Stuff your local friendly MSM may not show you

[pywong]

http://www.facebook.com/inbox/?ref=mb#/photo.php?pid=127634&id=100000094794184

UMNO roboh surau kg. barembang dgn ganas skali..
sila tgk video ini:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kzHwPnKTZWY&feature=related

lihat mahkamah dah putuskan tanah ini hakmilik penduduk kg.barembang bukan tanah milik kerajaan:
http://www2.malaysiakini.com/news/76067

[pywong]

Q&A with a media bull detector (Pt 1)

Eric Loo, Feb 4, 10

Annual surveys of public perception of ethical professions by Roy Morgan Research in Australia consistently show that Australian journalists are as least trusted as used-car sellers and insurance brokers, advertising people and real estate agents. Would our mainstream journalists fare any better? You wouldn't think so.

While the Australian media is perceived as unethical because of their puff pieces and sensational stories in their chase for ratings and readers, criticisms of our mainstream media consistently point to their shallow reporting of public affairs and abject failure to expose human rights abuses and instances of state-sanctioned racial and religious discrimination.

Indeed, commendable is our mainstream journalists' record for serving the state, but dismally poor in reporting the common concerns of the community.

To be fair, for each case of sloppy unethical journalism, there are many instances of enterprise reporting. Public perception surveys are only as accurate as the human respondents are able to understand via a phone call what they think is ethical. And that, we know, is highly subjective and, to an extent, culturally influenced. That's the limitations of what we can gather from public perception surveys. Nevertheless, they provide a stimulating discussion point.

After having worked in both the Malaysian and Australian newsroom, I admit much is lacking in Malaysian journalism in terms of editorial leadership, journalistic tenacity, investigative fervour and narrative quality. Until we improve, the onus lies with the reading public to declare that they deserve better from editors and journalists.

Thus, the timely publication of 'Detecting Bull: How to Identify Bias and Junk Journalism in Print, Broadcast and on the Wild Web' to help us sieve the goods from the pile. 'Detecting Bull' is one of the many accessible resources that Malaysian readers might find handy in holding our mainstream journalists accountable. Malaysiakini. Subscription required. (http://www.malaysiakini.com/columns/123686)

I provide in two parts my interview with its author, John McManus (right), on his take on today's journalism. While his observations are drawn from the US experience, his comments apply to Malaysian journalism.