Bolehland is replete with superlatives, such as the world’s (once) tallest towers, biggest ketupat, sleepiest premier, prettiest ‘space flight participant’ and busiest bodysnatchers.

Last Thursday, the Star chronicled yet another self-professed claim in our Wonders of the World list. The self-proclaimed ‘People’s Paper’ quoted Deputy Prime Minister Najib Razak as saying "Malaysia’s inflation rate is the lowest in the world and this mirrors the government’s efforts in keeping the prices of essential goods low".

The government has kept inflation at 2.4%, Najib claims, and we can presume he declared this world-impressing ‘fact’ with a straight face. But what do we make of Malaysia’s most profitable newspaper publishing his assertion without even batting an eyelid?

Now where in the world did Najib pluck his reference from? Apparently, no single mainstream media (MSM) reporter thought to ask him.

On the other hand, our country’s consistent ranking among the lowest in the world for press freedom is genuine. Since MSM is so constrained to publish, the public should by now have learned to take what they read with a pinch of salt. My million-ringgit question: Why are readers content to swallow salt by the bucketsful instead of demanding reporters verify such purported statistics?

Star editors deemed the ‘feel-good’ pre-election story Najib floated good for Page One, and in fact reported three consecutive days on the formation of that latest government gig – the National Stockpile Council. The proposed stockpile of necessities like rice and cooking oil is part of a strategy "to soften the impact of rising prices on the cost of living", we’re told.

The various MSM rather vacuously regurgitated government PR along the lines of: "The council would study, review and propose possible new laws, economic and fiscal measures as well as other activities which would promote market reform and maintain a steady and sustainable reduction of subsidies and minimise market distortions."

The two reporters – bylined in the Star article – did not trouble to deconstruct the contradiction inherent even in official take they quoted above. If Malaysia truly has the lowest rate of inflation in the world, then why any need "to soften the impact of rising prices on the cost of living"?

Again, reporters are supposed to ask probing questions. Did it not cross their minds to bother Najib with what’s the point of making yet more new laws? Don’t we have enough already? And oh by the way, about the blather on "fiscal measures, market reform, sustainable reduction of subsidies and so on", I seem to recall that the most pronounced "market distortions" were perpetrated by the government itself in the matter of car prices, no?

It’s the oil, stupid

Complementing Star’s fuzzy jargon is another celestial object in the Boleh firmament – The Sun – albeit with less gobbledegook. In an editorial on Jan 29, the paper pronounced: "Subsidising is not a very desirable way of keeping prices down, even if the government can afford to do it. An example is oil prices" … yadda, yadda.

A-ha! The oily powers-that-be, through their well-oiled propaganda machinery are broadly hinting at Joe Public having to tighten our belts one more time. Another – ‘perfectly justifiable’ – petrol price hike is on the horizon. If you wondered why there has been the recent boardroom manoeuvres regarding ownership of the Sun, its editorial slant on fuel subsidy slashes is a clue, and of more BN spin servicing to come.

Meanwhile outside of the MSM orbit, alternative media Malaysiakini has this sources story. It reports that Najib revealed the government will set up a ‘media policy group’ on coverage of inflation issues to curtail news considered at odds with establishment views.

Malaysiakini reveals that Najib said the group, to comprise senior MSM editors, will provide public feedback to the government on inflation-related matters while government policy decisions will in turn be conveyed to the editors "in order to avoid negative coverage of the issue in future".

And there you have it – the Datuk-Datuk editors are summoned by the top leadership for briefings and in turn, they will brief the top leadership; it looks like MSM conspiring with BN, and it sounds like MSM colluding with BN ... but, we’ll have to check with our consultant Lingam.

The outcome of it all is the reading public literally basking in ‘positive coverage’. The economy is doing swell and Malaysians enjoy a marvellous life; how can we not with "the lowest inflation rate in the world" – so thank our lucky Star, and Sun too!

On the same ‘positive’ note and more glad tidings: Malaysia’s unemployable graduates will be getting jobs; good on ’em, considering the bloated civil service was given a pay raise not too long ago. This is what Najib said, as facsimiled in the Star: "unemployed graduates would also be hired to provide feedback to the price council on the rising cost of living and prices from all over the country".

But why pay when you can get feedback for free? Wasn’t it escalating prices that the Protes demonstrators arrested at KLCC were trying to inform the government about? And they were providing the info pro bono.

No buy, no lies

When we first started our ‘Boycott the Newspapers!’ campaign at The People’s Parliament, the effort drew both supporters and sceptics. Detractors say although MSM has admittedly bad and ugly pages but nonetheless it’s a daily dose that goes with their morning teh tarik, plus newspapers remain a convenient package and featuring apolitical sections like sports and entertainment, etc. which remain readable.

They claim discerning readers will be able to distinguish MSM’s politically-motivated lies from the truth, so caveat emptor but no need for boycott. I will ask those people this: If they can discern the falsehoods, does it not bother them at all that such dangerous distortions of reality are being freely disseminated by MSM?

Defenders of MSM further contend: Let’s allow the MSM version of certain events (which are deliberate inaccuracies) to compete with the alternative versions (which are more accurate) in the marketplace, and readers compare.

To their specious argument of ‘open’ competition, I say: Are alternative news sources given publishing permits? Malaysiakini, for one, has applied time and again for a newspaper licence and been denied. Thus, alternative media is barred the outreach that MSM enjoys unimpeded and consequently prevented from providing a check and balance within the framework of the Fourth Estate itself.

Just like applications for public assembly by groups and movements whose ideology challenges the veracity of the BN worldview are perpetually denied permits while BN gatherings and rallies are invariably granted the halal certificate by the state. And just as BN has a monopoly of public space and expression, so too is media ownership a monopoly. We have in effect a one-party state and a one-media state as well.

Therefore I cannot but hold that since there is no oversight on the MSM, which is nothing better than a de facto arm of government (read BN), and since MSM refuses to exercise due diligence on its reporting, hence civil society has no choice other than Boycott to send the message that we do not condone falsehood-mongering.

Makkal Sakthi, Valga! (Long live people's power)

Our campaign in People’s Parliament is not about creating bad press for MSM; they do that well enough on their own without any help from us. It’s really about creating awareness in Malaysians that MSM are less than forthright. The People’s Parliament media statement on why conscientious Malaysians must disengage from MSM can be read here.

This newspaper boycott is a people power project. People’s Parliament Hartal MSM committee, of which I’m a member, asked for support from blogosphere to publicise our initiative because rather obviously, MSM is not going to lend publicity to an initiative aimed at decreasing their own circulation. We are indeed getting a strong support in cyberspace.

We publicly announced the petition on Monday morning at a Press conference. In less than four days, our online petition to ‘Boycott the Newspapers!’ has been endorsed by 400 signatures at time of writing. Each day, we’re getting about a hundred people signing up, and in my humble opinion, the petition is flying because ours is a just cause.

Please help us get greater numbers by forwarding our petition through word of mouse so that the People’s Parliament will have the necessary leverage to carry out Stage 2 of our Hartal campaign.

To sign ‘Boycott the Newspapers!’ click here.