Sorry State of Our Media

Our news media have fallen into such a sorry state of late that I feel both ashamed and helpless as a journalist.

Of course, given the authoritarian media laws that we have, we can't be expected to be more vocal, least of all critical of the government of the day if we treasure our publication permit.

But many of my concerns are not even political. It's the conscious choice of some media to report on negative news and sensationalising sex, death and other people's misfortune with the goal of getting more readers, listeners or viewers.

The values that we learn as children: honesty, compassion and selflessness are rarely, if at all, portrayed in our media.

As a result of these sensational reporting, economics, community and world news are often relegated to back pages. And as they compete with 'juicier' gossips, entertainment and tales of incest and mayhem, few readers take note and they become sideshows when they should be what news are all about.

The result? Our society has become so backward that many of our teenagers could name all the finalists of the American Idol and none of our ministers. We are now more concerned about details of sexual crimes rather than the measures being put in place to mitigate the effects of the global recession.

Malaysians buy newspapers to find out if their 'numbers have won', watch TV to see who's being 'voted out' and tune in to radio to hear the latest pranks being played on unsuspecting victims.

We often joke about the ignorance of the American society in general, but we are not much better. Our society has become so caught up with 'living the good life' and 'enjoying ourselves' that few people tune in to the all-news channels that we now have.

As a society, the masses are now living on the hard work of a few. No thanks to our news media and reality shows.

To make things worse, our journalists and even editors are caught up in the internet age. Street language and internet lingo are now mainstream in some papers, radio / TV shows. Facts are getting checked a lot less. Bernama news (which is often inaccurate) is taken at face value and copied verbatim (read The Sun / Malaysian Reserve for lessons in 'copy journalism'). Reporters are assigned to cover news, fresh out of school (instead of being put under tutelage of a senior for a year, as was the past practice).

A self-proclaimed 'seasoned' reporter lamented recently that I don't understand what it's like to be working against deadlines, having to juggle between family and work, and still getting things out on time. Well, I have this to say - you made a choice.

CHANGE BEGINS NOW!
If you are a journalist / editor and is guilty of propagating a lifestyle of nonchalance, apathy and fame-seeking, change now. If you have been picking up copies of paper for their entertainment value, change now. For the sake our future, and that of our country and children, change now.

Switch now to more 'intelligent' media, and you will realize there's so much more in life and in the world than negative news and SMS votes.