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Aug 8, 2000 Bare Knuckles 'Ethics' flew out of media window It would be safe to say that the two Anwar trials have stirred the emotions of many among the Malaysian public who previously would not have bothered about politics and the way our country is run. Many would argue, in turn, that the way that Malaysians view politics in Malaysia will never be the same again, whatever the final outcome of the second trial. During the almost two-year period when heir-apparent to the prime ministership Anwar Ibrahim was initially unceremoniously bumped off his No. 2 position in the country's political hierarchy, arrested and thrown into the slammer, beaten up and finally brought to court, Malaysia's mainstream media have adapted their responses like the capable chameleons that they are. At the beginning, there was a media frenzy. The mainstream Malaysian media had an orgy, blatantly publishing and broadcasting lurid allegations of sexual misconduct contained in affidavits. Many felt they were being unethical. But the word "ethics" appeared to be one that had long been removed from the vocabulary of the mainstream media. Indeed, mainstream journalists and media organisations - aided and abetted by big gun politicians - began tripping over each other, trying hard to be the numero uno sleazeball, even before any formal charge had been brought against the hapless Anwar. And when formal charges were finally brought and Anwar was hauled to court, the sleazefest continued. Much of the more explicit, sensationalist coverage came - surprise, surprise - from the "conservative", "moral" Malay media, the same media that constantly bleat about television programmes and pop concerts wrecking "our morals", the very same media that recently were so appalled by Naughty Ning's raunchy revelations. It was as though these media were performing like sexually repressed peeping toms. One could almost sense the sweaty palms and heavy breathing in the reporting of the trial by these "pro journalists". And the local English language media were just a step behind. And so it was for much of the coverage of the first trial. Just as the trial had captured the imagination of the Malaysian public, so had it evidently enriched the already-fertile imagination of the mainstream media. And by the time Anwar was predictably convicted, the credibility of the media had sunk to an all-time low. For many, the media had become, to borrow the one word Augustine Paul will be remembered for, "irrelevant". As if sensing this, and more possibly because those pulling their strings issued new directives, the media gave the second trial the graveyard shift treatment. Reports of the trial were pushed further and further into the inside pages of newspapers that they were in danger of ending up in theClassifieds. And, of course, the trial hardly got a mention on television. Having attacked the man's reputation in any manner available, it was now time, it seemed, to adopt a different tack. It was indeed time for the mainstream media to remove him from the collective memory of the people, to erase him from our consciousness, working on the often-correct assumption that Malaysians have short memories. It was time, too, to spike other stories that somehow "didn't feel good". Hence, Irene Fernandez's trial, with its allegations of torture and other human rights violations in Malaysia's detention centres, became "non-news". This and other "bad news" were then replaced with self-congratulatory - and inane - television weeklies such as Gemilang Malaysia and revamped old newspapers with new mastheads, more colour ... and little else besides. And when minor irritants, such as opposition newspapers, proved to be a hindrance, the long arm of the law could be counted on to subdue or silence them, as was the case with Harakah, Detik, and Eksklusif. Yes, things were getting rather dire with the mainstream media. Credibility had plunged further downhill during the 1999 general elections and journalists had begun openly acknowledging that there was a crisis of credibility. Twice during this period, well-meaning journalists signed impressive petitions seeking a repeal of the Printing Presses and Publications Act (PPPA) and handed them to the Home Ministry (KDN). They were, of course, working on the assumption that reading is a forte of the KDN officials. While all this was happening, the emergence of web newspapers and alternative information sources (some credible and others as pretty incredible as the mainstream media) didn't exactly help the credibility of the heavily-strapped mainstream media. And even when sub-plots, such as the sudden emergence of violent "deviationists" and a drug-addict-who-escapes-in-a-police-car-with-a-loaded-machine-gun, presented themselves on a platter to these mainstream boys and girls, they somehow didn't know the credible questions to ask in compiling their reports. Ergo, their credibility suffered further. Now, as the curtain comes down on the Anwar drama, many in the mainstream media evidently still don't want to wake up and sniff the decaf. The day it was declared that judgement had been postponed, both TV2 and TV3 didn't see it fit to report this postponement as a main news item. TV1 decided that some Deputy Rector should be put before their cameras to declare public rallies/demonstrations "unIslamic". That was truly ingenuous ... as comedy sketches go. Little indeed is being done by the mainstream media to address their problems of credibility. Instead, some are taking cheap pot shots at "new" characters, such as Human Rights Commission (Suhakam) head Musa Hitam. Others are too obsessed with sex (naughty Ning), drugs (the Ecstasy menace), and (not quite) rock 'n' roll (the Vengaboys). Is it a wonder then that Malaysians increasingly feel insulted and are put off by the mainstream media? --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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