Two days after his deputy called for some blog ethics, Zam rules that bloggers MUST uphold the tenets of journalism, too. It's not a question of should, it's a MUST.
Read what the newly-crowned Tokoh Wartawan Negara has to say about my ethics - and yours - here.
The question which should be posed is "What is journalism ethics?" With no disrespect to the good journalists out there, a large bulk of reporters and even editors do not have any form of background in the media industry. Some do not even know the differance between qualified privellege, justification or fair comment.
ReplyDeleteAnd the best part is who judges what ethics is in the first place? It may not be ethical to touch on racial or religious issues, yet there is another long list of 'things you can't write' despite it being of public interest. Is it ethical to keep the public in the dark?
We all know the media industry in this country is 'lembik'. The authority will say this is good for unity or even the judiciary will say it will keep seal the floodgates of defamation cases, but does anyone ever think of the masses...of what the masses are being fed upon? Lies and deceptions.
So I guess the gentleman who is said to be a former journalist and had just won an award should have let his brains speak faster than his mouth. My question to you O Wise One; Do you know what ETHICS is in the first place?
[rocky's note: postman sent this earlier, before the posting was made, under the original "blog ethics". thanks bro].
ReplyDeleteRocky,
Wartawan Negara Zam says Bloggers like you must Uphold tenets of Journalism. What a joker, that Zam is.
Pi beri amaran to NST dululah. Ayo camne dia dapat Anugerah tu, huh?
Probably, he's referring to Pro-Paklah websites like that macai*&@# net and that carbon copy of kmu.net yang tiru the latter's lay-out but tapi contains a bucketful of sh*t.
===================================
December 04, 2006 17:49 PM
Bloggers Must Uphold The Tenets Of Journalism Too, Says Zam
KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 4 (Bernama) -- Blogging, or better known as citizens' journalism, must uphold the tenets of journalism which is a noble profession, Information Minister Datuk Seri Zainuddin Maidin said Monday.
He said bloggers, as corporate citizens, had a great influence in moulding public opinion and bore the same responsibility as the mainstream media.
"This responsibility cannot be compromised for the sake of short-term popularity and gains," he said at the Asset Magazine's 2006 Triple A (Asset Asian Awards) Country Awards presentation here.
His speech was delivered by Deputy Information Minister Datuk Seri Chia Kwang Chye.
Zainuddin said the government was aware that the number of Internet blogs had increased and the situation might change the face of Malaysian journalism in the near future.
Despite the rise, the government was happy to note that the Malaysian media was responsible and had sustained its practices for the greater good of the nation and its people, he said.
"The government today has a positive view of the media and wishes to see it demonstrate maturity in balancing its roles through the building of healthy media practices, understanding of the people's problems and sensitivity towards the challenges of the nation," he added.
Later, Chia presented the Best Domestic Bank in Malaysia 2006 award to Public Bank represented by its managing director, Datuk Seri Tay Ah Lek.
The Asia Banker of High Distinction award went to Public Bank's chairman and founder Tan Sri Dr Teh Hong Piow.
The ceremony was witnessed by Daniel Yu, editor-in-chief of the Asset Magazine, a well-respected international publication.
-- BERNAMA
6:15 PM
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteDear Rocky
ReplyDeleteit was not about ethics. Ethic was just an excuse to find way to clamp down blog because the blogs, like your self, have been a real pain and hurting!!!
It sure hurt that's why Zahid and Zam were jumping up and down. It goes to show that the power that be is reading the blogs and finding the blogs are getting very effective - i.e. the circulation of nst has deen dropping daily and surely.
For Zahid, Zam and their boss (if he is awake) even if they clamped the blogs the rakyat will still not buy the nst, berita harian and utusan. When the General Elections come around, the majority will no doubt vote agaisnthte BN if theywere to clamp down on the blogs.
Zam and Zahid, please do nto think that we Malaysians are very stupid and unable to differentiate between truth and lies.
When Kalimullah lie in his article of June 11, we suspected it was a lie and true enough it was later confirmed by his boss that he was the one that went to see Tun Mahathir when they were in Tokyo. Until to-day Klaimullah refused to own up the lies and apologise.
So Rocky, the blog needs to have ethics or the print media like the nst?? of course, the print media.
The credible bloggers, like you, KAdir Jasin, Ahmad Talib and the like, are known responsible ex-journalsits with good track records. You may slant the stories but you don't lie.
Unlike, the nst where Kalimulah lied and Brendan plagiarsied!! These two traits go againdt basic rules in journalism.
So Zam and Zahid please look at your own backyard before you try to instil ethic to others.
Please be assured that even if you were to banned the blogs it will not help your PM because the rakyat are fully aware of the real situations.
Even if you were to ban the blog, teh circulation in the nst, berita harian and utusan will still drop daily and surely - especially the NST.
Please tkae note that newspapers readers hate most is LIES and Plagiarism, which both NST is credited for through Kalimullah and Brendan Pereira.
Kalau ye pun awak tu dapat award kewartawanan tak payahlah nak suruh semua orang yang nak menulis walau sepotong ayat pun kena pakai etika kewartawanan bang Zam ooiii!!
ReplyDeleteSuruh wartawan tu dulu penuhkan etika kewartawanan depa. Kalau depa tu semer pun tak hormat pada nilai profession depa sendiri awat hang sibuk nak suruh orang ramai yang sikit pun bukan wartawan taat pulak?
Gila apa ka?
Dear Rocky
ReplyDeletePlease do not take issue with Zam. He was not joking when he said the bloggers had to ethical.
May be he had to say what he said by the Tingkat 4 boys, the most powerful machinery in the "I Do Not Know" Administration. So we had to appreciate Zam's predicament.
But Zam is a "good" journalist that's why he is got the award!! Rocky, you are a journalsit for so many years and yet you were not even shortlisted fo the award. So I am afraid, you had to appreciate that Zam is the GREAT journalist of our time.
So we better take the cue from Zam otherwise you will get the ISA OK!!! That's why Press Freedom and Freedom of Expression under this GREAT Administration. God bless teh bloggers, your days are numbered but we will do our bit in the coming General Elections.
let's discuss newspaper ethics.
ReplyDeletemongolian model? oh not a model after all
16 month old son fathered by.... no, no, no 16-month old son. older sons got.
150K debt from loanshark. oh... not confirmed how much the sum is.
tak tau nak 'caya apa.
As I have mentioned earlier, they spin it one way, the blogs will unspin it the same day.
ReplyDeleteAssuming ZM do read blogs, he, as information minister, MUST realise that blogsites represent the latest medium of choice for netizens to read the news. Suffice to say, with the handy PC logged onto the internet, access to fact verification and/or cross-referencing is just a mouse-click away with the right keyword and a multitude of search engines. I believe most of the regular readers practise this habit.
Any blogger with a less than ethical approach in content presentation despite their journalistic qualification will be ostracised by this group of netizens. In other words, you can write but nobody will read your stuff.
There is no doubt that journalism is a noble profession, intrinsically, the very foundation of the fourth estate which is vital for the well-being of a healthy and vibrant nation.
Hence, it is profoundly disappointing that ZM's call for journalism ethics in blogsites is not matched by higher standards in mainstream media. Or is he being deliberately blind to NST's 'creative' journalism. If so, he can damn well quit masquerading as a journalist and keep his day job as a minister.
Bro Rocky
ReplyDeleteJust to let you know that METRO NEW YORK carry a report with a title - MALAYSIA GETS BEAD ON BLOGGERS - Malaysia may introduce laws to prevent bloggers from spreading "seditious material and ties," a report said -METRO.
About Zam comment on the bloggers - I dnt want to say much but I think we are dealing and looking at a JOKERS....and one day all Malaysian will be a JOKERS, same as all the other JOKERS "up there" if we dnt start to do something now.
AchoCombiNewYork
"Blogging, or better known as citizens' journalism, must uphold the tenets of journalism which is a noble profession,..."
ReplyDeleteit's 'citizen journalism'. perhaps they should focus on the basics, ie the command of the English language
also, i've deciphered the hidden codes:-
The
Evil
News
Empire
That
Sins
Not
Only
Bluff,
Lie
Enthusiastically
aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa it's a sinister code!!!
Quote dari Datuk Ron:
ReplyDelete"Selanjutnya, Datuk Zainuddin dan Datuk Ahmad Zahid wajar memanggil seluruh bloggers yang jadi pengamal kewartawanan masyarakat di Malaysia untuk sessi percambahan minda berkaitan isu-isu tertentu".
Tentu Datuk ni seorang yang sangat penyabar untuk mendengar kedua-dua saudagar karut-marut tu merapu.
Lagi pun, bukankah anugerah Tokoh Wartawan Negara yang Datuk Zam dapat baru-baru ini adalah ucapan selamat tinggal yang sangat sadis sebelum dia tercicir dalam rombakan kabinet akan datang?
Datuk Ron nak bermuzakarah dengan orang yang sudah dicabut kukunya?
Atau adakah Datuk Ron nak jumpa Datuk Zam dan ajak dia jadi blogger juga macam bekas wartawan yang lain seperti Datuk A Kadir Jasin, Rocky, Datuk Ahmad A Talib dan Datuk Ron sendiri?
Saya tak kenal depa seperti Datuk Ron, tapi Datuk Ron duduk depan blog Datuk ni dan tulis banyak-banyak lagi baik dari menghabiskan karan jumpa depa..
Bru,
ReplyDeletePlease tell this Zam what blog or weblog means?
Tell this tokoh tak ketahuan that blog is meant for everybody and not just journalists.
Tell this tokok tak ketahuan kewartawanan negara that even mak ciks and pak ciks blog.
How can pak ciks and mak ciks uphold jounalism ethics?
What do they know of journalism ethics when Zam himself tramples on it on daily basis?
Bru, Zam ni dia baca blog ka? Sounds more like he is a goblok chap to me.
.....and we talk about singapore being a 'controlled' society. Are we headed that way too ? Excuse me, while i puke......
ReplyDeleteHey I have a blog which has two readers.
ReplyDeletewhere do i sign up on for classes on journalistic ethics?
do I get a certificate too?
and what of the idea to get all Malaysian bloggers registered?
maybe the government will allow us to add honorifics at the end of our names.
the letters R.E.B. would do me (for registered ethical blogger)
how's this sound?
Zach R.E.B.
ZachREB, I'm quite convinced you're just being modest. With a sense of humor like yours I am sure thousands read your blog. Come let us have your address and visit you! And you made a good point. My teenage boy has a blog. Why in PJ should he care about Zam's tenets of journalism ethics when he hasn't even started reading the papers? And if fabrication and plagiarism are part of these ethics, his mother is not going to let him read the papers until he is 21!
ReplyDeleteZam, awak tu tokoh wartawan negara. Kami tahu macamana awak dapat anugerah tu, dan kenapa Azman dari MPI bagi awak anugerah tu. Tapi nasik dah jadi bubur, kami relakan. Tapi tolonglah timba ilmu sikit sebelum berucap. Jangan bagi malu tokoh wartawan negara yang jati dan yang jantan seperti Samad Ismail. Jangan paksa masyarakat soalsiasat macamana dan kenapa awak dapat gelaran Tokoh Wartawan Negara.
ReplyDelete(Cakap pasal etika kewartawanan? Adakah hanya Berita Hairan yang tidak tahu bahawa PM "belum menerima sebarang surat berhubung usaha penggabungan itu daripada kedua-dua pihak"? Atau apa yang Berita Hairan tahu sebenarnya? Dan, apa yang Utusan Malaysia dan Bernama tidak tahu atau pura-pura tidak tahu?)
ReplyDeleteNi laporan Berita Hairan 5/12/06:
Penggabungan akhbar bina keupayaan: PM
Oleh Magendran Rajagopal
Spekulasi ada pihak dapat keuntungan besar patut dihentikan
KUALA LUMPUR: Cadangan penggabungan The New Straits Times Press (Malaysia) Bhd (NSTP) dan Utusan Melayu (Malaysia) Bhd (Utusan), dibuat bagi mengembang dan mengukuhkan keupayaan kumpulan syarikat penerbit akhbar itu.
Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi berkata, penggabungan dicadangkan itu ialah satu langkah ke arah membina keupayaan dengan mencari pendekatan yang perlu bagi menggabungkan kekuatan.
“Ia ada hubung kait dengan hal kewangan dan perlunya penggunaan kemudahan yang boleh dikongsi kerana ia menjimatkan kos operasi,” kata Perdana Menteri pada sidang media selepas mesyuarat Majlis Inovasi Negara (MIN), di sini semalam.
Beliau diminta mengulas sama ada sudah menerima laporan berhubung cadangan penggabungan NSTP dan Utusan daripada pengurusan kedua-dua syarikat berkenaan.
Perdana Menteri menegaskan, butiran terperinci mengenai cadangan dan kaedah penggabungan itu terserah kepada mereka yang terbabit dan setakat ini, beliau belum menerima laporan mengenainya.
Sehubungan itu, beliau meminta semua pihak supaya tidak membuat pelbagai dakwaan atau spekulasi kononnya ada pihak mendapat keuntungan besar daripada cadangan penggabungan terbabit.
Perdana Menteri berkata, sudah menjadi lumrah akan ada orang suka dan ada tidak dengan penggabungan itu, tetapi yang pentingnya, ciri akhbar berkaitan patut dikekalkan.
“Saya percaya banyak pandangan daripada orang Melayu dalam hal ini yang berkaitan Utusan. Mereka tidak suka melihat Utusan terkubur dalam usaha penggabungan ini,” katanya.
Beliau seterusnya mengingatkan penggabungan NSTP dan Utusan itu tidak seharusnya menyebabkan akhbar Utusan terkubur.
“Bagaimanapun, tentulah penggabungan ini tetap ada pembabitan pada peringkat editorial, penyuntingan dan pemberitaan yang lazimnya dilaksanakan dalam akhbar masing-masing,” katanya.
Beliau juga menegur wartawan supaya jangan membuat spekulasi kononnya Umno selaku pemegang saham terbesar dalam kedua-dua syarikat terbabit akan mengaut keuntungan yang besar.
Ditanya sama ada penggabungan itu menjejaskan kebebasan akhbar, Abdullah berkata, apa yang berlaku hanya penggabungan dua syarikat dan tidak langsung membabitkan isu kebebasan.
Sementara itu, NSTP dan Utusan, dalam kenyataan kepada Bursa Malaysia semalam berkata, kedua-duanya belum mencapai satu persetujuan muktamad berhubung terma ke arah kemungkinan mengadakan penggabungan.
Kedua-dua syarikat itu menjelaskan, Lembaga Pengarah NSTP dan Utusan sudah meneroka cara untuk meningkatkan nilai kedua-dua kumpulan itu menerusi kemungkinan mengadakan penggabungan.
Ni laporan Utusan Malaysia 5/12/06:
Gabungan Utusan, NSTP tidak sekat kebebasan akhbar
Oleh SADATUL MAHIRAN ROSLI
KUALA LUMPUR 4 Dis. – Perdana Menteri, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi berkata, penggabungan Utusan Melayu (M) Bhd. dan The New Straits Times Press (NSTP) tidak akan menyekat kebebasan akhbar.
Malah katanya, ia pasti membawa perubahan baik kepada kedua-dua syarikat tersebut sekiranya penggabungan itu boleh meningkatkan kekuatan kewangan, berkongsi kemudahan dan menjimatkan kewangan.
‘‘Saya rasa melalui penggabungan sahaja, mereka dapat membina keupayaan. Bagaimana cara untuk mereka menggabungkan kekuatan, itu terserahlah kepada mereka untuk merundingkannya,’’ katanya.
Beliau menyatakan demikian kepada pemberita selepas majlis Anugerah Inovasi Negara 2006 dan Pelancaran Portal Brain Gain Kebangsaan di Pusat Dagangan Dunia Putra (PWTC), hari ini.
Abdullah juga percaya bahawa orang Melayu sudah tentu tidak suka melihat akhbar Utusan Malaysia terkubur dalam usaha penggabungan itu.
‘‘Apa yang orang Melayu tentu tak suka lihat ialah Utusan (akhbar Utusan Malaysia) terkubur atas usaha penggabungan itu,” kata Perdana Menteri.
Sehubungan itu beliau sekali lagi menegaskan bahawa penggabungan tersebut tidak akan melibatkan peringkat editorial, penyuntingan dan pemberitaan.
Abdullah bagaimanapun berkata, beliau belum menerima sebarang surat berhubung usaha penggabungan itu daripada kedua-dua pihak.
‘‘Mungkin mereka sudah hantar (surat) tapi saya belum terima lagi,’’ katanya.
Menurut Perdana Menteri, apa yang beliau dimaklumkan ialah kedua-dua pihak masih lagi berunding mengenai penggabungan itu.
Ni berita Bernama 4/12/06:
PM Belum Terima Surat Mengenai Penggabungan Utusan Dan NSTP
KUALA LUMPUR, 4 Dis (Bernama) -- Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi hari Isnin berkata beliau belum menerima sebarang surat berhubung hasrat dua kumpulan media cetak utama negara ini untuk bergabung meskipun perbincangan antara kedua organisasi itu telah berjalan.
"Saya belum terima apa-apa surat (mengenai penggabungan itu)," kata Perdana Menteri kepada pemberita ketika ditanya sama ada beliau telah menerima surat daripada pengurusan Kumpulan New Straits Times Press (M) Bhd (NSTP) dan Kumpulan Utusan Melayu (M) Bhd (Utusan) mengenai cadangan mereka untuk bergabung.
Abdullah yang ditemui pemberita selepas majlis Anugerah Inovasi Negara 2006, di Pusat Dagangan Dunia Putra di sini bagaimanapun berkata beliau berharap kedua-dua kumpulan media cetak itu akan mengekalkan ciri akhbar masing-masing sekiranya penggabungan menjadi kenyataan.
NSTP dan Utusan hari Isnin berkata mereka belum lagi mencapai sebarang kata sepakat berhubung kemungkinan penggabungan antara kedua-duanya.
Bagaimanapun, kedua-dua kumpulan media berkenaan berkata mereka akan terus membincangkan perkara itu dan sudahpun memeterai perjanjian bukan-pendedahan untuk mengelola tempoh perbincangan.
Abdullah berkata beliau juga berharap penggabungan itu tidak melibatkan peringkat editorial dan pemberitaan yang lazimnya dilaksanakan oleh akhbar masing-masing.
"Apa yang orang Melayu tentu tak suka lihat ialah Utusan (akhbar Utusan Malaysia) terkubur atas usaha penggabungan itu," katanya.
wartawan lama said...
ReplyDeleteJangan bagi malu tokoh wartawan negara yang jati dan yang jantan seperti Samad Ismail. Jangan paksa masyarakat soalsiasat macamana dan kenapa awak dapat gelaran Tokoh Wartawan Negara.
=================================
Azman Ujang, how could you give the award to Zam? Tak ada calon2 lain ke.
How could you? Nak bodek ke?
Hey you oredy got yr Datukship. What? Waiting for a Tan Sriship ke, Azman?
Macam Hashim Makaruddin, who is such a letdown. A former Tun's man now a turncoat.
Semua kerana nak "hidup".
You have insulted previous recipients of the prestigious award.