One 911 product in Malaysian politics is the 90-second Barisan Nasional propaganda footage camouflaged as prime-time news over national television in the past three weeks aimed at painting Barisan Alternative as representing a Taliban Malaysia, with PAS as the chief proponent and PKN as the abettor.
Many people have commented that the DAP seemed more concerned about the 90-second doctored Barisan Nasional propaganda footage camouflaged as prime-time news than PAS and PKN, giving the impression that both PAS and PKN are not objecting as strenuously as the DAP to the 90-second propaganda footage although they are the two political parties directly targetted by it.
If the DAP had been one of the targets of the Barisan Nasional propaganda attack in the doctored footage, the DAP would have already taken legal proceedings for an injunction to immediately stop the unfair and biased broadcast - and we still cannot understand why after three weeks of nightly broadcasting over national television, neither PAS nor PKN has resorted to legal action.
It is disappointing that journalists and their organisations have not spoken up to object to the abuse of public broadcasting to camouflage political propaganda as prime-time news and to call for fair and honest ground-rules for public broadcasting to ensure a clear distinction between news and propaganda.
(18/1/2002)