OVER the weekend, fiveman AgendaDaily.com, with its tagline Insight News made headlines.

This news portal, which also provides crisp, instant political reports via SMS, had announced plans for a series of high-profile televised debates featuring top politicians to discuss current issues. A few big names have already been lined up as moderators. Editor Hanafiah Man, who like most of his colleagues honed their journalistic repertoire at Utusan Malaysia, says the idea is to hold politicians accountable for their views. “People shall judge them on the strength of their arguments,” said Hanafiah. This is just another example of the rapid recasting of the media that has created considerable space for a large number of smaller players. It is no longer possible to suppress or sideline anyone of their views because that person could very well in the next instant come up with a blog or interactive mobile technology to spread the word. With sensible marketing and “links” to other modes of telecommunication, he could draw readership. On paper, this unbridled ability to air views means that the few established media companies find themselves increasingly having to share the powers of dictating news cycles and subsequent shaping of minds and influencing of thoughts with countless others. Rocky’s Bru is a one-man blog started by a former mainstream media editor. His blog is tracked outside Malaysia too. Malaysiakini, an online newspaper that is staffed by about 30 people, has pioneered its niche in providing an almost immediate news cycle partly because it never goes to bed. Neither does it have space constraints. Malaysian Insider is hoping to catch up with its brand of strong writing. The sum total is the availability of multiple views and arguments, a measure of the depth of Press freedom and the right of expression. Alas, segments of the media fraternity have concluded that the major newspapers, as we know them, have lost their previous influence. Some have even suggested that the politically- owned mainstream media is mired in a crisis of confidence or credibility and that to mount a fightback, the Barisan Nasional will have to think of an entirely new medium to reach out to voters. Is this necessarily the case? When alerted to the still-respectable sales and readership numbers, an experienced Press secretary said newspaper reading is habitual and that readers tend to browse through the political coverage with a third-eye. A popular newspaper columnist, on hearing this, rolled out numbers and research material that point toward other favourable directions. “Do guard against the propensity to make sweeping statements,” said the columnist. This is a hint of the exhaustive process that should precede media writing if the end result reports are to be found not wanting, and deemed as shallow or inadequate. The one aspect of the media that could not plausibly change drastically is ownership and control. In the aftermath of the March 8 general election, segments within political parties who directly own established media companies or are linked to these organisations, were said to have expressed dismay at the lack of reach of these newspapers. They obviously had the misconception of the influence of the mainstream media as the prime bastion but it would be nice to hear from these politicians the kind of media and editors they would like to have. They will have to figure out how their views and stance don’t interfere with or contradict the popularly welcomed implosion of information dissemination via ICT. Credibility and clout of the media is indeed a contentious subject partly because numbers don’t lend credence to the perception of diminishing influence of the major news outlets. The 8pm news bulletin on TV3 draws an average of 3.5 million viewers. The Star is read by one million people a day. The three newspapers under the New Straits Times group are read by 5.3 million daily. These titles are simultaneously beefing up their online editions as news cycles have gone on an hourly or less mode. Journalists are upbeat these days. Are they set to assert themselves more? G. Manimaran, completing his PhD, is the man behind the Malay-online news at The Star. He is thrilled with the prospects of rising hits. Also, news digests are being transmitted to mobile phones. Talking to Zainul Ariffin and Azmi Anshar, the two men behind the NST online, one gets the sense that newspapers in their present format are a goner, and that online reporting shall soon be the overwhelming driver of news. ● Rashid Yusof, on sabbatical from 24-hour journalism, is looking to dredge up a range of arguments and a smattering of ideas for the public domain. He tries to live up to the ‘Scholar, Sportsman and Gentleman’ motto of his alma mater.

Source: Malay Mail – June 30, 2008