dis 2010, muncul sebuah video di YouTube yang memaparkan Azwan Ismail, 32, seorang lelaki Malaysia Melayu-Muslim, di mana dia menyatakan, “Saya gay, saya ok.”
Malaysia’s gay threat
ON 15 Dec 2010, 32 year-old Azwan Ismail, a Malay-Muslim Malaysian, posted a video on YouTube in which he declared, “I am gay and I’m OK.” One week later, he told the media that he feared for his life. And who could blame him? He now has the de facto minister of religion, the Perak […]
Remembering the Perak crisis
IT’S been almost two years since Barisan Nasional (BN) wrested the Perak government from Pakatan Rakyat (PR) but does anyone still care to remember? And how would we choose to remember it? If, as the saying goes, “History is written by the victors”, then the history of the Perak takeover would probably go like this: […]
Assessing Pakatan Rakyat in Selangor
WHAT has the Pakatan Rakyat (PR) Selangor government achieved after two and a half years in power? If one relied on traditional media reports or Umno’s “Save Selangor” roadshow, the answer may well be, “Not very much”. But the reality is much more nuanced, as demonstrated in the book The Road to Reform: Pakatan Rakyat […]
Stocktaking Malaysia
LAST year, the Merdeka Day spirit was dampened by the actions of the Shah Alam residents who used a severed cow head to protest the relocation of a Hindu temple to their largely Muslim neighbourhood. This year, the run-up to Merdeka saw a school head in Kulaijaya, Johor, who, besides other slurs, told her charges […]
Who to trust in Selangor water battle?
ALARM bells were rung recently about an impending water crisis in Selangor. The federal government blames the state government for delaying the Pahang-Selangor raw water transfer project by refusing to let building of the Langat 2 water treatment plant begin. The Barisan Nasional (BN) government says this will result in a water crisis as early […]
Utusan Malaysia and Teoh Beng Hock
HOW far can a newspaper go in presenting its version of the truth? Yes, it has become generally accepted in Malaysia and internationally that newspapers don’t necessarily print “The Truth” and have their biases. After all, a recent Merdeka Centre survey revealed that almost six out of 10 Malaysians don’t trust the traditional media. But […]
Revamping education: Is the government up to it?
THE idea of abolishing the Ujian Pencapaian Sekolah Rendah (UPSR) and Penilaian Menengah Rendah (PMR) exams shouldn’t have taken us by surprise when Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin announced it in June 2010. Those who follow developments in the Education Ministry might recall that plans to have school-based assessments instead of centralised exams […]
