12/01/2005

why nguyen must die

or why you must die. it is a bold statement that normally comes from an emperor or a mafia boss. and this appeared on the australian paper The Age. and it was accredited to our high commissioner joseph koh in canberra. our affable commissioner was instantly transformed into some kind of a mob chief of a nigger lynching party. it must be a frightening experience to be tagged with such a comment. all joseph did was trying to separate the facts from the fiction in the drug trafficker's case. he conscientiously gathered all the facts and wrote an article for dissemination to the australian press with the heading 'separate fact from fiction.' but the age chose to have their own heading, giving a totally different picture. this is the power of the media, the power of free press. they have the freedom to choose what they want to know, read what they like, select what they like, write what they like and print what they like. in other words they gathered information to support their agenda. and if their agenda is against you, you had it. but what is the difference between a free press and a controlled press? don't they do the same thing but to satisfy different agenda? the only significant difference is who is calling the shot. free press or controlled press are as good or as malicious as they are, depending on their mission or intent. what is important is a responsible press. but responsible to who? who sets the agenda and whose value and interest should the press be responsible to? the power of the press and the media is tremendous in what it can do to a collection of facts. they can turn facts into fiction, into comics or into a gorified hollywood thriller or horror movie. how true is truth?

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi Redbean,

What is the difference between a free press and a controlled press? What a good question !! In my opinion there is no difference at all. I read it everyday. The best thing to do when reading a report is to think about who is writing it, who stands to gain by the report and always take it with a pinch of salt. A good example - just heard on the news that the US govt paid some Iraqi media to put out propaganda materials to serve their own agenda. Is that true?

Chua Chin Leng aka redbean said...

good morning anonymous,

this is exactly what the role of he media is all about. who calls the shot and pay for the tune.

a free press is as free as a controlled press. what a mockery to argue for or against a free press.

but many western liberalists still believe that western press are free press.