In alternative media we trust
The government knew or refused to acknowledge that it was losing ground and used the fourth estate it largely controlled to churn up facts based on half truths and outright lies. The elite press screamed “danger” at every opportunity in an all-out campaign to discredit the opposition.
Free Malaysia Today
A major player in the 2008 political storm that shook the seemingly impregnable citadel to the core was the alternative media. Through this medium, the people got to know the dark side of the government. By clicking to the “other sites”, the voters soaked up information never seen in the mainstream newspapers. By browsing through the blog sites and news portals, the citizens had formed their own ideas and were ready to act. Eventually, the well-informed electorate came out in full force and cut down the arrogant rulers to size. In some states, they threw out the government to the crocodiles. The battle for the hearts and minds of the people in that historic year was also a contest between the mainstream dailies and the alternative media. The heavyweights, backed by the full might of the state, employed all the dirty tricks they could concoct to scare the people. The government knew or refused to acknowledge that it was losing ground and used the fourth estate it largely controlled to churn up facts based on half truths and outright lies. The elite press screamed “danger” at every opportunity in an all-out campaign to discredit the opposition.
The blogs and websites were also on fire. They were great hits with visitors who flocked there to discover the truth. They could never obtain such information from the government-controlled mouthpieces. There in glaring details momentous events that the government tried to down play or cover up were reported. Pictures and stories that never saw the light of day in the major newspapers were given prominence in the alternative media. The truth was reported and the anger of the people – the judges – boiled over. They showed their displeasure at the ballot box.
But the snooty men in power did not pay much attention to the fire raging in the alternative sites at that time. They thought their own propaganda machines were more powerful and could easily chop off these new kids on the block. They thought they possessed superior firepower in the papers they held sway and believed they would triumph. They were convinced that truth was on their side. In the end, their distorted truth did not prevail. They lost, their big-gun newspapers lost, the alternative media won.
Strangely the battle of the newspapers – mainstream versus online – in 2008 seems to have been forgotten. No less than the prime minister is urging the people to trust the mainstream media. How? How can the public put their faith in the major newspapers which had become synonymous with cant and disinformation? How can the people treat government-manipulated broadsheets and tabloids as authoritative sources of news when they spewed venom and hate? How can the citizens trust news that whitewash misdeeds and glorify empty slogans? How can the voters accept facts that are manufactured in government laboratories? How is it possible to take as gospel truth reports that are clearly the handiwork of twisted minds outside the news room?
