Demands for fair media after decades of control hypocritical

 

 In Malaysia, the line between comedy, fibs, ambition, and outrageous claims is often blurred - and the applause that follows can feel less like approval than polite laughter.

Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi’s boast that Malaysia could one day host the World Cup deserves a place in the third volume of Amir Muhammed’s “Politicians Say the Darnedest Things”.

Before watching the Argentina-Spain World Cup final on Monday morning, Zahid declared: “Hopefully, by then, the Malaysian team will be among the World Cup participants representing Southeast Asia.”

The national news agency, Bernama, covered the event, and both print and electronic media picked up its report - prompting grounded responses from those in the know.

While Zahid may not grasp the intricacies of hosting such a colossal event, two former national footballers certainly did - and they dismissed the idea outright.

The World Cup 2026 between Argentina and Spain

James Wong noted that a World Cup demands world-class stadiums, training facilities, transport networks, and the logistical capacity to manage dozens of teams and hundreds of thousands of fans.

“It is a hopeful idea, but I honestly don’t think we are ready,” he said.

Legendary centre-back Santokh Singh was more dismissive and blunt: “We can’t even qualify. How are we going to host it? We can’t even qualify for the Olympics, and we want to host the World Cup? Come on.”

A day later, however, Bernama found itself on the receiving end of criticism - from Zahid’s aide.

Using his social media handle Fadzmel, he wrote: “Looking at the Bernama timeline over the past few days, my heart is truly anxious. This feeling actually started since the Johor state election, but I still hoped it was only temporary.”

“As a national news agency, Bernama not only needs to be fair, but must also be seen as fair and balanced in its coverage.”

If that was a teaser directed at one agency, Zahid soon zeroed in with an all-encompassing statement: all media agencies should be given the freedom to cover and publish reports throughout the Negeri Sembilan state election.

He said he had received feedback that candidates from certain parties were subject to a “blackout” or given disproportionately little coverage.

“I feel sorry for these media practitioners. They cover everything, involving all the candidates, but there are no broadcasts and no publication.

“It’s a shame that they were sent at least throughout this campaign period, but the news they wrote was not published. They are discouraged. So please don’t discourage them,” Sinar Harian quoted him as saying.

According to the BN chairperson, equal coverage should be given to all candidates regardless of political party - because that is the practice of democracy.

Hold on a minute

But aren’t BN, Umno, and Zahid getting a taste of their own medicine? For decades, right up until the 14th general election in 2018, they controlled the media - with two component parties owning newspapers, radio and television stations, and appointed subservient editors to do their bidding.

Weren’t Bernama and other government agencies, including RTM, used as propaganda machines against the opposition when BN was in power?

Didn’t the BN government mobilise the mainstream media to demonise former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad and Anwar Ibrahim when they mounted a challenge?

Weren’t stringent rules restricting the photos of Mahathir and Anwar from being used on posters across the country ahead of the election in 2018?

Wasn’t it decreed that photos of only two leaders of a political party - the president and deputy president, or their equivalent - can be used on campaign materials, other than the photo of the candidate for that particular constituency, keeping out the duo who held no party posts at the time of the election?

And yet, after forming the government, some editors who were part of that very vilification campaign lined up at the UN headquarters in New York to kiss Mahathir’s hands before he addressed the General Assembly four months later.

A partisan media is always subservient to the ruling party. Successive governments have promised a freer media atmosphere, yet none have followed through.

Media for the people

A nation cannot laugh its way to accountability. Zahid’s boast about hosting the World Cup may be harmless bluster, but the reaction to Bernama’s coverage reveals something far more serious: the ruling elite’s instinct to police narratives when they no longer control them.

For decades, BN and Umno weaponised the media as propaganda machinery, silencing dissent and maligning opponents. Now, when that same machinery turns inconvenient, they cry foul and demand fairness.

This hypocrisy underscores why Malaysia needs a genuinely free press - one beholden not to ministers, parties, or corporate owners, but to the public.

Without independent journalism, truth becomes whatever the powerful decree, and democracy is reduced to theatre.

Equal coverage cannot be a favour dispensed during elections; it must be the bedrock of a system where citizens are informed, leaders are scrutinised, and lies are exposed.

The lesson is stark: a partisan press serves power, not people. If Malaysia is to move beyond decades of manipulation, it must enshrine press freedom not as a slogan but as a safeguard.

Only then will applause ring true - not as polite laughter at political fibs, but as genuine recognition that the truth still matters. - Mkini

---

R NADESWARAN is a veteran journalist who strives to uphold the ethos of civil rights leader John Lewis: “When you see something that is not right, not fair, not just, you have to speak up. You have to say something; you have to do something.” Comments: citizen.nades22@gmail.com.

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of MMKtT.