Ng Ling Fong & Andrew Ong
Oct 12, 07 3:13pm
Information Minister Zainuddin Maidin has told editors not to play up
negative news because Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi's pledge
to "hear the truth" does not apply to the media.
Zainuddin said this during a one-hour meeting on Wednesday at the RTM
headquarters in Kuala Lumpur with the country’s top editors.
The country's information czar is one of two top government officials
to hold meetings with the media top brass this week.
Yesterday, chief secretary to the government Mohd Sidek Hassan in
another meeting urged media organisations to avoid emphasising on
news deemed negative against the government, such as the 2006 Auditor-
General’s report.
According to sources, Zainuddin began the meeting by declaring that
he would frequently meet editors to advise them about national issues.
However, he stressed that he would only "advise and not give warnings".
The information minister claimed that he assumed the new role under
the instructions of Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.
Zainuddin then explained that Abdullah's often repeated pledges of
"listening to the truth" were only restricted to government officials
and Barisan Nasional leaders so as to assist the cabinet in making
decisions.
Based on the account by a well-placed source, Zainuddin said
Abdullah's pledge did not mean that the media have the green light to
practice unrestrained reporting because certain topics were
considered highly sensitive.
Zainuddin added that the cabinet often scrutinises media reports and
have noticed that at times, Abdullah’s statements have been
misconstrued. However, the minister did not elaborate on this.
The information minister also ticked off two television stations,
warning them to stay away from reporting with a racial slant as this
could trigger another ‘May 13' riots.
No live Umno telecast
Zainuddin blamed negative media reports on the public’s loss of
confidence in the police and urged the media to be fair to the force
because they have successfully investigated many criminal cases.
He then trained his sights on opposition parties for raising many
controversial issues. The information minister said that if the
government had to answer to all the issues raised, it would be seen
as playing to the opposition's tune.
On bloggers, Zainuddin told the media professionals not resort to
information provided in blogs.

"They (bloggers) are citizen journalists. If you use (materials from)
their blogs, then you are no longer a real journalist," he said.
On the Umno general assembly last year, Zainuddin said live telecasts
of the event was a "big mistake" and that debate sessions of future
assemblies would not be telecast live.
In a related development, Umno information chief Muhammad Muhammad
Taib in announcing that there would be no live telecast of the party
debate sessions, was quoted as saying by Sin Chew Daily today that
Malaysians are not ready to hear such frank debates.
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