Hoping for a hop?

As mentioned a few days ago in this blog, news of party-hopping among Malaysian politicians gains prominence in the mainstream media as we draw closer to the general election, especially if the crossover is in favour of the incumbent BN. The bigger the ‘catch’, the bigger is the news coverage likely to be. And so in yesterday’s New Straits Times (28 Feb) there was a news item that flashed a banner headline on top of page 7, “Keadilan’s Saifuddin may join Umno”. It reported that Parti Keadilan Nasional vice-president and State Assemblyman for Lunas, Saifuddin Nasution Ismail, had met the Prime Minister and that “it is believed he had expressed his intention to join Umno”.

The report also quoted some “sources” (unknown to us all) that “he (Saifuddin) had declared to (Premier) Abdullah that he was ready to ‘jump ship’.” Here the reader is given the impression that this party-hopping was very imminent – especially in the wake of recent frog-jumping involving certain individuals from Keadilan.

But the speculated crossover did not happen. Somewhere in the middle of page 5 of today’s (29 Feb.) New Sunday Times, there lies a headline, “Saifuddin says he has no plans to rejoin Umno”. In this report, Saifuddin refuted the allegation, where he was quoted as saying, among other things, that “he had ‘no intention whatsoever’ of joining Umno”. He also said “the newspaper reports were in bad faith and intended to create disunity among the opposition parties.”

Incidentally, this report is placed underneath a huge photograph showing Deputy Prime Minister Najib Razak welcoming the defection of Pekan Keadilan deputy chief Mohd Noordin @ Abdul Aziz Mohd Nor to Umno. The photo caption claims that he “is among more than 100 opposition party members who applied to join Umno yesterday.” Curiously, there’s no detailed report on this seemingly big hop.

In today’s Berita Minggu on page 4, a story with a headline “Saifuddin akui ada berjumpa Perdana Menteri” (Saifuddin admits meeting the Prime Minister) carries Saifuddin’s refutation of the allegation that he’s joining Umno. This denial, however, is only mentioned in the fourth paragraph of the report.

At the time of writing, we’re not sure whether the coverage of both the NST and Berita Minggu regarding Saifuddin’s denial is triggered by Saifuddin's threat (as reported in malaysiakini yesterday) to “initiate legal action against the two dailies, Berita Harian and the New Straits Times, which reported the allegations.”

Sun-ny side up for Abdullah and Najib

Experimenting is certainly not a culture to be promoted in Malaysia. Not with elections, at least. Why risk an explosive concoction when the bland mixture in the bottle that has been left for more than four decades has given the best results. So implies the Deputy Prime Minister, as reported in theSun when he urged the people not to experiment during the coming elections and vote the Opposition. Najib Razak was quoted as saying that the people had given Pas enough opportunities in Kelantan and Terengganu and it was clear that there was no progress in these states, unlike the “proven” formula of the Barisan Nasional.

In wooing the voters, the coverage of the BN was prominently placed amidst the news of higher EPF dividends and a stronger GDP growth. These news pieces are juxtaposed against biased campaign highlights in favour of the BN to set the mood for the elections, especially among the business community. It is also interesting to note the lack of comments, criticisms or feedback on the announcements in the main pages or the letters pages. The newspaper does not seem to be providing the space for debate that is most critical given the significance of the issues and certainly the timing of the announcements.

Flipping through the first few pages of theSun throughout this week, readers will only see the Prime Minister and his deputy in action, with no portrayal of any other groups or people. This is clearly aimed at drawing support for the two leaders. There is nothing new in this trend in not only this newspaper, but also in other media - but it is an indication of the continued bias in the selection of text and images by the editorial board and management of the company.

As defections continue to take place in favour of Umno, theSun plays up what appears to be the weakening of the opposition. Throughout the week, it gives prominence to coverage of defections from Keadilan, but these stories are not reciprocated by comments from the opposition parties. Articles on Pas members joining Umno were featured twice, on 21 February and again on 26 February,

Friday’s opinion column discussed the speculation on the election dates and whether it is right to blame the press for fuelling the speculation. Aside from a brief discussion on the role of the media, the column does not explore the right of the public to information, especially in making informed choices.

TV3 news starts flashing the BN logo

As we predicted on 26 Feb (see below), the television stations would soon start flashing the BN logo during their new bulletins. True to form, a huge BN logo was flashed for a few seconds at the top left hand corner above the newscaster during last night's TV3 midnight news. This presumably was related to some news about the BN's polls preparations.

But the question is why is such flashing of logos only reserved for the BN? What about flashing opposition party logos for a change?

We can only surmise that this sort of flashing of the BN logo is part of the larger strategy of promoting subconscious "brand recognition" ahead of the polls.

The right to reply

Today's Star, as expected, is dominated by news of the Barisan Nasional and its component parties preparing for the forthcoming general elections. For instance, the front page of the daily carries a story ("Barisan seats allotted") of seat allocations within the incumbent BN. In between these reports, however, are inserted a few news reports about the Opposition in the inside pages. One of these is, to our minds, noteworthy. At the very bottom of page 4, there's a news item headlined, "Ezam: I and two others do not control supreme council".

In this story, Parti Keadilan Nasional is given space in The Star to tell its side of the story pertaining to former Perak Keadilan Youth chief Hanafiah Man's allegation that three of its leaders -- Azmin Ali, Ezam Mohd Nor and Khalid Jaafar -- virtually controlled the party's supreme council.

Hey look, PAS flags in The Star - but what about Keadilan's and DAP's?

For Malaysian readers who hunger for some action and fairplay in the press coverage of the run-up to the election, lo and behold, today's Star may satisfy you. Check out page 4, where there is a photo of BN and Umno flags fluttering along with those of Pas' in Tasik Gelugor, Penang. This photo is, by the way, placed next to a news report headlined, "MCA confident of doing well."

Though the MCA-controlled Star has now shown PAS flags - perhaps thanks to the Election Media Monitors' constant prodding! - it is still loathe to show the party flags or logos of the MCA's main rivals in the urban areas: Keadilan and the DAP.

Using party-hopping as psychological warfare

Political defections or, to use the local lingo, frog-jumping (lompat katak) are a regular feature in Malaysian life. But some defections seem to be given more prominence to enable certain political parties to extract as much political mileage as possible. From our experience, we can say that such hopping is usually highlighted at opportune moments close to a general election.

Such revelations are calculated to embarrass the party which has lost some members as well as to demoralise its remaining membership. And the mainstream media tend to highlight the defections of former opposition party members to the warm embrace of Umno, MCA or other BN component parties. Very seldom do the media cover defections in favour of opposition parties - even though they do occur in significant numbers especially in the reformasi era.

Not surprisingly, in today's New Straits Times on page 7, a headline screams, “58 from Keadilan cross over to Umno.” Welcoming the “reformed” individuals, whose identities were revealed, Umno vice-president Najib Razak called the defections a “timely realisation.” He added, “We will continue to see more members of Opposition parties turning around to support Umno.” So watch this space, fellow citizens.

Not to be outdoned by the NST, The Star on page 3 flashes a photo (above) of the smiling “reformed” individuals with Najib Razak. In its report, the daily says in its somewhat sensationalist intro, “Parti Keadilan Nasional was rocked by the defection of more party leaders yesterday with 58 ‘grassroot leaders’ leaving the opposition party to join Umno.”

Feeling good, anybody?

Malaysia’s improved economic growth last year, with its Gross Domestic Product chalking 5.2 per cent makes the front page headlines in at least three mainstream dailies: the NST, The Star and Utusan Malaysia. The NST flashes a banner headline, “Malaysia’s red-hot recovery”; The Star proclaims “Robust growth”; while UM declares, “Malaysia catat KDNK 5.2% tahun lalu – Zeti”. These results were announced by Bank Negara.

Under normal circumstance, this economic achievement can be considered “good news”. But seen in the larger context of the coming general election, such front-page coverage appears to be aimed at injecting the “feel good” factor into the voters' psyche. It would seem that the newspapers concened are hoping that Malaysians would be appreciative of the BN's “good work” in the economy when they go to the polls.



Flag wars revisited

If yesterday’s war of flags as reported in The Star was not reflected in the photo the paper chose to use, the page one photo in today’s Utusan Malaysia implies that there is an intense contest between the BN and Pas in Kota Bharu, Kelantan. At least, Utusan is showing a few opposition (PAS) flags (albeit in the background and not very prominent). Just a thought: has the Election Commission approved the display of party symbols ahead of the official election campaign? Or is it as toothless as usual?




Injecting the BN's dacing into your brain

As for that great "people's paper", The Star, it appears to be making no secret about its political preference. In fact, through the photos on page 1 and 4, the reader gets the sense that the daily, which is controlled by the MCA, is indeed going all out to promote the BN and the MCA.

The Star and some other BN-controlled newspapers are obviously using every opportunity they can get to bombard readers with the BN logo - whether subtly or not-so-subtly. As the elections draw closer, we can also expect the TV stations to join in the act by flashing the BN logos prominently behind the newscasters every now and then as they used to do in previously election campaigns.

Advertisers often bombard consumers with their brand names and logos at every opportunity they can get. This is usually done to promote brand recognition even at the subconscious level, so that the next time a consumer is at a shopping mall, s/he would subconsciously and instinctively reach out for the brand that seems the most familiar.

The Malaysian media has become adept at promoting this sort of subconscious brand recognition (in this case, through the constant projection of the BN logo). Malaysian newspaper readers and TV viewers should be aware of the fact that they are being bombarded with such images of the BN dacing to influence their choice on polling day. Will some voters put a cross against the BN logo simply because that logo has become so ingrained in their subconscious, much like a consumer in the supermarket going for a product on the shelf that seems familiar?



T'is the season to "tell the truth”

A report in the “Elections 2004” section of today’s NST on page 4 catches the eye: “Ruslan to tell all about Keadilan”. Former Negri Sembilan state Keadilan chief Ruslan Kassim, who has returned to UMNO's embrace has vowed to "tell the truth” about his former party. He would do that, wouldn’t he? But the question is, will the paper get a response from his former colleagues in Keadilan?

"Riots" to erupt in Penang? Outrageous!

This election campaign gets weirder and weirder. Check out this Bernama report.

‘Riots’ To Erupt In Penang This Weekend

PENANG, Feb 25 (Bernama) -- Large-scale “riots” and “chaos” will erupt in several parts of Penang on Saturday and Sunday but police are requesting Penangites not to panic.

Penang OCPD Datuk Othman Talib said the “fights” and “riots” were part of police training in the run-up to the general elections. Read the full report.

Strangely it doesn't appear to have been picked up in the media on 26 Feb. Maybe we will see it in tomorrow's papers.

In an immediate reponse, Aliran said it was shocked to learn that "large-scale riots and chaos" will be enacted by the police as part of their training in the run-up to the general election. This two-day affair would involve 1,400 personnel drawn from various agencies including the Federal Reserve Unit.

It is difficult to believe that the police have hit upon this brilliant idea quite suddenly, the groups said. "This whole exercise is clearly orchestrated to benefit the Barisan Nasional." Read Aliran's full response.

Baby, I got the "fever" - and it's clouding my reporting!

The top of the front page of the New Straits Times on 25 Feb has a story saying that the KL composite index (KLCI) soared to 874.82 the day before, breaking through the 870-point barrier to reach the highest level in four years. The headline attributes the increase to election fever and “feel good” economic factors.

But what did the election fever have to do with it? NST tries to explain by offering the following quote:

“There were rumours that the date of the general election will be announced soon,” a dealer at a local brokerage said today. “This caused many players to place their positions in the market ahead of the actual announcement.”

And that was it. Even though the dealer offered merely a conjecture, it still hardly explains. Wasn’t there a rumour of the announcement of the election a day, two days, a week, even two weeks earlier?

And isn’t it not true that elections tend to create uncertainty—big or small—so that the
market, ever conservative in outlook, would hedge, if not acting bearish, rather than being bullish?

NST appeared more interested in getting hold of whatever to suggest that the positive performance of the KLCI reflected well on the BN government
so that, by extension, a BN victory at the upcoming election would only bring even more goodies to the country.

It would have been fine had all that come from an opinion piece. But it was from what was supposed to be a news report. For NST then, there was no election uncertainty because the paper had pretty much sewn up the election for BN.

Furthermore, yesterday (25 Feb) at the KL stock exchange, the index dropped by 2.79 points. NTV7 described the market as taking a “breather” and NST (26 Feb) said it “paused for a consolidation”.

Hmm, so yesterday’s drop had nothing to do with the election fever or uncertainties associated with the election, eh?

Conversely, because the day before (24 Feb) did not see the election date announced, common sense would say that yesterday would be even more feverish for people expecting the announcement, wouldn’t it? If the election fever explanation offered by NST for the KLCI “soaring” on 24 Feb should hold true, why should it not hold true for the day after? So why did the index dip then?

What’s more, yesterday also saw Bank Negara releasing a glowing report on the economy in the fourth quarter of 2003, giving an overall growth of 5.2 per cent for the year as opposed to the official prediction of 4.5 per cent. Again, shouldn’t this “red-hot recovery” (NST, 26 Feb) bring about a further “soaring” of the KLCI yesterday? What better “feel good” economic factors can you get?

"Flag war"? What flag war?

Today's Star reflects the 'election mood' that has swept the nation, especially the contending political parties. A number of stories touched on the activities of the various political parties.

It is in the midst of all this that a reader's attention may be drawn to a picture shown on page 6 of the daily. Headlined 'Flag war breaks out in Penang', the picture actually only reveals the blue-coloured flags of the ruling Barisan Nasional. If you're looking for some action in this photo, well, there ain't any! And that's because the photo shows no flags from other contesting parties apart from the BN's. Neither was there another photo on the same page to show party flags flying from the opposing camps.

Such is the state of 'war' that one witnesses in this report. Either the photographer/editor is allergic to opposition party flags or s/he is determined not to give any publicity to opposition party symbols for fear that voters may be drawn to these parties...

Nanyang plays up MCA's "achievements"


Nanyang Siang Pau has been giving wide coverage to the MCA's promotion of its "developmentalism" ideology. Reports covered the allocation of funds for Chinese resettlement villages (20 Feb, A13 and A32), which was highlighted as an MCA achievement for the Chinese community.

Education was also used as a propaganda theme. The special 10 per cent allocation of places for Chinese students in Mara institutions this year was played up (22 Feb).
All these issues were portrayed as revealing the MCA's and BN’s essential goodness. The paper ignored what real good governance for the people is all about: respect for basic rights, social justice, holistic development.

Unfair coverage was clearly seen in the reporting of the the rivalry between UMNO and PAS. The paper is obviously biased against PAS. The coverage of the BN's criticism against PAS was not balanced by coverage of any response from PAS. There were more reports of attacks on PAS than actual coverage of PAS (20 Feb, A12; 22 Feb, A3 and A25). The DAP, however, received a certain amount of coverage.

The paper's commentators and columnists, though, were not entirely in favour of the BN. In this area, the coverage may be said to be fair and equal.


Kwong Wah's experiment in fair coverage

Readers of Kwong Wah Yit Poh are mainly in northern Malaysia especially Penang and Kedah; so the news coverage has been highly localized. The main political issue among the Penang Chinese community was the dispute between DAP and Parti Keadilan Rakyat. The news coverage as well as comments from reporters and readers showed that opposition supporters in the Chinese community would prefer a win-win solution between the DAP and Keadilan.

A meaningful commentary section on Sunday (22 Feb) was launched a couple of weeks ago. The editor invited four parties to write the commentary. The political parties given the opportunity were from the ruling coalition and the opposition parties: the MCA, Gerakan, the DAP and Keadilan). Writers from the four parties commented on various issues with their own views and based on their political agenda. This appeared to be an experiment in fair coverage for all quarters.

The paper sometimes highlighted political issues that were not relevant to the country’s political development; for instance, the childish guessing game on when the election would be held was given front-page coverage (21 Feb).

Agendadaily has its own agenda

On the Agendadaily website today, there was an elaborate report on ex-Keadilan leader Lokman’s claim that his former colleague at Keadilan, Azmin, met the international financier George Soros.

While the veracity of this claim is yet to be established, the association with Soros in this report may be sufficient to trigger anxiety and suspicion in the minds of Malaysians, particularly the Malays. Given the Mahathir administration’s lambasting of Jews, this report may also raise eyebrows by linking Azmin with Soros, who is a Jew and supposedly a ‘rogue’ at that.


In another report, “Lawatan rasmi Pak Lah ke Kalantan: Ada pihak cuba buat kacau?”, the Agendadaily reporter apparently tried to investigate a rumour that Pas had put flags on an UMNO building at a time when the Prime Minister was visiting the Pas-ruled state. The story was written in a way as if to suggest that there was an attempt to sabotage Abdullah Badawi’s visit by this act.

Has the Election Commission given the green light for political campaigning?


Has the Election Commission given the green light for political campaigning for the 11th general election but forgotten to inform the opposition parties?

Yesterday (Feb. 23), TV1, TV3 and NTV7 sure acted as though electioneering had begun as they gave prominent coverage to UMNO, led by Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi, descending on Kelantan. On the pretense of opening a new UMNO building in Kelantan,Abdullah and others from UMNO, such as Muhammad Taib, were shown posturing for Kelantan voters. They expressed confidence in UMNO or BN making inroads into the Pas-controlled state.

The prime minister said the people of Kelantan who voted for Pas in the past for a change were now ready to vote for BN because unlike BN, Pas had failed to deliver its promises to the people. He also said that BN believed in power-sharing, clearly implying that Pas and the other opposition parties did not. And he argued that what UMNO needed to do to dislodge Pas from Kelantan in the upcoming election was to stop party infighting.

But where was Pas? Not a word in response to UMNO was offered by the three TV channels. Professionalism, if not common sense, should have told them that including a Pas response, even if merely a token act, is in order because of the party’s near total dominance of Kelantan in the 1999 election. But the three TV channels appeared more interested in serving as mouthpieces of UMNO/BN at the expense of professionalism or common sense.

All three TV channels suggested that the public appearance of Abdullah and UMNO in Kelantan was very well received. TV3 indicated that it attracted a turnout of “several thousand” while NTV7 reported a crowd size of 50,000. The latter did not say where the number had come from, although the New Straits Times (on Feb. 24) attributed that number to UMNO officials. By unhesitatingly accepting the 50,000 turnout and not mentioning UMNO as the source for it, NTV7 showed it was willing to dispense with its journalistic independence or integrity and accept whatever UMNO dished out as the truth.

Star trumpets BN's polls preparations


The Star provided overwhelming coverage and favourable commentary on the Barisan Nasional’s preparations for the General Elections in comparison to its coverage of other political parties during the week monitored (15-22 Feb). It portrayed the BN’s election machinery as ready and confident in taking on any electoral challenge by high-profile candidates from both PAS and Keadilan, especially in the northern states of ah and Perlis.

Moreover, PAS is portrayed as promoting an unsavouy kind of politics, ie politicizing religion and undermining political stability and unity in the country whereas the BN’s way is the more rational and moderate approach. Keadilan, on the other hand, is portrayed as a spent force.

The week began with front-page coverage of Abdullah Badawi’s “war against corruption”, following the arrests of two high profile individuals in the previous week. Stating that it was not an election gimmick” but “work [that] a responsible government had to carry out,” the PM claimed the support of the people judging from the positive feedback reported in the media.

Later in the week (17 Feb), former Malacca chief minister Rahim Tamby Chik went further. He suggested that Abdullah Badawi’s credentials and personal drive to increase the transparency of the government’s administrative structure would sway opposition party members, “especially those from PAS”, to join UMNO.

Paper promotes "feel-good factor"

The “feel good” factor towards Abdullah Badawi was highlighted once again in a Star feature article on Feb 15 by Joceline Tan. Here, the PM was reported as presenting “a bold and exciting list of candidates who can help him realize his agenda for the country, ” which included higher standards of accountability and transparency. In another event held in Ipoh, the PM is quoted as saying that Barisan elected representatives must be fair to all races because their actions and decisions were constantly being judged.

Deputy Prime Minister Najib Razak also gave personal assurances to the Chinese community that under-enrolled National-type Chinese schools would not be closed down, adding further that this was achieved through “the Barisan way” of discussions (16 Feb). Adding to the impression that the interests of the Chinese community are being looked after was the allocation by MCA president Ong Ka Ting a few days later of RM55 million for upgrading 452 New Villages (predominantly peopled by the Chinese)

Rafidah: "Our human rights record rivals developed nations"

At the launching of the MIC election machinery for the Wanita, Youth and Puteri Wings (16 Feb), UMNO Wanita chief Radifah Aziz was reported in The Star as criticizing voters who took the side of the Opposition political parties because they “do not understand the Barisan’s agenda for progress." She said their dissatisfaction was irrelevant as they do not quite see “the bigger picture” of fruits of development such as schools, jobs and prosperity.

At the above event, when queried about the importance of the “bread-and-butter” concerns to young voters, Rafidah was reported to have said, “Barisan has always given much attention to matters of justice. Our human rights record even rivals some developed countries.” There was no follow-up commentary on this claim nor any attempt to seek opposing views.

In an article on 18 February, the paper reported that the transfer of three municipal council employees in the PAS-led state of Terengganu simply because they were seen having coffee with the state BN chairman was illustrative of the party’s paranoid behaviour. Again, there was no space given to a reply from the municipality.

Sin Chew focuses on MCA and DAP

Sin Chew Jit Poh has given balanced coverage of election news for both ruling and opposition parties in the period monitored (15-21 Feb). Some parties received more coverage on certain days; other had more on the other days. For example, the newspaper carried at least six news items on opposition parties but only four pieces on the ruling parties on 19 Feb. On the other hand, there were more than eight pieces about ruling parties and less than three on opposition parties on 21 February.

It is the tradition of the editorial column of Sin Chew Jit Poh not to take a stand on sensitive political issues; so not surprisingly, the editorial column didn’t carry any comment on the coming election. A few few columns analysed the election strategies adopted by the various political parties.

Among the parties, the MCA and the DAP received more attention than any of the other parties. These reports often appeared on the upper sections of the pages. The coverage of the MCA contained more diverse views as there were many spokespersons from the MCA. The DAP spokespersons, on the other hand, were mainly Lim Kit Siang and Kerk Kim Hock.

There was more coverage of UMNO and PAS than of Gerakan and Keadilan. The UMNO spokesmen were always the ministers or people who held official positions. Hadi Awang, on the other hand, was the most popular spokesman from PAS.

TV stations indulge in BN's guessing game

On 16 Feb, Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi, on TV 1 and 3, dismissed rumours he would dissolve Parliament at the end of the month for the election to be held in March, adding that the election was not due until November. Two days later, while he was in Iran for the D8 summit, TV 3 reported that Deputy Prime Minister Najib Razak said a BN meeting, to be chaired by the Prime Minister, would be held in Sabah on March 3rd. This was immediately followed by a story about the Election Commission informing all EC officials to get ready for the election. However, also on the same day, TV 1 and 3, reported that Perak Mentri Besar Tajol Rosli Ghazali believed the election would be held sometime after April 12, when the Sabah State Assembly will be dissolved so that the Sabah election could be held simultaneously with the Federal election.

While the constitution empowers the ruling party, BN, to decide when to dissolve Parliament for the election, reports on the rumours/speculations, fueled in no small part by BN leaders themselves, raised one question: what about the views of the opposition? All three TV channels did not bother to seek them. Put another way, most tourists from other countries would be excused for thinking that only the BN will be contesting in the coming general election.

Chinese schools issue: no TV coverage of opposition views

On 15 Feb, Deputy Prime Minister Najib Razak, on TV 1 and 3, said the government would not close any Chinese schools with very small enrolments. Najib stated that when such schools were to be relocated, it would be done with the students' benefit in mind, e.g.how far the school’s new location would be.

Najib made his statement as guest of honor at the Chinese New Year celebration held by the Hokkien Association of Malaysia in Kuala Lumpur. The Chinese school issue has been a major issue of the opposition, especially the DAP, but none of the three TV channels offered anything from them.

Rafidah Aziz’s “angry” response

On 15 Feb, a few days following the arrests of Eric Chia and Kasitah Gaddam for graft, Rafidah Aziz responded ‘angrily’, according to TV3, to people saying she was on the ACA list of individuals being investigated for graft. She added: “I will sue them (for slander)”.

TV3 (as well as TV 1 and NTV 7) did not provide any response to Rafidah from the opposition, especially Keadilan, which had been making the accusation for the past several years. It implied the opposition was now afraid. But this was hardly so. The following day after Rafidah’s threat, Malaysiakini reported that Parti Keadilan Rakyat Deputy President Dr. Syed Husin Ali challenged her to file a lawsuit. The following day (17 Feb), also on Malaysiakini, Keadilan Youth Chief Mohd Ezam Mohd Nor said Rafidah’s threat was nothing new as it was made in the run-up to the Lunas by-election in 2000. He added: “I hope she (Rafidah) files her suit soon” and “...we (Keadilan) dare him (Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi) to tell the public that Rafidah is innocent”.

Sun puts Keadilan and PAS in poor light

theSun’s coverage's last week was mainly dominated by official statements and functions involving the Barisan Nasional, with Umno’s two top leaders, Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and Najib Abdul Razak addressing their campaigns to delink the recent high profile anti-corruption cases and the forthcoming elections. The Barisan Nasional and its component parties and leaders were featured in 17 out of the total 24 news pieces on the elections, while the rest quoted opposition parties and the Election Commission.

The BN pieces mainly dealt with the party’s confidence of winning over states and seats controlled by the opposition and the preparedness of the party machinery at the various levels. The coverage of the DAP was more in favour of the party, but the same cannot be said for Pas and Parti Keadilan Nasional (Keadilan). Keadilan, which occupied a significant space on page 2 on 16/02/04, was described as weak and “unable to emulate” the success of the BN, in quoting Najib, the Umno deputy chairman. The BN’s offensive seems to be on Keadilan as reflected by the statement of Umno Permatang Pauh protem division chairman Abdul Jalil Abdul Majid about the numbers of constituents who are switching back to the BN. He was quoted as saying that many of those who voted for Keadilan president Wan Azizah Wan Ismail in the 1999 elections had done so out of sympathy for her husband Anwar Ibrahim, and are now supporting Umno.

The Friday edition (20/02/04) had the most number of stories dedicated to pre-election news with 8, including the front page that featured Najib urging a halt to speculation that several other high profile personalities are on the Anti-Corruption Agency’s list. While the BN and the opposition were given equal coverage in terms of story count (four each), only one on the opposition was given sufficient prominence. This was a piece on Lim Guan Eng’s appeal for royal pardon (13 paragraphs, with pix, page 2). Another shorter news piece was on DAP’s hope to contest all seats in Petaling Jaya; a similar piece had been published earlier in the week for the state of Malacca. Two pieces highlighted Parti Keadilan Nasional; however, one quoted a BN leader “advising” the opposition party’s youth leader Ezam Mohd Noor to rejoin Umno, and the other was on the expulsion of Keadilan Youth’s secretary Lokman Noor Adam. In the latter, it was implied that Lokman’s sacking was the result of his questioning the party leaders over misuse of funds.

There were no features or news analysis on the elections, and only one Letter to the Editor under the heading “Let’s have committed candidates, please” (20/02/04, page 7).

False alarm: a defection that wasn’t

On the front page of the NST on 23 Feb 2004, a headline proclaimed, “PM uncertain about Caracas G15, speculation on polls rises”. This suggests that the next general election may be around the corner given the possibility that the Prime Minister may have to cancel meetings overseas in the near future.

And on the 'Elections 2004’ page, there were seven reports about the BN or what BN leaders said. Another report on the same page was headlined, “Bunyamin’s son has not joined Umno”, in which PAS denied the previous day’s allegation in the NST that the son of the late Kelantan Pas information chief Bunyamin Yaacob had joined Umno.


Childish guessing game

Over in The Star on 23 Feb 2004, writer Wong Chun Wai indicated on page 8 that there were ‘strong signals’ that the general election would be held soon. For instance, he said, certain overseas trips for the PM might have to be cancelled in view of the impending election. This, therefore, further reinforces the suspicion that the election is coming soon. It is also an indication that Malaysia may well be one of the few countries in the world where the date of the general election is turned into a childish guessing game for the people.

NST helps BN to woo Chinese voters

In a front page on 22 Feb 2004, the New Sunday Times splashed a report headlined, “PM: You’re not born to be poor”. In this report, Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi was in Besut, Pas-held Terengganu, where he urged the rural Malay community to strive harder in order to improve their living standards. This is a veiled criticism of Pas as the BN has alleged that both Terengganu and Kelantan were poor because they were under Pas rule. This approach to development is also a marked shift from Mahathir’s obsession with multi-billion ringgit projects that might not necessarily benefit the poor.

It appears that the BN is making a conscious attempt to woo the Chinese constituency for electoral purposes. Thus, it is not surprising to see another report headlined, “320 Chinese students offered places in MRSM this year”, making the front page. The Mara Junior Science Colleges (MRSM) have always been predominantly Malay and therefore a subject of unhappiness particularly among the non-Malays.

And on page 4, where the ‘Elections 2004’ coverage can be found, there was an item that reported that the son of the late Kelantan Pas information chief Bunyamin Yaacob has joined Umno. As in previous occasions, such news is meant to demoralise the Pas rank-and-file.


Here we go again: more allocations for vernacular schools

As in the NST, the 22 Feb. 2004 issue of The Sunday Star also reported on the PM ‘unofficial’ campaign trail. In Kuala Terengganu, Abdullah Badawi was quoted as saying that the BN would have separate manifestos for the two states (i.e. Pas-ruled Terengganu and Kelantan) in the forthcoming election.

Unlike the NST, The Star placed the report on the increased Chinese intake in MRSM on page 4 headlined, “Ong happy with MRSM intake.” MCA president Ong Ka Ting expressed happiness over the increased intake of Chinese students (here the daily put the number as 255) into the Mara Junior Science Colleges. He called it one-step forward towards Bangsa Malaysia.

In another report on page 8, readers were told that the Education Ministry had allocated some RM2.5 billion of its annual expenditure of RM11 billion to national-type Chinese and Tamil schools. In view of the coming election, such a pronouncement is ‘understandable’.

And on page 25, writer Joceline Tan, in a lengthy feature discussed critically the recent rumblings in the opposition party Keadilan.

8TV gets into the act

Seems like Abdullah Badawi is still on the campaign trail, this time addressing the people of Kelantan. The media seem to be happy to provide headline coverage for such visits, which are thinly disguised campaign events. During its 8pm news, 8TV showed Abdullah saying to the crowd something to the effect of "Can I presume that your presence here is because you are with me?" With me? or with the BN?

The narrator then said that Kelantan was one of the poorest states in Malaysia. In the next sentence, s/he said that the state has been under PAS rule since 1990, implying that the PAS-led government is responsible for this state of affairs. What was omitted was the fact that even when the state was under BN-rule, it was still one of the poorest states in Malaysia.

Will the station give similar coverage to opposition politicians' visits to various states?

On the plus side, the station should be commended for highlighting the plight of a group of migrant workers from Indonesia who had not been paid their wages. The workers were camping out in the Paroi stadium in Negri Sembilan and were surviving on a meagre diet. To its credit, the station allowed the workers to air their grievances to the camera. This case, however, was presented as a one-off news item: there was no attempt to analyse the prevailing power structures and to link it to the powerlessness and oppression that migrant workers experience as a matter of routine with little protection under the law.

Star joins BN campaign trail as Najib perks up armed forces hopes

Two huge photos in The Star today: the front page carries a large picture of Abdullah Badawi, accompanied by Sarawak CM Taib Mahmud, with BN flags in the background. Over on page 8, a similar snap of Najib, accompanied by Kedah MB Syed Razak Syed Zain. So has the BN campaign begun or what?

Why is The Star giving such prominence to Najib's "working visit" to Kedah? Is the working visit in his capacity as Deputy PM or as Barisan leader? He can't have it both ways.

On page 8 as well, Najib raises the hopes of armed forces personnel by saying that the government is considering additional allowances for the forces. He said the type of allowance could not be announced as the government has not yet given its approval, and then added, "I hope they will be approved in the near future." If the allowances have not yet been approved, is it really news? Or is The Star trying to provide positive publicity for the BN campaign? Highlighting promises of financial perks ahead of a general election is also unethical as it is tantamount to vote-buying.

Another school declared opened as TV3 highlights BN campaign

You know the general election is drawing near when they start "declaring open" new schools. TV3, in its midnight news bulletin a few minutes ago, showed PM Abdullah Badawi declaring open a school in Kota Samarahan in Sarawak.

A little later, TV3 news showed deputy premier Najib Razak in Kedah urging a crowd of farmers and fishermen among others to vote for the Barisan Nasional if the people wanted continued development. This sort of publicity for the Barisan Nasional is unethical when opposition political parties are denied similar time to highlight their campaign. It is also a veiled threat as it implies that there will be no "development" for the people of Kedah if they do not vote for the BN.

Then came an "advertisement" from the Ministry of Rural Development proclaiming how "cemerlang" Abdullah Badawi's first 100 days in power had been while the footage showed the new Prime Minister reading a speech about "wawasan". This "ad" was inserted within the news bulletin.

As you can see, TV3 has already embarked in less than subtle ways on the BN's election campaign trail.

NST's Election Fever Rises




The temperature of election fever is getting higher. In today's (20 February 2004) New Straits Times under the column heading of "Election 2004" on page 4, there ran a few stories that should catch the eye of the concerned and interested reader.

An incumbent party, as always, has many advantages over its competitors. It can promise so-called development funds for certain groups of people who, under normal circumstances, would not make the headlines. And so we have a headline that states, "RM55m to spruce up 452 new villages". In this report, Housing and Local Government Minister Ong Ka Ting promised to the new villagers that apart from the RM55 million allocated to them, there would be other government funds that would cater to projects such as "resurfacing roads, improving the drainage system and building community halls, recreation and sports facilities."

And very much in the pump-the-flesh tradition among most ruling politicians here and abroad, a photo was inserted to show Minister Ong admiring the haircut of an 18-month-old baby "to the amusement of his mother."

Although the page also carried reports about the Opposition - such as the ones with the headlines "Only 'qualified' Pas candidates to be fielded in Negri" and "Guan Eng submits petition to King seeking a pardon" - the rest (8 reports) were basically allotted to events regarding parties of the ruling coalition. And out of these, three reports are critical of the Opposition: "Support for Opposition in Permatang Pauh waning, says Umno"; "Cheap publicity stunt by Hadi"; and, of course, the usual propaganda about frog-jumping before the general election, "145 Pas members in Tambun join Umno."

When Other Voices are Curbed

When Other Voices are Curbed

Curbs on the alternative media are stifling media freedom in Malaysia

by Dr Mustafa K Anuar


It is a fact that Malaysia has seen a large number of newspapers, magazines, and TV and radio stations sprouting up since independence. The number has grown larger especially since the Barisan Nasional government under Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad embarked on its privatisation policy that promotes an environment conducive to private mass media.

But the majority of these mainstream media are owned or controlled by individuals or groups who are closely aligned to the powers-that-be. And this means that generally the mainstream media have an ideological bent or a political preference that is collectively similar, i.e. fervently supportive of the government. This fervour can be felt especially in the run-up to general elections.

Full article http://www.aliran.com/monthly/2001/1c.html

Our monitoring work is divided into five main sections:

1) Malay language media
2) English language media
3) Chinese language media
4) Tamil language media
5) Media in Sabah and Sarawak

Each of these five sections has a Section Coordinator, who coordinates the work and receives reports from the various monitors in his/her section.

The projects overall coordinators are Dr Mustafa K Anuar and Anil Netto.

All major Malaysian media - excluding political party organs (i.e. media directly owned, edited or published by political parties, whether newspapers, newsletters or websites) - will be monitored. Media monitoring will be carried out on all major categories of media: television, radio, satellite TV, websites, and newspapers.

A warm welcome to the Malaysian public. We hope this webblog will contribute towards the struggle for fair access to the media and accurate and ethical reporting especially in the run-up to the general election.

Malaysiakini.com

Citizens group to monitor election media coverage, launches weblog

Beh Lih Yi

A social reform group has launched the first election media monitoring weblog in the run-up to the general election to keep track of news coverage and media ethics.

"As citizens of this country, Malaysians have every right to demand fair media coverage so that voters can make informed choices when casting their ballot.

"It is therefore crucial that we investigate whether each of the contesting political parties gets a fair hearing in the mass media," said the project’s joint coordinators Dr Mustafa K Anuar and Anil Netto in a statement today.

The weblog known as ‘Malaysian Election Media Monitors’ was launched yesterday by the Penang-based movement, Charter 2000-Aliran.

Charter 2000-Aliran is a citizens’ media initiative based on a press freedom manifesto endorsed by 39 civil sociey and media groups.

Public awareness

Contacted later, Mustafa said the monitoring team comprises about 20 volunteers nationwide and they expect more to join.

The volunteers are tasked to monitor the conduct of the mass media on a daily basis and post their observations on the webog for public feedback.

"All of us are on voluntary basis, we receive no funding," he said.

Mustafa, who is also a mass communication lecturer with a local university, said he and his colleagues were inspired to create the weblog due to the unfair news coverage during the 1999 general election.

"Some news were distorted (and there was) lack of coverage for certain political parties. We feel there is a need to highlight this," he said.

Public awareness

He stressed that the weblog could help raise public awareness and provide a platform for public scrutiny pertaining to election coverage.

Apart from monitoring news coverage, the weblog will also scrutinise political advertisements that serve the interests of Barisan Nasional (BN) parties and disparage others.

It will also be on guard for any attempt by the BN to use the media to create fear of potential social disorder should the opposition be voted into power.

Another area of focus, is the announcement of subsidies and funds for schools and other institutions during the campaign period, which Aliran said amounts to bribery.

A couple of thoughts for the day:

Without an unfettered press, without liberty of speech, all of the outward forms and structures of free institutions are a sham, a pretense -- the sheerest mockery. If the press is not free; if speech is not independent and untrammeled; if the mind is shackled or made impotent through fear, it makes no difference under what form of government you live, you are a subject and not a citizen:
William E. Borah


Source: http://www.johnpilger.com

We have already witnessed the first few untruths in the mainstream media about the Free Anwar gathering at Cherok Tok'un on the night of Feb 14. Election Media Monitors on the scene placed the size of the crowd at around 10,000. Only Malaysiakini among the media seemed to have estimated the figure accurately.

The place was packed and the emcee for the night had to keep urging the crowd to make way for more people who were coming.

But the mainstream media report described the turnout as "lukewarm", with the NST quoting figures of 500 and later citing a police estimate of 2,300. Even the foreign media seemed to have trouble counting with some reports mentioning a crowd size of 2,000.

This trend of understating the size of the crowd at opposition gatherings has been seen in previous election campaigns and appears to be resurfacing as the polls draw near this time.

Media Statement

Charter 2000-Aliran launches Malaysian Election Media Monitors initiative

A team of about 20 independent volunteers will begin wide-ranging monitoring of the conduct of the mass media in the run-up to the forthcoming general election in a project initiated by Charter 2000-Aliran.

This project, launched today, will keep track of news coverage and critically examine whether the media have been ethical in reporting news in the run-up to the election. As citizens of this country, Malaysians have every right to demand fair media coverage so that voters can make informed choices when casting their ballot. It is therefore crucial that we investigate whether each of the contesting political parties gets a fair hearing in the mass media.

The media coverage should be fair, professional, unbiased and ethical. What this means is that there must be:
a) equal access to the media for all parties;
b) fair and sufficient coverage for all parties; and
c) the right to reply or to respond to state a position or to clarify baseless allegations

We will be looking out for, among other things, any attempt by the Barisan Nasional to use the media to create fear of potential social disorder should the Opposition be voted into power. We will also criticise and condemn news-reports during the campaign period announcing government subsidies or fund allocations for schools and other institutions that would amount to voter bribery and abuse by the caretaker government.

We will also take a sharp look at political advertisements - whether paid for by political parties or private firms - that serve the interests of the BN parties and that run down other parties even as those parties are denied similar space.

Our election monitors are concerned Malaysian citizens who are engaged in this project entirely on a voluntary basis. Charter 2000-Aliran has received no funding whatsoever for this project. It is a project undertaken entirely by Malaysian citizens who are concerned with unfair coverage in both the print and electronic media – as was the case in previous general election campaigns.

Our monitoring observations of the media coverage will be posted regularly onto our Malaysian Election Media Monitors' weblog for public scrutiny and comment. The web-blog can be found at
http://www.aliran.com/charter/monitors/

Dr. Mustafa K Anuar and Anil Netto
Joint Coordinators
Charter 2000-Aliran
17 February 2004

Charter 2000-Aliran is a Malaysian citizens’ media initiative based on a press freedom manifesto endorsed by 39 civil sociey and media groups http://www.aliran.com/charter

Unfair Coverage

Wong Kok Keong takes a look at the mainstream media's bias in the 1999 general election.

A contentious issue of the 10th general election in 1999 was whether the Malaysian media was fair and independent. The Alternative Front (AF) did not think so, accusing them of acting as propaganda for the National Front (NF). The media denied or ignored it. Who was right? ...Full article