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All of us who professionally use the mass media are the shapers of society. We can vulgarize that society. We can brutalize it. Or we can help lift it onto a higher level.-William Bernbach, of DDB Needham Worldwide, 1989. I refer to Leslie Lau’s recent piece entitled- “Was this the future of Umno?” (The Malaysian Insider, 18th February 2009).
The Malaysian Insider has once again displayed its pro-Abdullah Badawi position and confirmed what Malaysians have known all along-that this online news portal is but a spin medium for the powers that be or was. The writer of the piece gave Malaysians a taste of “local journalism” and reporting skills when he took the opportunity to make personal attacks and cast negative aspersions against Mukhriz Mahathir. The writer displayed his impartiality and contempt for journalistic etiquette for all to see when he lauded Khairy as the most “palatable” candidate while biasing everyone against Khir Toyo and Mukhriz. The writer even goes so far as to transgress standards of common civility and fair comment by substituting abusive remarks against Mukhriz such as;- • “Mukhriz appeared to be way out of his league during the debate, and looked like he did not really want to be there”. • “From his responses — that he was very proud of his father — it was clear that what he was trying to offer Malaysians nostalgic for his father's strong leadership a return to Mahathirism”. • “Compared to Dr Khir's conservative bordering on extremist views, Khairy's message was probably the most palatable of the three candidates (Mukhriz was almost not there)”. The writer’s abusive description of events to put a spin in favour of Khairy needn’t be at the expense of maliciously ridiculing Mukhriz Mahathir. As a consultant editor that’s eager to please-the writer would surely know that by now. Perhaps the writer should have done some research on the reaction on the ground towards the candidates’ performance unless of course the writer was projecting his own view- that a great number of viewers felt that Mukhriz appeared down-to-earth, unpretentious and responded in the straightforward manner sans rhetoric of which he is popular for. Mukhriz’s response that he was proud of his father meant just that. Why the writer had to put words in his mouth and imply anything else smacks of spin to undermine Mukhriz’s good standing. The writer’s ill-intent is clear. Mukhriz articulated his ideas and opinions on a number of issues of pertinence such as the Internal Security Act (ISA), the National Economic Policy (NEP), the need to reform Umno, vernacular schools etc; which was widely reported in the local broadsheets and blogs. Mukhriz was definitely “there” but perhaps it was the writer’s focus or lack of that was missing. The writer may find it useful to know that with the Rakyat and on the ground, Mukhriz is fondly known and accepted as an approachable, wise and level-headed grassroots leader. In case, the writer is confused, doesn’t understand or is just ignorant of the sentiment among the grassroots Umno members and Malaysian citizenry, this bit of information is intended to bring him up to speed. In the end, Mukhriz sums it up succinctly when he said that his campaign is based on the thirst for integrity in Malaysian politics. If anyone deserves our support, it is a leader that banks his political career on his integrity. Substance wins over rhetoric anytime. The writer is begging the question when he roots for Khairy. Even after all the damage Khairy has done to this nation especially with regards to race relations. Really?
Imran Imtiaz Shah Yacob
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