Can the Ministry of Truth smell the bullshit?
In Malaysia and other developing countries with despotic or authoritarian state structures, we have a form of journalism I call Bozo Journalism — a kind of bogus journalism that results when the animals have taken over the zoo.
By uppercaise
See also:
Dr M on Robert Fisk, the Internet, lies and distortions
In Malaysia and other developing countries with despotic or authoritarian state structures, we have a form of journalism I call Bozo Journalism — a kind of bogus journalism that results when the animals have taken over the zoo.
Yesterday I posted three examples of it, following on from Saturday’s posting on the idiocy of a Minister in India whose inanity was faithfully quoted by Press Trust of India and carried by Bernama.
Needless to say, he sounded exactly like any of our ministers, many of whom are fulltime clowns if you judge them by what they say. Of course Bernama would quote them all faithfully and probably accurately, quite forgetting it was set up by law as the national news agency and not as the Barisan Nasional news agency.
File not found: PDF of Bernama Act 1967 at Attorney-General’s Chambers
Four issues for the Three Blind Mice
So there are some issues here for the Three Blind Mice of the commercial enterprise better called Barisan Nasional Federal Government of Malaysia Inc masquerading as a democratically-elected government for the plutocracy.
In setting up a mini-Ministry of Truth comprising the Three Blind Mice — Hishammuddin the son of Hussein Onn, Rais Yatim the Abominable Yeti, and Nazri Aziz the Nasty — the government now can be asked to deal with such matters as the reportage of what an idiot says. I choose the Indian example only because it is convenient, and also does not force the Three Blind Mice to judge their fellow cabinet ministers. But they should.
The four issues are:
- If a minister says something false — meaning it’s not true, the facts are wrong, or he lied — is the reporter or the newspaper guilty of reporting false news?
- If a reporter is given a falsehood by a minister, and in trying to be professional, tells the minister he is talking rubbish, will the reporter be treated professionally, or is he going to lose his job? (Bernama reporters, how many of you have gone through this in the past?)
- If a minister states a falsehood and a newspaper publishes it accurately but also carries a sidebar to point out the actual facts, will the reporter or newspaper suffer punitive action?
- If a minister states a falsehood, will the Ministry of Truth take action against the minister for giving false news?
