PM Lee questioned new media’s journalistic standards
September 16th, 2009 | 
Author: From our Correspondent
For the second time in less than a week, the government has spoken out against the new media and this time it is none other than the Prime Minister himself in reply to question posed by a mass communications student from NTU.
The student if it is possible for the old and new media to co-exist peacefully instead of being adversaries.
Prime Minister Lee chose not to answer the question directly, but to used it as an opportunity to launch thinly veiled attack on the new media.
He said:
“The difficulty we have is not in holding back diverse views in the media, but in having enough range of well-considered views which are well-argued and cogent, from different perspectives, which can contribute to the national debate.”
Coincidentally, there was a letter written by a Gerry Oh published in the Straits Times Forum yesterday lamenting the “sorry culture” of skewed arguments on internet forums.
He added:
“In new media, you get all kinds of views. You are not sure what to make of it. If you want considered views, somebody has to think, report, gather, verify, write up, get it published……All this requires a proper newspaper or news agency.”
Is PM Lee implying that news published by the new media is unreliable because they are not written by professional journalists and those produced by a proper news agency like SPH are trustworthy?
While it is true that the Singapore media has trained full-time journalists to “think, report, gather, verify and publish” the news, it still doesn’t explain their pathetic and embarrassing rankings on the World Press Freedom index conducted yearly by Reporters without Borders, an internationl media watchgroup.
PM Lee waste no time to perpetuate the eternal myth that only views which contribute to “national debate” can be expressed in the public domain. The problem is these views are usually skewed in the mainstream media to propagate the government’s agenda.
What Singapore needs is to have a wide diversity of views and a free competition of ideas to allow Singaporeans to judge for themselves their individual merits and deficiencies and not for the government to censor, moderate and filter information to serve their own vested interests.
As Singaporeans become exposed more and more to the new media, they will begin to question the objectivity of the mainstream media which is no more than a government mouthpiece.
The new media may not be able to compete with the old media in terms of resources, but it can claim to retain a certain degree of journalistic independence since it is not under the purview of the government.
The challenge now for the Singapore’s new media is to move to the next stage of development by heeding PM Lee’s exhortation to set up a formal news agency to run the news sites professionally on a full-time basis.
Related articles:
>> Lui Tuck Yew praised Singapore media
>> Mourning 25 years of the demise of a free and independent press by Eugene Yeo
>> Why there is no “Malaysiakini” in Singapore by Fang Zhi Yuan and Lim Siow Kuan
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25 Responses to “PM Lee questioned new media’s journalistic standards”
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Where was LHL when Temasek lost billions, Lehman brothers fiasco? Don’t talk so great about MSM whose 154th ranking says alot about credibility, so I presumed that LHL is taking seriously the reporting by our shitty times that 60% of Singaporeans are happy (dated 2006 survey). What lots of crap.
What the PM wants is a subserviant media that will take instructions from the Government and to publish what they want the people to hear! The new media, unfortunately has been very frank and this makes the Government very uncomfortable.
This is PAP’s first salvo against new media that are mostly hostile to them.
Just like they did in the past, because you are not a threat to them at the moment, by virtue of your comparative readership, he intents to kill off your readership by discrediting you, much like what opposition parties are been done to.
One day, if any new media site becomes a significant threat, their usual tricks will be employed : harassment of writers, editors, maybe even launching cyber attacks and other clandestine operations.
They will slowly ramp up their smear campaign against you, just like what they do to the oppositions and their aim if for all new media sites to either be culled or be silenced.
I hope any reliable media sites who wished to become a significant player in the media wars to take steps in all aspects to prevent their own corruption, co-option or elimination.
Singapore is so small.
New media is also small, if we only scope in Singapore.
I can safely say the notion to integrate foreigners into our midst came from non other than yours sincerely, through a Forum letter to ST Forum regarding the Serangoon Gardens debacle. Why I remember so clearly? Because I live in Switzerland and social integration for foreigners are hotly debated and strictly enforced. I quoted this in the letter. Now they are repeating this idea to Singaporeans.
So, new media does have its bite and value. Does it not?
“If you want considered views, somebody has to think, report, gather, verify, write up, get it published”
Wise words! All polytechnics and universities offering mass communications or journalism courses must adopt this highly insightful model proposed by Lee Hsien Loong!
I bet this is what the MSM does
1. Think – okay done
2. Report – hooray, let’s put the cart before the horse
3. Gather – remember to interview the PAP for their opinions
4. Verify – check if news is sensationalist enough
5. Write up – easy, remember we have professional training
6. Get it published – if i do it online i’ll have the chance to edit it again
Did the new media caused the decision to cut back on letting in foreigners?????????
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/1005139/1/.html
It is not obvious that MSM dogs need the protective attack on its behalf by its imprisoning master after mouthing its unholy thoughts for more than 4 decades? The master knows the barking dogs has no credibility. They have digged into partisan politics of virulent propaganda mouthing so deep of irrelevance that they can’t possibly hope of digging themselves out without OBVIOUSLY discreditingly exposing their hypocritical history of the past.
THE CONTRAST IS TOO BIG a hurdle to leap from rubbish publishing to some seeming appearance of credibility. They know they are heading for extinction staying on course. What better way to make their climb back to some semblance of sanity A LITTLE LESS OBVIOUS OF ABOUT TURN then by lowering and discrediting the new media?
You see that in recent issues of MSM – a bit less of downright cunning rhetoric hiding truth now frequently trashed in the new media but a bit more light brushing of truth and glossing over other seeming credits as if it is such a big deal. In other words, the tiger cannot change its stripe but dye over its colour even though the falsehood will soon fade and readers would have forgotten later.
I am just glad that with new media, I now have easy access to various news that I would have difficulty finding in mainstream media.
Also views that show the entire picture.
Speaking of which, I heard from people in HWZ that the CA lounge is closed during GE time. Is it true? Hope that such will not happen here when GE is nearer.
“The difficulty we have is not in holding back diverse views in the media, but in having enough range of well-considered views which are well-argued and cogent, from different perspectives, which can contribute to the national debate.”
Well, I agree that the mainstream media certainly lacks this but the new media occasionally does this as well. And the most useful arguments are not built entirely around the tearing down of other arguments, but also offer a solution of moving forward.
If barking dogs is unable to bite its scented “enemy” within mouth’s reach, the master must have them well under control. The new media is around carrying a BIG FAT CANE in waiting to teach those stupid dogs some manners and public obedience.
Remember what Gandhi said:
First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.
We’re at the joint between phase 2 and phase 3. Keep up the good work, but watch your back!
matulos
matulos.wordpress.com
Wanted to clarify that by my statements, I meant that the new media is not infallible, not that the new media intentionally obfuscates things.
The division 3 PM can say what he wants. The rankings from World Press Freedom index tells the whole story about the standards of SPH.
Most anonymouse netizens are just venting their grievances and frustrations online. There’s hardly anything constructive in all these agitated flamings and grouses.
A cool and well-rounded post is a rare gem.
And yours a rare gem or constructive germ?
“If you want considered views, somebody has to think, report, gather, verify, write up, get it published……”
that is precisely the problem. “Considered” means “considered suitable for PAP agenda”.
so thank you very much, but i can think for myself.
CNN, Bloomberg, Reuters, BBC, SPH, yahoo news, Google news, hongkong apple news paper, new straits times….
the list of media is on and on……
We are in the age of information. we are bombarded by information every single min.
It is our responsibilities as sensible adults to know what is the truth from the lies.
It is like saying “black dog is not a dog?” the media can say a cat is a black dog However, it is up to the individual point of view to see what is a black dog and what is not a black dog.
“In new media, you get all kinds of views. You are not sure what to make of it. If you want considered views, somebody has to think, report, gather, verify, write up, get it published……All this requires a proper newspaper or news agency.”
If these so called “proper newspaper or news agency” did what PM Lee had said, how come new media are able to shoot down the views the moment that it is put up? And ever so frequently?
It is hilarious to see MSM publish data surveys to prove that Singaporeans are happy lot using data from 2006. I wonder which part of the think, report, gather, verify, write up, get it published did the MSM ever use.
Being a PR professional for many years, it is very clear to me where this constant compulsion by the PAP to discredit the new media is coming from.
It is a common political attack tactic they are trying here, the same strategy used by the McCain campaign during the presidential elections in the USA in 2008 – if they are against you, discredit them, and if you succeed in discrediting them, ANYTHING you say will become the truth.
When faced with a media that was hugely charmed by Obama’s commonsensical approach to national priorities and strong arguments grounded in truths and real sentiments of the citizenry, all the McCain/republican campaign could do was to try to frame the mainstream media as “biased” and “unobjective”, without even making an attempt at understanding why it is that the media is so opposed to them.
That’s the problem with governments and political parties that are so out of touch with the realities on the ground that they dismiss opposing views all too easily in their self-righteousness. So out of touch they are that they forget that it is their own citizens that they serve who are DIRECTLY providing feedback to them about their frustrations, without any sugar coating – FOR FREE!!!!
The new media offers a platform for Singaporeans, among the most educated peoples in the world today, who disagree with our current policies to finally voice our frustrations and ideas IN PEACE without fear of censorship and unconstitutional persecution (and without needing to apply for permits!). It is the most direct and open platform for the government to mine useful feedback on what real people are unhappy about, and get ideas on how they could make appropriate changes to their failing policies and fulfil their oath to democracy.
The PAP government can do one of two things. They can continue to dismiss the new media, or they can start listening and begin their much warranted introspection to change tracks on some of their failing policies. The age of media control and the spin-doctor is over. In the new media age, only common sense and authenticity matters.
Whatever they choose, one thing will never change – our numbers are only going to become many, and our voices, deafening.
The new media age is a reality now in Singapore – get used to it.
so did comments n pressure from the new media caused the decision to let in less immigrants?
WhereMyMoneyGo – are you asking a genuine question or do you actually have a point to make?
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Dear admin, I haven’t see Temasek Review’s articles in Google news recently. I hope everything’s alright.
if only LHL will issue another 2 or 3 licenses for media not controlled by the PAP, and then we will know if what he said is true and we have better grounds to believe that he is credible. as for now he is just a hypocrite and we ought to remain very skeptical, for our own good.
Our media culture is Authoritarian at best. PM Lee might want to look up on what it means. But of course he will deny that is the case.