Mainstream media still best channel, says Najib

Mainstream media still best channel, says Najib
http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2007/7/3/nation/18200206&sec=nation

KUALA LUMPUR: The mainstream media is still the best channel for the Government to relay information and messages, Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said.

Yawn. The MSM is controlled by the government political parties. Of course it's the best channel for the government to spread their propaganda.

He said that the mainstream media's role, however, had become more challenging with the emergence of alternative media through the Internet.

“The alternative media via blogsites report many things that can be disputed because nobody knows the person behind the news.

Not all blogs are anonymously authored. Take for example this one. I plainly state my name for all to see and examine. Jeff Ooi also does the same. So does A Kadir Jasin and M Bakri Musa and many other bloggers. And many more blogs are anonymous because the authors fear the government's crackdown on whistleblowers who release information that is potentially harmful to the government's reputation.

“This is where the mainstream media is special,” he said at the Defence Media Awards Night here yesterday.

Special indeed. The MSM is directly controlled and regulated by the government to block all unsavoury news such as the recent MCMC directive to blackout all opposition speeches.

Najib, who is also Defence Minister, said the media could disseminate information on the importance of national security and defence to the people especially when the awareness on security issues was low.

He said that to face the competition with the alternative media, the mainstream media has to provide coverage based on facts.

Hmm... does that mean that the MSM has all this while been printing fiction and lies? Gosh, what a statement from the minister!

BLA BLA BLA!