"From 24th March, 2008, commence a boycott of all the MSM for a period of one week! I urge that if at the end of that one-week boycott, the MSM continues to unjustifiably attack our YBs, we resume our boycott of the MSM for a longer and more sustained period!" Haris Ibrahim (http://harismibrahim.wordpress.com/2008/03/17/defend-your-barisan-rakyat-ybs-boycott-the-lying-newspapers)
WHY BOYCOTT ?
During the Election Campaign of Hannah Yeoh, there have been various callings to the Subang Jayans to boycott the Main Stream Media (MSM) because MSM were not being fair and independant in their news coverage. In particularly the BN-controlled MSM such as Utusan, Berita Harian, and NST (UMNO), The Star (MCA), Media Prima (TV3, NTV7, 8TV, TV9) have been over bias and being instrumental for BN to broadcast their news, ads + messages. Worst of all, RTM - being the Government news media instead of BN news media - have been broadcasting numerous negative ads about the DAP-PAS-PKR leaders and short documentary praising about BN-Government achievements. Therefore, in conjunction with Haris Ibrahim's calling, Hannah's Political Secretary Edward Ling has call out to the Subang Jayans again to boycott the MSM especially the "lying newspapers" for a week starting 17-March to 23 March 2008.
JUST NEWSPAPERS ?!
We must acknowledged that not only the newspapers were bias and "lying", the TV and Radio channels too. If you were one of those who were relying on the TV channels to bring news on the Election Result on 8-March to 9-March, you must be one of the confused and frustrated viewer : every SMS you received was about BN loosing seats, every phone calls you got was about DAP or PKR winning crucial seats, but here you heard only BN-winning news on the TV. That's why we only could rely on the Internet Independent Media such as MalaysiaKini to provide us newsfeed on that night.Therefore. the boycott should not be limited to only the newspapers, but to include the RTM1 and RTM2, TV3, NTV7, 8TV, TV9, Bernama TV (Channel 502 Astro) and all the related Radio Channels. The most effective one might be : BOYCOTT NEWS HOUR (e.g. 8pm) and GOLDEN AIRTIME (e.g. 8pm-10pm). If you do not have other means of entertainment but TV, then, you should at least just STOP WATCHING THE LYING NEWS !!!
ALL NEWSPAPERS ?
Most would ask : are all Newspapers lying? Well, at least those who read Chinese dailies may opposed. So far, the Chinese dailies have been covering lots of Opposition news, interviews and write-ups even though not in a complete balanced manner (not 50:50, but at least 60:40). They have no choice but to advertise BN's ads since they have been paid for. Also, their licenses were under the control of BN-led government. Nonetheless, their "daring" coverages on the Opposition have worried many that these Chinese dialies may faced "punishment" after the Election if BN win big again, just like the suspension happened to Sin Chew Daily in the 80's. In fact, Chinese dialies may be one of the main winning factors to the Opposition due to their fairer, wider and more independant news coverages - Opposition should thank them instead. At least the Chinese dialies could used words such as "BN Lost Terribly" and "5 States Given to Opposition" as their Headlines publicly.ONLY A WEEK
What would you loose for not reading or watching unfair, bias, and lying news for a week? What would you gain from reading or viewing sad, disappointing, and heart-troubling stories for a week? Just for a week : 17-March to 23-March. As we could teach BN a lesson, we are sure that we can teach these MSM a lesson too.
Let's boycott the MSM together this week !!!
2 comments:
Will boycotting the newspapers alone improve the situation if the source of the limitations on Press Freedom is not addressed? Barisan Rakyat should take this to Parliament and fight for Press Freedom. Those laws that are implemented to control the Press Freedom must be abolished e.g. Presses and Publications Act and ISA, otherwise, the newspapers media can never be free from this boundary.
Also, the Media should never be owned by political-allied party. That's why Utusuan is speaking for UMNO everyday! It should be owned by Businessperson / Corporations free from Political ownership. Then they can stay integrity and independant. That's why acquisition of Nanyang Daily by MCA caused a big hu-ha in the Chinese community years ago!
Lastly, do not blame the Rakyat who worked in these Press companies. They also need to earn a living. Which Reporter do not want to be a truly respected reporter - fearless to authorities, bold in revealing truth, independant in reporting? Most reporters stepped into this career with such dreams. Unfortunately, they are controlled by their bosses that are bound by the Laws and their Owners. These ties must be broken if we want to have truly Press Freedom in Malaysia.
Heal from the Source, Not on the Symptoms.
Something must be done, and boycotting the newspapers is effective because the immediate decline on the sales will signal the management on the protest.
Still, the Opposition MPs must fight to abolish all those Akta that surpress media freedom. Internet population in Malaysia is still too low. Many still rely on TV, Radio and newspapers.
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