'Dumbed down news just a small part of content'

Newspapers are surviving because stories deemed to be repulsive only make up a small part of the publications, said Bernama editorial advisor Azman Ujang.

"If newspapers produce 'dumbed down' content, then sooner or later people will not read them - I am not talking about any particular newspaper,” he told a forum at the 7th Annual Malaysian Student Leaders Summit yesterday.

"But the fact that they are still in the market means that people think the percentage of such news is only a small part of the whole that they want to read."

Azman (left) was responding to writer and fellow panellist Karim Raslan who said certain newspapers are producing content that is "dumbing people down" and that this has an impact on communities who rely solely on newspapers for information.

"People are not stupid but this problem we face of deliberately trying to pervert and dumb down what we are, it has an impact on the capacity and capability of  Malaysians to think beyond the box," said Karim.

Azman described Malaysia's poor press freedom ranking as "rubbish", as it has failed to take into account the freedom enjoyed by the online media.

"I would say the findings by Reporters Without Borders and the like are very biased. It is nonsense,” he said.

"If you look at the new media, they are freer than any media. Malaysiakini is the freest as long as they report responsibly.”

In Malaysia, he noted, the prime minister can be criticised in the media, unlike in Singapore.

Anyone, including DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng and party adviser Lim Kit Siang, can start a media enterprise if they wanted to, he claimed.

Malaysiakini editor-in-chief Steven Gan (left), however, pointed out that the news portal is still battling in the Court of Appeal for a publication licence from the government. 

Responding to a question on the perception that Malaysiakini is pro-opposition, he said the news portal does its job like any another news agency in the region, but that the perception may have arisen because of government control over the media environment.

"Malaysiakini is not doing anything different from the media in Indonesia, Thailand or Philippines. I have worked in Thailand before, Karim has worked in Indonesia, we are no different.

"It just so happens that in Malaysia, the media landscape is distorted to the point that when people do a proper job (as a media organisation), they are accused of being pro-opposition.”

‘Atrocious standards’

Gan criticised Umno-owned Utusan Malaysia for inflammatory reports and headlines like ‘Christianity the official religion?’, ‘Traitors to Islam’ and ‘What more do the Chinese want?’.

"Journalism has really gone downhill. It's atrocious and Utusanis leading the way. I find it really odd that you have the Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak ... who talks about 1Malaysia and yet does not see it fit to tell this Umno-owned newspaper to fall in line," he said.

However, Gan said that since former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad's era, the media landscape has changed for the better, albeit slowly.

"Even the BN is talking about repealing laws and making some changes to the printing law - that is a good thing,” he added.

"Things will continue to change and what is important is for civil society  politicians and the media continue to speak up, and hopefully things will continue to change.”