FAC News
Government forms media damage control committee
UMNO
insiders have informed FAC News that the Malaysian government recently called senior officers of the government controlled media, the information department, and the propaganda-brainwashing department (known as BTN), for a meeting to discuss how to counter the opposition information campaign.The agenda discussed was how to do damage control on the many conflicting statements made by the government ministers. Most times these statements seem to backfire and do more damage than good.
Officers from the government-controlled media suggested that the government ministers be advised not to talk too much. Said one senior media officer, "Why are we being asked to do damage control when it’s the ministers who screw up? Why not just ask the ministers to shut up. After all, if they have nothing good to say, better they not talk at all."
This statement started a heated debate with the media personnel blaming the politicians for the problem, and the politicians accusing the media people of not doing enough to help clean up the government's image.
One senior UMNO politician asked the media people why they could not come out with a successful party newspaper like what the Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS) has done with their Harakah. The senior newspaper man then reminded the UMNO official that UMNO does have its own party newspaper, and that its called "Merdeka" (Independence), but it is so crappy that no one wants to read it, let alone buy it.
Anyhow, added the senior newspaper man, the government already controls many newspapers such as the New Straits Times, Utusan Malaysia, and Berita Harian, as well as all the television and radio stations. With all these, why can't they counter the opposition media?
The senior UMNO man lamented that the opposition very successfully counters everything the government says but the government seems at a loss to counter the opposition. The media men were then told to come out with a plan on how they can reply to everything the opposition throws at the government.
Recently the government-controlled media published false reports - such as the turnout at the 5 November 2000 Kesas Highway gathering, Dr Mahathir's meeting with Yusuf al-Qardhawi, and the Malaysian Ambassador's meeting with the seven US Congressmen. The opposition media refuted all these reports but the government-controlled media kept very silent and did not deny the opposition's claims that the government media lied.
The government promoted media damage control committee meeting ended at 1.00am with no resolution on how they could fight the opposition media. The only conclusion they came to was that Harakah is very successful and the government should come out with a plan on how to duplicate Harakah's success.
Recently, the government reduced Harakah's publication from twice a week to twice a month. However, the government has not been able to reduce Harakah's readership, which still stands at more than one million on a circulation of about 300,000 copies.
Harakah,
which used to be a rural village newspaper, is now also widely read in the towns and cities. Non-Malays too now read Harakah due to its English language section, which was introduced about a year before the Anwar Ibrahim crisis erupted.The Anwar Ibrahim crisis and the Reformasi movement too has helped Harakah's circulation, which increased from 70,000 to almost 300,000 overnight soon after Anwar was sacked from the government and arrested 12 days later.
Raja Petra Kamarudin