Pro-truth above all
SRPublished: Feb 27, 2001 8:21 AM | Updated: Jan 29, 2008 6:21 PM
Concerning the debate on mainstream newspapers vs malaysiakini, there are actually two separate concepts here. One concept is truth. The other is opinion.
Truth is absolute. There can only be one truth. Either something is true, or it is not true. Things that are true are commonly referred to as facts.
Let's say there is fact A. Mr X thinks A is good. Mr Y thinks A is bad. There is no contradiction here, as 'good' and 'bad' arise from values that are personal to the holder. Everyone is entitled to his or her opinion. Slant, or bias, or viewpoint, or take, whatever one may choose to call it, is simply opinion.
Different newspapers have different opinions on the facts. This is fine as long as they publish the facts accurately, i.e., as long as what they represent as 'facts', are, in actuality, the truth. Readers are free to agree or disagree with a particular newspaper's opinion, but nobody can run away from the truth.
The problem with newspapers in Malaysia is that what is reported as 'facts' may or may not be the true state of things. They routinely mix up opinion with fact. Worse still, opinion precedes the truth to become the absolute.
Therefore, the issue is not 'slant' or 'bias'. The issue is more fundamental than that, which is the truth. The question to ask is not which newspaper is 'pro-government' or otherwise. More important: Which newspaper is 'pro-truth'? Which is reporting the facts accurately?
The answer is plain to see. Mainstream newspapers not only omit important facts (which is bad enough), they even go so far as to report things which are not true. One need only compare what the mainstream newspapers say with what is actually happening. Some articles promote lies so blatant that even schoolchildren can see through them.
The malaysiakini team, as far as I can tell, have always published the truth. They may not report each and every single piece of fact, but at least they do not omit important facts, and they never represent something which is not true as fact.
The fact is, because malaysiakini reports facts which are uncomfortable to the ruling government, they are labeled by some as 'anti-government'. Mainstream newspapers twist facts in order to put the government in a rosy light; they are 'pro-government'. Polarising it as such has unfortunate consequences. Choosing to be supportive of the government or otherwise is no longer a matter of opinion, but a matter of choosing whether to believe in the truth or the untruth.
Truth is absolute. There can only be one truth. Either something is true, or it is not true. Things that are true are commonly referred to as facts.
Let's say there is fact A. Mr X thinks A is good. Mr Y thinks A is bad. There is no contradiction here, as 'good' and 'bad' arise from values that are personal to the holder. Everyone is entitled to his or her opinion. Slant, or bias, or viewpoint, or take, whatever one may choose to call it, is simply opinion.
Different newspapers have different opinions on the facts. This is fine as long as they publish the facts accurately, i.e., as long as what they represent as 'facts', are, in actuality, the truth. Readers are free to agree or disagree with a particular newspaper's opinion, but nobody can run away from the truth.
The problem with newspapers in Malaysia is that what is reported as 'facts' may or may not be the true state of things. They routinely mix up opinion with fact. Worse still, opinion precedes the truth to become the absolute.
Therefore, the issue is not 'slant' or 'bias'. The issue is more fundamental than that, which is the truth. The question to ask is not which newspaper is 'pro-government' or otherwise. More important: Which newspaper is 'pro-truth'? Which is reporting the facts accurately?
The answer is plain to see. Mainstream newspapers not only omit important facts (which is bad enough), they even go so far as to report things which are not true. One need only compare what the mainstream newspapers say with what is actually happening. Some articles promote lies so blatant that even schoolchildren can see through them.
The malaysiakini team, as far as I can tell, have always published the truth. They may not report each and every single piece of fact, but at least they do not omit important facts, and they never represent something which is not true as fact.
The fact is, because malaysiakini reports facts which are uncomfortable to the ruling government, they are labeled by some as 'anti-government'. Mainstream newspapers twist facts in order to put the government in a rosy light; they are 'pro-government'. Polarising it as such has unfortunate consequences. Choosing to be supportive of the government or otherwise is no longer a matter of opinion, but a matter of choosing whether to believe in the truth or the untruth.
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