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i found it as an interesting article -- tentang pemikiran dan obsession
orang2 di Malaysia ---- seperti mana yang diutarakan oleh
Johan Jaaffar ini.. we have only ourselves to blame jika
banyak media yang keluarkan cerita2 cam gini ----
but then i am sure some people have different opinion --
mungkin some people rasa BERLEBIH lebihan sangatla media
ni - asyik asyik cerita ct, asyik asyik cerita mawi ....
setengah pulak kata - oh well - dah ada kat news, kita baca la..
or some even tertanya tanya - -eh mana cerita mawi ni,
mana cerita ct ni, etc etc...
well -- here is the article - something to ponder about --
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Point Blank: Give ?m Mawi and the marginalised, too
26 Aug 2006
Johan Jaaffar
I GUESS we have become a celebrity- obsessed nation. Which society in a media-saturated world today isn?? But things have gone too far of late, some would argue. When one can? differentiate between publications like News of the World and The Independent (to be on the safe side, let me compare an apple with a plum in a faraway land), there is a problem.
Newspapers and TV are business concerns involving billions. They have to sell their products and attract audiences. They must have the "numbers" (readership or viewership) to entice advertisers. The media has to depend on advertisements. So the estimated RM3.7 billion worth of advertising money a year in this country has to be fought for. They don? come as handouts. It is the survival of the fittest and the most read or watched out there.
Some politicians believe the Malaysian media is not doing enough for bangsa and negara. Some even believe it is their birthright to be reported and to be reported significantly. They can never understand the concept of newsworthiness, or the idea of what actually sells or even the basic notion of Press freedom.
Some argue for a balance ? to determine at least where commercialism ends and national responsibilities begin. The debate is nothing new. Pressmen and women have been pestered to be responsible, to be part of nation-building and to be supportive of policies mooted by the rightful representatives of the people.
The issue here is how much is too much. Or should the media be more responsible themselves without having to be monitored and regulated.
TV culture today reminds me of a statement made by a former British prime minister, Ramsay MacDonald. When TV was still in its infancy, he hailed the medium as a "wonderful miracle" to "remind us of how strange and unknown" the world was. Today, the world has shrunk with the advent of TV and the Internet. Consumerism rules.
We live in a world of visual images and sound-bites. Only the media- savvy will survive. Perhaps what a media scholar and critic Neal Gabler wrote not long ago is true: Americans have been "conquered" by entertainment. American society is certainly media-saturated. Modern societies are nothing more than "slaves" of media barons and conglomerates and the trend is getting more disturbing by the day. Media barons are the new conquerors.
But, unlike Alexander the Great, Attila the Hun or Genghis Khan, who ravaged settlements and communities to set up empires, the likes of Rupert Murdoch are conquering the minds of billions.
As pointed out by John Pilger in his thought-provoking book Tell Me No Lies: Investigative Journalism and Its Triumphs, fewer individuals now own bigger shares of the media ownership pie. In 1983, the principal media were owned by 50 corporations; in 2002, through mergers and acquisitions, the number had fallen to just nine. In 2004, Murdoch predicted that in three years there would only be three major media corporations; his would be one of them.
Edward Said in his book Culture and Imperialism warned about the power of the "new media" to penetrate "more deeply" into a "receiving" culture than any previous manifestation of Western technology. The presence of "international media" weighs heavily on our lives whether we like it or not. So we are merely either accepting, readjusting and reacting to the onslaught.
You can? fight Murdoch and gang. You have to think and behave like him to win. And you have to emulate his successes to attract audiences and readers.
You can? fight a station that offers 50 channels when you have only one or two.
I have no complaint about the hoopla over the marriage of one Datuk K and the lovable singer, Siti Nurhaliza. It is a hyped media event normally slated for royalty and the very, very rich and famous. But how many marriages get that kind of attention anyway? Perhaps there is such a thing as "marriage ceremony fatigue". Many people find majlis persandingan either drearily boring or outrageously pretentious these days. Guests are made to endure endless upacara berinai or mene- pung tawar in five-star hotels or listen to long, boring speeches by the host and, worst of all, having to watch the life stories of two 23-year-olds starting from birth. At least the fairytale marriage of Datuk K and Siti was shown in the comfort of our homes. That made it more palatable.
Again, having to endure celebrity stories and not-too-famous women attacking each other in public would unsettle even the most tolerant. Perhaps it is true the media can hurtle out of control in the search for readership and ratings. So complaints about too much for too little are surfacing.
As the nation prepares for its 49th anniversary, people are beginning to question what is taking centrestage in the media of late. Perhaps we need to address issues pertaining to the Ninth Malaysia Plan. Or perhaps the media should not forget that our parliamentarians have unanimously passed a resolution to condemn Israel? aggression in Lebanon; and that the youth of various parties for the first time joined hands in a historic assembly at Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka to condemn the attacks. These things didn? get much attention in a celebrity-obsessed media.
I believe the media must find a middle road. They must understand the priorities demanded of them. Or else we will live in an unreal world where only dreams are celebrated and the woes of the marginalised are a footnote in history. True, the media has to play to the gallery. In short, if Mawi is the biggest thing that has happened to the Malays these last few years, give them Mawi, day in and day out. If the people think that even the ex-fiancee of Mawi deserves a show on TV, so be it.
Perhaps one cannot blame the media alone. Malays have a saying, tepuk dada tanya selera (beat your chest and ask what you want). They are merely catering to the demand. Yours! You asked for it. Having said that, the media too must beat to the rhythm of the nation, however jingoistic it may sound |
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Post time 26-8-2006 08:31 AM
变色卡
Post time 26-8-2006 11:41 AM
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