KUALA LUMPUR, March 20 (Bernama) -- Information Minister Datuk Seri Zainuddin Maidin today asked newspapers not to quote from blog websites when writing news stories as the source of the information cannot be considered authoritative.Talk about blogs which have not been updated, Shahrir Samad might want to decide one way or the other: to blog or not to blog. His last posting here was on May 2 last year; it received 131 comments, plus spams on how to get rich real quick!
He hoped newspapers would be more responsible by quoting only authoritative sources as many bloggers were relying on newspapers for credibility.
The minister said he was disappointed as there were blog websites that have not been updated and carried inaccurate information, causing uneasiness and confusion to people surfing the websites.
"The information are posted on the blogs by people with no authority. Why you as journalists have to quote a blog website as the source of your story and then publish the news in the newspaper that has authority?" he asked.
"The information posted on the blog website may be something provocative, politically motivated, inaccurate and are mostly rumours floated for the interests of certain parties," he said.
"You (journalists) should not allow your readers to believe blog websites as a reliable source," he said when commenting on the trend among newspapers to attribute blog websites as the source, hence indirectly promoting them.
updates
Galadriel has her own take on crap-spewing Zam is based on the Star's report here on "frustrated journalists and politicians".
Then I suggest that the government stop taking tips and info from the internet seriously.
ReplyDeleteDidnt the police take the info about Johari Baharum seriously and launched an investigation?
I also suggest the Cabinet ministers and government officers look at blogs themselves, understand them before making statements about them.
There are thousands of bloggers out there, in this country alone.
Ministers, politicians, govt officers must know what they are saying lest they themselves lose credibility.
I think they should check the govt departments websites which have not been updated for quite a long time rather than monitor the bloggers websites. *cheers*
ReplyDeleteSdr Rocky,
ReplyDeleteSebagai bekas rakan seperjuangan Datuk Zam dalam dunia kewartawanan, saya mengakui, mengiktiraf dan menghormati seniority beliau.
Dia lama dan jauh mendahului saya dalam kerjaya kewartawanan. Tetapi pada tahun 1980an dan 1990an kami menjadi rakan sejawatan yang akrab apabila beliau menerajui Utusan Melayu dan saya menjaga akhbar-akhbar bahasa Inggeris NSTP.
Tetapi dunia Sdr Zam berubah apabila dia menerima pelantikan sebagai Senator. Dan dia berhenti menjadi wartawan apabila bertanding pilihan raya, dilantik SU Parlimen dan dinaikkan pangkat menjadi Timbalan Menteri dan akhirnya Menteri.
Namun saya yakin masih ada kemanusiaan dan keadilan dalam diri Sdr Zam. Tetapi sebagai orang politik dia terpaksa "bermusuh" dengan sesiapa sahaja yang tidak membantu kemajuannya dan kemajuan pihak-pihak yang disokongnya.
Sdr Zam meminta media massa arus perdana jangan memberi perhatian kepada orang macam kita kerana dia tahu apakah kesannya jikalau media massa arus perdana terus memetik atau menyebut orang macam kita.
Ini adalah cara Sdr Zam mengakui dan mengiktiraf kehadiran blogger macam kita kerana Sdr Zam tahu ada pengarang media massa arus perdana hari ini yang kurang bewibawa.
Malah saya tahu Sdr Zam sangat membenci sesetengah daripada mereka kerana Sdr Zam pernah membisikkannya kepada saya dan pernah berkata usia mereka dalam media tidak akan kekal lama.
Sdr Zam you're wrong. They are still around and are still influential. The PM will not remove them because they are his friends. I am sorry if Sdr Zam is not the PM's only journalist friend.
Sdr Zam boleh kata apa saja yang beliau suka. Itu hak beliau. Tetapi burung unta yang membenamkan kepalanya dalam pasir tidak akan dapat menyekat ribut pasir daripada menimbus badannya.
Burung unta masih wujud di rezab-rezab hidupan liar tetapi burung dodo sudah lama pupus.
Sdr Zam, terima kasih.
Oh damn!!..Another poltician echoing the same old story.When are they going to get real...man!!
ReplyDeleteAll over the world ,blogs are being taken seriuosly.. as alternative source of info,avenue of free expresion,'new media'etc etc...and here they just conveneniently generalise bloggers as liars...
What a big shame.Or Sham??
Another One Bites the Dust!!!
Siapa paling berkuasa tentukan autoriti? Pihak yang membaca atau pihak yang mengeluar bahan dibaca?
ReplyDeleteBila ada bahan bacaan di depan saya, terpampar di skrin atau kertas, sayalah yang menentukan autoritinya.
Takkan saya sibuk bertanya, menelefon Khalid, Hishammudin, Rocky atau Kadir? Kalau bertanya pun bukan untuk mengesah autoriti, tapi sebagai kaedah mengumpul data untuk dianalisis balik.
Kata putus akhirnya bukan ditangan orang lain, ia tetap di tangan saya.
Inikan hidup saya, sayalah punya autoritinya!
*buat peminat2 Rocky's Bru, salam kebebasan semua!
Blogging is an ongoing trend... 'they' just have to accept it, but to generalise bloggers as liars show the immaturity of 'those' who said it. Chances are, 'those' people may one day need to lick their own spit when they too are inclined to have blogs of their own. Hahhaa..
ReplyDeleteRocky, it's time to stop playing footsie with journalists who play both sides. Journalists who pretend to side with bloggers while working with the establishment. we have had enough of lies. Rocky, hit these hypocrites, turn their days into nights and let them see stars on high noon. The struggle against idiocy, hypocrisy, plagiarism, lies goes on.
ReplyDeleteBullshit Authority!
ReplyDeleteBullshit Authority!
Bullshit Authority!
Rocks, thanks for the mee rebus invite. Nice to catch up with y'all.
ReplyDeleteMy take on crap-spewing Zam is here. http://dansemacabre.wordpress.com
thanks for being there galadriel. and for your take on zam.
ReplyDeleteso he's name-calling us, eh. "Frustrated" journalists, that's a new one.
Sdra Zam ialah bekas wartawan yang masih ingin mengekalkan personalitinya sebagai wartawan, walaupun dia sekarang ialah salah seorang pembesar negara. Dengan menasihati agar wartawan dan akhbar tidak memetik blogsites sebagai sumber berita, Datuk Zam mencerminkan ketidakmampuannya menaikkan tahap kebebasan media di tanahair. Dan Datuk Zam sedar bahawa bloggers mempunyai pengaruh yang semakin kuat di kalangan masyarakat. Kalau tidak, masakan dia menasihati wartawan supaya menjauhkan diri dari bloggers.
ReplyDeleteDatuk Zam is paying the biggest compliment to bloggers. In his own way, he is acknowledging the infoluence of boggers. What Datuk Zam should do is to help increase the level of credibility of some personalities in the mainstream media, some of whom don't even give him the time of day! Datuk Zam also acknowledges the shortcomings of the media. Perhaps, Datuk Zam doesn't know that many of his staff in RTM would puke when the 8pm news show dirty toilets in the prime time tv news!
I remember Datuk Zam trying to win over the web media. Didn't he invite Malaysiakini to RTM for a chat when he was dep info minister? Obviously, he wanted to be seen to be engaging the alternative media, but failed in the process.
Datuk Zam was picked by Dato Azman and his team at the MPI as Tokoh Kewartawan Negara last year, bypassing more deserviing candidates such as the late Tan Sri Melan Abdullah and Zaid Zahari. Eever wondered how he got the award? Heheheh! He bought in man!! He gave the award organisers RM5 million to spruce the organisation. Three weeks after he made the announcement, which was carried in the mainstream media, he was picked as Tokoh Kewartawanan Negara!! Tak malu kah?
Sorry if I digressed! But the fact is he has gone so far up that he's no longer in touch with the journalist fraternity! he's in his own world of make believe and sense of self-importance!
thanks bro.
ReplyDeletePowered by a mee rebus, God knows where we can go!
Salam to Rocky(in Chow Yuen Fatt's attire).
ReplyDeleteIf Zam called x-journos as 'Frustrated' then he is a frustrated politician.I think he should take Rehman al-Rectumi as his protege or as speech writer.
I noticed Zam always thought that he is better than other journos( and other people too).He think is clever than anybody in any subject of the day.He will comment the economist or the ulamak or anybody when 'interesting' issues came out in the media.
Maube he can trick the Merbok people( aduss...thats my tanah kelahiran)but not the rakyats who are willing to read and blog.
Its time Merbok kickdefella out come next GE.
I think Dato AKJ is quite right. The way he is phrasing it, its like giving acknowledgement. As a politician, he can't do a Dato Rejal.
ReplyDeleteLove your piece gadriel. See you around.
I think Dato AKJ is quite right. The way he is phrasing it, its like giving acknowledgement. As a politician, he can't do a Dato Rejal.
ReplyDeleteLove your piece gadriel. See you around.
Rocky, With the Internet and Blogging the world has change completely and forever. The authority have to accept that as a fact. It is a tool for the dissemination of information. Remember when the printing press was first invented!!!. Now it is Blogging. Its an ever changing world. Great for democracy. [Read my posting ' Of Blogging and the Civil Society ' Have a nice day.
ReplyDeleteBro rocky,
ReplyDeleteZAM fail to remember that Bloggers vs. Journalists is Over long time ago in other part of the world.
Typical of HP6 minister.
quote dari blog salah..
ReplyDeletequote apa menteri cakap ..besoknya dia kata reporter salah quote.
last sekali reporter buat cerita sendiri !
I miss the old ZAM the wartawan.
alwayssomewhere
Saya bersetuju dengan pendapat Datuk Kadir Jasin. Publication dari bloggers sekarang sudah menjadi "nightmare" pada ministers diMalaysia. Datuk Zam, inilah apa yang dinamakan investigative journalism oleh bloggers untuk memberi maklumat yang kini sentiasa disorokkan dari rakyat jelata.
ReplyDeleteTQ
Dear Rocky,
ReplyDeleteAm surprise that in this computer era ,ZAM would still consider all of Malaysian are stupid moron.
To assume that all journalist were so dumb to procure all the news worthy story from the blogs must be assuming that all of them not capable of thinking....all of them are stupid.
To think that the public would continue to learn of whats going on in the country thru only newspapers which were much attuned to what goverment wanted to potray ,...he must think that all Malaysians are stupid.
To presume that all the leads stories,though claimed as sourced from blog,were not smart way of questioning,by journalist, to absolve them of being labelled as ones out of line of conformity much desired by the goverment...then he must be assuming all editors are stupid.
To expect that all readers would believe what he say is the whole truth nothing but the truth...then he must assume that the public is stupid.
By saying that bloggers are failed journalist or politician, he must have thought that people regarded him as a god gift to journalism and a succesful politician that he is ,purely due to his excellent leadership quality without any hint of favouratism and bootlicking activity...then he must have assumed all Malaysians are stupid.
Dato Adnan ,Rectally Eminence Rehman Rashid(RRR),Kali ,Pareira and now ZAM labelling bloggers(or anyone in Malaysian who surf the net for that matter) as people who wouldnt know to discern the rights and the wrongs.How wrong can they be.
If they were to decide to come together ...to me the gathering must be the gathering of people with cumulative thoughts must be the one A.Eienstein talk of.
Albert Einstein:
Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the universe.
In the galaxy of MoronicWay they were the brights stars.
Dear Rocky,
ReplyDeleteAm surprise that in this computer era ,ZAM would still consider all of Malaysian are stupid moron.
To assume that all journalist were so dumb to procure all the news worthy story from the blogs must be assuming that all of them not capable of thinking....all of them are stupid.
To think that the public would continue to learn of whats going on in the country thru only newspapers which were much attuned to what goverment wanted to potray ,...he must think that all Malaysians are stupid.
To presume that all the leads stories,though claimed as sourced from blog,were not smart way of questioning,by journalist, to absolve them of being labelled as ones out of line of conformity much desired by the goverment...then he must be assuming all editors are stupid.
To expect that all readers would believe what he say is the whole truth nothing but the truth...then he must assume that the public is stupid.
By saying that bloggers are failed journalist or politician, he must have thought that people regarded him as a god gift to journalism and a succesful politician that he is ,purely due to his excellent leadership quality without any hint of favouratism and bootlicking activity...then he must have assumed all Malaysians are stupid.
Dato Adnan ,Rectally Eminence Rehman Rashid(RRR),Kali ,Pareira and now ZAM labelling bloggers(or anyone in Malaysian who surf the net for that matter) as people who wouldnt know to discern the rights and the wrongs.How wrong can they be.
If they were to decide to come together ...to me the gathering must be the gathering of people with cumulative thoughts must be the one A.Eienstein talk of.
Albert Einstein:
Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the universe.
In the galaxy of MoronicWay they were the brights stars.
when we last spoke, YB said he has no time to post anything new and pointed out that he isn't a blogger.
ReplyDelete:)
frustrated politician? you have one here 'mr zam zam". he must be damn frus coz bloggers/malaysiakini are getting more credible. meantime, mainstream papers credibility is going the opposite direction, courtesy of mr fak's directive.
ReplyDeletecompare to yours .. MP Shahrir blog's is so very "quite" but then again you are unemployed with so much time on your side but he's not!
ReplyDeleteZM is disappointed that some blogsites were not updated. Duh! Who is he trying to bamboozle here?
ReplyDeleteFor a former journalist turned senator to become a minister in the cabinet, ZM has truly forgotten his roots. Oh wait a minute, he wasn't much of a journo hence his efforts at being a politician. Less credentials needed topped up with more authoritative clout.
It is becoming apparent that our government are afraid of bloggers' credibility and influence on the general public. And if bloggers happen to break the news much earlier than mainstream prints, what advice does ZM have for the latter?
Can he be certain that future tacit collaboration between bloggers and their hardcopy brethren will not continue?
First FAK. Then, CDY puts it in black and white. So, ZM gotta say something, right? Doesn't matter what is said as long as he opens his authoritative gap. Gotta show the boss that he's still in charge of information dissemination. He's da man. Screw the readers.
Uncle Zam tries to whip the press
ReplyDeleteTo toe the gomen line with grace
They say he's such a clown
Doing his acrobatic rounds
But bloggers think he's talking arse
Zam and his gang are fighting a losing battle against Malaysia's new freedom fighters. where once the communists were the bogeymen, now they are trying to demonise bloggers. they are bound to fail because blogging is the future. bloggers are the new sentinel in the brutal fight against oppression, hypocrisy, idiocy, plagiarism, lies. Bloggers are immune to threats, suits. We will fight these threats with our every available weapon. Of course our weapon is the people's growing support. Of course, bloggers are aware of the threat of bankruptcy but this will not deter us. Along the way, many will sell out but this is the price. The battle has just begun, and the end result is obvious - victory for a just Malaysia free of lies, hatred. Rocky, continue to lead the revolution.
ReplyDeleteanonymous 10.58 cakap YB tak update sebab dia ada kerja and Rocky banyak masa sebab tak ada kerja.
ReplyDelete10.58 .. if you wanna start something you must be committed if not you're a half past six !
alwayssomewhere
Yalah, Zam hari ini dah tak sama dengan Zam yang dulu. Zam yang panas dan hangat. Tulisannya tajam dan berbisa. Itu dulu. Ketika Zam di peringkat seperti kita-kita sekarang.
ReplyDeleteI'm in total agreement with clark gable. And here is a summary of what I've picked up in a couple of weeks here.
ReplyDeleteEverybody agreed that May 13 was a huge mistake on the path to nationhood and there was a general consensus after it to tiptoe around sensitive issues so as not to repeat what that had happened but not many Malaysians know that May 13 is also used as a weapon of control by the government to further its interest.
There is, no doubt, today that there is a conspiracy between the powerful Malay ruling class and the wealthy Chinese class to silent Malaysians of all races by reminding them of the May 13 racial war, that "we know what's best for the country" and to "be patient" each time issues like progress, transparency in government and Press freedom were brought up.
The country's economy is in the conspirators' grip and it's not easy for them to let go and give the ordinary Malaysians their fair share. So to protect their self interest, the conspirators are treating Malaysians like irresponsible children and telling them "to be responsible" by reminding them of May 13 each time they complain about how greed has taken over the country through kleptocratism, nepotism, cronyism and corruption.
Malaysians were talked down with "Malays will kill Chinese, Chinese will kill Malays, Indians will kill everybody else ..." and the message was "Now children, we must not let that happen again, right?" The conspirators paint shadows on the wall to control with fear while they themselves are sensitizing sensitive issues.
They are afraid of the internet because, unlike the newspaper, which was easy to "educate", they know the net is impossible to control in the long run and slapping all kinds of acts on it can only contain it temporarily. The threat of more exposures in future has made them, ministers in particular, very nervous and as a result, we are seeing unbelievable acts of blunder almost every week.
As a result of their moronic blunders, reported by the mainstream media, they were picked on by head-shaking bloggers (the fearless Susan Loone, in particular) and ridiculed. And as a result of being shamed and exposed as dimwits, and to save face, they are now getting even more frantic in tightening the screw.
The "children", who turned bloggers and would no longer be controlled and told what to do and what not to do, will be "re-educated" through having their pants sued off them and proclaimed anarchists and rumour-mongers and liars . And they are starting with popular Jeff and respected Rocky because their blogs are attracting more and more readers each day.
The Malaysian judicial system will come under a very severe test of its integrity in the coming months and the world will follow and hold its breath.
Have I got the whole picture? Enlighten me if I haven't. Rox
Mari kita melihat semua ini (media cetak, TV & radio, website dan weblog) adalah medium. Tentunya website dan blog lebih pantas, masa sama belum tentu lebih tepat.
ReplyDeleteBlog ada perbezaan tersendiri kerana ia individualis. Individualis tidak bermaksud paling demokratik atau paling adil. Tuan punya blog itu sendiri mungkin menyimpan sentimen. Yang paling ketara dikesan 'mengikut arus'.
Tidak susah untuk difaham. Mereka takut terpinggir misalnya dari arus perdana bloggers. Atau mereka seronok berada dalam arus perdana.
Dari situ, seperti biasa berlaku di tempat lain (media cetak, organisasi politik, dunia seni dll) tahap objektif masing-masing akan beransur hilang.
Semua ingin menjadi pemain utama, semua ingin berada dalam arus perdana.
Teruk sangatkah jika kesimpulannya: 2 x 5!
Bloggers and journalists (even from NSTP) suffer the same fate.
ReplyDeleteIf only you were at the Champions Youth Cup press conferance to see how questions posed by reporters which deemed to be too heated was told to 'zip it'.
There are screwed up lawyers out there, moronic doctors and even dumb government servants. The same goes for journalists, some come up with brilliant ideas while others have to be spoon fed.
A good editor makes or break his reporting team. Sadly, we don't have many with a solid spine.
Geezass, I just learn that this Zam character is the Minister of Information. Goes to show that Min. of Information dont belong in my book. He is a nonentity and he should concentrate just on RTM1&2 and leave other pronouncements to more knowledgeable people. But IO suspect he is quoting cheap publicity. Honestly I did not know who this character is and what he represents. Time I ZAP this Zam(bie)?
ReplyDeleteRocky,
ReplyDeleteGood to know you're still soldiering on despite everything.
Rock on.
Joyce
zam zam zam
ReplyDelete...........
a closet communist?
but i think he's just endorsed our credibility~~~~~
politikus, he came to our table to say hello at the launch of the tun dr ismail book this morning. he was told about his blog that he did not update. he declared "I'm not a blogger, I'm not a blogger' I'm not a blogger" loud enough for everyone to hear. even tun musa hitam heard him, i thought.
ReplyDeletejust at the onset of the launch, he came and declared, "ok ok, i want to sit here".
he sat at a table of bloggers and talked about many things. at one point, he mumbled, "Uh, The Redundant Politician". [Tun Dr Ismail's book is entitled "The Reluctant Politician].
whadoyouthink?
sALAM bRO,
ReplyDelete....some suggestion.Some one should start a portal to compete with Bloggers Blog and name it 'BALLSING Blog'
Thus,the two rival could have their own ways in interpretation if there is any "FREEDOM OF SPEECH"
Wassalam
Maybe the good Zam should take the cue from his counterparts in Singapore (aka "the little red dot").
ReplyDeleteQuotes from a speech made yesterday by Dr Vivian Balakrishnan, Spore's Second Minister for Information, Communications and the Arts, addressing the Foreign Correspondents Association:
"Most blogs have a readership of one - the person who wrote it. It would be futile and unnecessary to chase every single blog. We look at accuracy and we look at impact."
While welcoming the Internet's role in promoting transparency and openness, he said the Spore govt will "continue to set the political agenda and rules of engagement."
On people who take anonymous potshots: "No revolution in history was started by anonymous leaders. Any political leader worth his salt will sooner or later be unmasked and, therefore, can be dealt with or engaged on political terms, one on one."
"I put this not in a threatening way but (the point) is that at the end, the cyberworld cannot escape the realities of the real world."
He acknowledged that the Internet had made it impossible for politicians to lie, as the truth will always emerge. But he said that Spore's leaders have "nothing to hide" and are not afraid of the new media.
Summarising the Spore govt's approach towards Internet postings, he said: "If it is true, I have to reply. If it is untrue, I have to demolish it. If it is seditious or defamatory, we will go after the person."
You see how it is done across the Causeway, Zam? Hopefully, you can carry the message back to your Cabinet colleagues.
But the RDC regime have confirmed sending in their agents into the blogosphere and posting anonymously.
ReplyDeleteAsk Mr Brown.
So much for their form of digital democracy.
The last one checks Malaysia is still a parliamentary democracy.
ReplyDeleteIsn't democracy all about the people? Would a democratic government pay heed to the voices of the people? Aren't bloggers channels for the peoples' voices?
If the answer to all three questions is a yes, then why is this umno govt taking cheap potshots at intelligent people who want their voices heard?
Too many of the bad things that have happened to this country and her peoples happened because governance was subverted by the very leaders and administrators of govt policies against the long-term interest of the peoples.
Bloggers have been trying to make their voices heard so that these bad things are exposed so that the people will know enought to pressure a trigger for remedial measures to be taken.
If people don't know, bad things will continue and whitecollar criminals will get away with all sorts of badhat acts.
Even if bloggers are only ten percent right about what they write, progressive-minded govts should applaud and support them, if only to compensate for governmenta fumblings and inchoate stands on transparency.
Umno is an elite club which works only to advance the personal interest of a select group of its own members. Like wolves, they prey on the interest of this country, sucking away the life of the economy through all sorts of rent-based tactics and back-scratching that twist legality to suit ambition.
The true warriors of today in this country are bloggers. Not the zam-zams who still dream of creating a malaysian dream when they damn well know that the dream has never been malaysian in the first place.
That they continue to do so shows utter desperation layered on blind stupidity coated with arrogant bullyness.
They're just kiasu croaches.
Walla,
ReplyDeleteGood of you to point out the parliamentary democracy we are supposed to have in Malaysia.
Unfortunately, in the words of Shad Saleem Faruqi, UIA's Law professor, "the legislative process is basically an executive process, not a parliamentary process".
Go wiki "parliament of malaysia" and you'll find a little nugget about 'having the option to change our government every year' which is related to the budget presentation.
There is the legal avenue for this to happen. We only need the legal means i.e. having enough parliamentarians to bring about real change. This is where the next GE is vital for Malaysians to decide their collective future.
With a little help from Bloggers United, of course.
Oops! UiTM, not UIA.
ReplyDelete