Media selling their souls for ad $$$

While mainstream media largely serve as propaganda tools for the BN government, they can also be shameless promoters of businesses, especially those that advertise with them. At other times, they even stoop to self promotion. Regardless whom they promote, they do not appeared to have any qualms passing off their “reports” as news. Consider two recent examples, one from the The Malay Mailand the other The Star.

On 22 June, The Malay Mail devoted 12 pages to what was called “nightlife supplement”. Each page featured a particular nightspot – be it a pub, KTV lounge, nightclub, and/or a restaurant, with musical performers in tow.

Each page carried a write-up of the nightspot on the upper half of the page and an ad of the nightspot itself on the lower half. Only one nightspot did not have an ad on the lower half of the page to go with its write-up (and that space was taken up by an ad for the paper’s very own classified ads for jobs).

News or ads?

Now, are the write-ups supposed to be news or ads? On the one hand, every one of the write-ups highlighted and promoted the various facilities or entertainment available at the nightspot. The various nightspots were described as casual, comfy, cool, jazzy or simply a happening place to be for singing, dancing, or wining and dining. Not one of the write-ups carried a remotely critical observation. What else could they be if not PR fluff or ads?

On the other hand, the write-ups appeared to be news as they had the bylines of the reporters for the paper. Nowhere in those pages was it made clear that the write-ups were part of the (regular) ads that appeared on the lower half of the page.

This afternoon tabloid clearly was exploiting the ambiguity from the blurring of the ads and news. They appeared not to care a jot whether they could be fooling their readers or tarnishing the profession of journalism. Neither did the reporters (whose bylines appeared in most of the write-ups) seem to mind prostituting their journalistic skills to serve the almighty advertising ringgit.

Well, perhaps they do not know what journalism is really about and how journalistic writing is different from PR or advertising writing. Or perhaps they do not care. To hell then with ethics and journalistic integrity as long as advertisers are happy to shell out ringgit to the paper to bend over backwards to serve them.

But, wait before you slam The Malay Mail as the only paper in the country offering such a disgustingly tasteless display of journalism.

Shameless self-promotion

As we all know, Malaysians, like many throughout the world, have been reminded of Euro 2004 in Portugal by a deluge of news about this European football championship since 13 June. What, not you, did you say? What is the matter with you? Where have you been?

Did you not notice the The Star Euro 2004 Special Edition that The Star Publications has been putting out as a free supplement, which canld be found in major shopping and fast food outlets? No?

What then about news reports – found within the very pages of The Star itself – on how popular the supplement has become with Malaysians? Also, no?

Actually, power to you if you did not bother to read the so-called news reports on the supplement’s popularity. At least you were spared the nauseating display of self promotion shamelessly masquerading as journalism.

Yes, “nauseating display of self promotion shamelessly masquerading as journalism”. And notice, “reports” is in the plural form because “the people’s paper” was not content with giving us just one but four (so far) of these reports.

They started with one on 20 June, followed by two on 22 June, and the fourth on 23 June. Each report used the flimsiest pretext for making it newsworthy – like how quickly copies of the supplement were snapped up by the public, how handy a reference the supplement was with its updates and scorecharts, even how so many school children were enjoying it, blah, blah, blah.

But they all unmistakably spilled the same promotional drivel–how wonderfully generous and helpful Star Publications has been for coming up with the free supplement. Why, you could even hear the high fives or shoulder pats of self congratulation at the paper’s office for the free supplement as well as the self promotion being passed off as news.

And the paper has to worry about the West eroding our Asian value of humility and self-effacement.

Promotional drivel

The thing is what The Malay Mail and even The Star did is hardly anything new. The promotional drivel shamelessly masquerading as news has been around for quite some time now. The difference perhaps is the media are getting bolder by the day with such bastardisation of journalism.

And why not? Who is watching over them?

We do not suppose the recently created Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) would want to step in and remind the media and advertisers to observe some advertising ethics. And that includes having as much of a firewall separating news and advertising as possible rather than blithely tearing it down. Or is that none of the ASA’s concern? Just as earlier we were told it does not check into ads put out by political parties. So just what aspect of advertising is the Council supposed to look into?

For the interest of the press, it is another reason why the creation of an independent Media Council - along with the repeal of all repressive laws - as suggested by Charter 2000 is overdue. Among other things, this council could help educate and maintain the idea of journalistic independence and integrity, so necessary for the media to publish or broadcast without fear or favour. It could help the profession of journalism to develop into a credible and respectable one.

But given the present situation where there appears to be at best a weak sense of journalistic independence and integrity among the Malaysian press, one can see why The Malay Mail and The Star do not see anything wrong with blurring the line between news reports and ads.

If the media can serve largely as mouthpieces for the BN government, it is not a big leap to use journalism to promote or serve advertisers. Indeed, by selling their souls to advertisers, the media have shown that they are only concerned about earning more advertising ringgit or cultivating a larger - though unquestioning - readership.