The verdict is out: No surprises, mainstream media clearly unfair

As the shortest ever election campaigning comes to an end (“Malaysia Boleh” indeed), we would like to offer a few concluding remarks based on the monitoring of the mainstream media—particularly the English papers (the New Straits Times, The Star, theSun) and the news in English on TV1, TV3, ntv7 and channel 8.

And there is only one thing to say: other than the very slight exception of ntv7 and theSun, the other media have been clearly quite unfair to the opposition.

A flicker of hope from theSun and ntv7

ntv7 tried now and then to include the opposition in its news bulletin but the performance has been very spotty at best.

theSun has shown more promise. It has provided proportionally more balanced news and views than the other two papers. Also, now and then, it has offered more balanced and critical analysis of the MCA.

Note, “critical” here is not about a negative outlook of a party. Rather, it involves asking follow-up questions instead of just accepting at face value whatever the news maker has to say. It also means trying to be balanced and fair.

However, the better performance of ntv7 and theSun offers, at best, a tiny hope. Yes, just a tiny one because what they have accomplished is really nothing to shout about when compared to the other papers and TV stations.

All others were BN cheerleaders

These other papers and TV stations are either BN propaganda outlets (as in TV1 - even though it is supposed to be state-owned) or BN cheerleaders. And so, these other media are not interested in playing fair.

Of course, this is only one aspect of the uneven playing field in this 11th general election. The other areas include gerrymandering, the role played by the Election Commission, etc.

What do they tell their children?

Given the seriously unfair advantage that the BN has in the campaigning, including the amount of positive attention the party and candidates have received from their own media, there is only one thing left to say.

We cannot help but wonder what they actually say to their kids playing in a playground with other kids. Do they tell them, “It is ok not to play fair”?

Blog visitor Kurang Asam has this prediction: "Come Monday onwards we are going to have a one month tribute on how BN won, blown out of proportion. Just watch and see..."

You have been warned.

Blog visitor Hb doesn't see anything immoral about the unequal media access: "Well, you can't expect someone to speak against his own boss, can you?

"However, if you have the advantage, why not use it for your own interest? There is a very thin line betw stupidity and integrity. I wouldn't say what BN is doing is immoral; it's not stupid either."

What do others think?