Guan Eng in a spin over media hounds

Penang chief minister is enduring a love-hate relationship with the press which he sees as being unfair to him and his administration.

GEORGE TOWN: Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng is now ruing the love-hate relationship he is enduring with the mass media since Pakatan Rakyat came to power in the Pearl of the Orient.

Since 2008, Lim has to grapple with what he describes as misreporting, slander and outright character assassination.

His patience is now running thin!

The disenchantment with the media has driven Lim up the wall and he has reacted with a flurry of libel suits against the media, chiefly publishers linked to Umno.

Despite the threats of defamation suits, Lim claims that the state government and him are still being victimised, with questionable reports emerging on an almost daily basis.

“I think all this spin reporting is putting everyone else including the publishers in a constant stage of spinning. This is unbecoming and unethical. This denial syndrome by the media should be stopped.

They should report purely on facts.”

Lim said that if the publishers have nothing to report about him or the state government, they should not carry any coverage.

It is better not to report than to pursue half-truths or inaccurate accounts, which are misleading, Lim said.

Mainstream media

To overcome “unfair reporting”, Lim has set up a powerful communications department which, besides liasing with the mainstream media, is active in the Internet realm.

His officers, who include seasoned and upstart journalists, also helps Lim to make a considerable presence on social media networking sites – the popular Facebook or the micro-blogging site, Twitter.

However, his efforts are mostly seen to be quite ineffective in view of the limited Internet penetration rate in the country and poor interconnectivity infrastructure here.

While Lim openly advocates that the state be equipped with a good wireless connection, many localised areas continue to suffer from poor log-on accessibility, largely due to substandard installation equipment such as the modems.

The end-result is, Lim continues to grapple with a hostile media.

In a recent press conference, Lim was asked whether he should meet the top editors of the mainstream media to argue his case.

His reply: “It is pointless as they all have agendas.”

Since January, Lim’s administration was rocked with reports such as an allegation that the state sponsored and distributed a newsletter whose contents allegedly insults the Malays in Balik Pulau followed by a report quoting Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin as urging Lim to be fair to all races in Penang.

This is followed with Lim allegedly blaming the police for lax enforcement of water-sports activities and now an alleged doctored Internet photograph of him sporting a skull cap (kopiah).

Lim has taken pains to deny all of this.

Negative perception

Political observer Jason Gan weighs in, saying the people in Penang empathise with what Lim is going through but he should not worry as many pundits here are proclaiming that DAP continues to receive support in Penang.

Local residents liked to give Lim the benefit of doubt, Gan claimed.

Also, many people in Penang are an informed lot since they are Internet-savvy – this allows them to scan the quality of reporting in both the mainstream and alternative media, he said.

However, Lim should not just rely on the media to govern; he should prove his leadership through actions to overcome any negative perception about him, Gan said.

The best way to overcome any form of misreporting is through measures which people can see, hear and feel the difference, Gan said, adding that Lim must also accept that while advocating the freedom of the press, he must also accept the good, bad and ugly coverage of his administration and himself. - FMT