I refer to your Agence France Presse (AFP) reports Howard refuses to beg for East Asia Summit spot after KL rebuff, M'sia, Australia fail to bridge key differences, PM announces plans for free-trade agreement with Canberra and Pak Lah will prove a 'prickly' guest for Australian host.

I think Malaysia's local mainstream media should emulate these excellent models of balanced, honest, substantive and intelligent reporting on Malaysia's foreign affairs and diplomacy instead of positioning themselves as the diplomatic bulletin boards of Wisma Putra or the Australian High Commission in Kuala Lumpur.

In this world where more credible English-language news alternatives like AFP or the BBC are easily available on the Web, news organisations that debase themselves as official bulletin boards would lose credibility very quickly.

Furthermore, embedded journalists who have turned themselves (effectively) into public relations officers for the Malaysian government have compromised their integrity as professional journalists who would report truthfully the agreements and disagreements between Malaysia and Australia (and for that matter, any other foreign country).

What we have read in mainstream media over the last few days are not professional media reports but 'feel good' writings that attempt to cover-up or downplay the differences between Malaysia and Australia. This is the job of politicians and diplomats, not reporters or editors of newspapers.

Mainstream journalists must regain their true sense of institutional identity - not be a scribe of diplomatic bulletin. If not, embedded journalism will soon be seen as another form of enticement, bribery and corruption.