posted on 2024-11-13, 10:35authored byMustafa K Anuar
Journalism has over the years invited distrust, scorn, cynicism, even sheer revulsion, from the general public. This is especially so with fraudulent reporting on the rise, such as the one committed by New York Times reporter Jayson Blair in 2003. Investigative journalism of the ‘Watergate’ type seems to have faded to the extent that it would take concerted effort by journalism educators to ‘excite’ students into taking up journalism as a career. In Malaysia, journalism ethics, standards and credibility have long been compromised at the altar of political expediency and corporate interests particularly within sections of the mainstream media. This situation is aggravated by the fact that the media are also controlled by the state through illiberal laws such as the Printing Presses and Publications Act (PPPA), Official Secrets Act (OSA), Sedition Act, Communications and Multimedia Act, and the Internal Security Act (ISA).