Journalists undergo temperature checks upon arrival at Wisma Bapa Malaysia in Kuching before going to a press conference, in this file photo taken several days after the Movement Control Order (MCO) was announced and enforced in March 2020 — Photo by Muhammad Rais Sanusi
I WAS at a seminar recently where there was a heated discussion if more laws and regulations were an infringement of human right. In the midst of the debate, my mind drifted back to an event some 10 years ago.
Back then, there was a mini conference on journalism, organised by the Sarawak Chapter of the Commonwealth Journalists Association. One of the speakers went round the town with his handphone at lunch time. This was in the days when handphone had not morphed into one of the limbs of humans.
So what he had (the handphone) was something very rare. I did not think anyone of us had such communication device, and as for photography, well, we still had to lug around the bulky camera.
At the conference, the speaker demonstrated to us how he could write a decent article about Kuching, complete with photos, during his lunch-time walk around the city.
He ended prophetically: “In the near future, everyone can be a journalist.”
We were much buoyed up by his words. Many of us were freelance and part-time writers, not in full-time employment at one of the publishing houses.
From one of Aesop’s fables, we receive one of the cautionary sayings: “Be careful what you wish for.”
Yes, many of the participants at the conference wished that the speaker’s words would come true and soon. Now, barely 10 years after, that wish has come true. However, the result is not exactly pretty.
Yes, now everyone, every Tom, Dick and Harry, or to give it a Malaysian slant, every ‘Ah Beng, Ali and Aminah’, can be a journalist. In other words, foist his or her opinions, words and photos not just to their immediate surroundings, but to the whole world!
Thanks to Internet and social media.
A quote purported by Albert Einstein reads: “I fear the day that technology will surpass our human interaction. The world will have a generation of idiots.”
Well, the day is here. The problem is anyone of us can easily slide into the rank of the idiots.
With all the information floating around in the cyber sphere, we feel as if we are drowning in a sea of information, but what is more telling and ominous is that sometimes, it is difficult to distinguish the fake from the genuine.
Some are just pranks, good for a laugh I suppose, but others are downright vicious, aimed at destroying one’s reputation.
Recently, a posting on social media headlined: “Celine Dion attended her son’s wedding in wheelchair!”
Complete with accompanying video clip, the post claimed that Celine Dion, the famous singer, attended her son’s wedding in a wheelchair after being diagnosed with Stiff Person Syndrome.
I showed that to a friend who is an ardent Celine Dion fan. She was so moved that she even shed a tear. Being a religious person, she urged her friends to pray for the singer.
That morning, I received a post that said: “The lady in the wheelchair is not Celine Dion, but a 55-year-old mother called Kathy Poirier from Florida. Kathy Poirier suffers from Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), which is also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. It is a progressive nervous system disease that causes a loss of muscle control.”
Apparently, the viral video was edited to show Celine Dion (really Kathy Poirier) being lifted to hug her son, who teared up, before she was placed back on her wheelchair.
Well, it was just a prank, good for a laugh.
While that was just a mischief, there are others that are downright vicious, posted by miscreants to bring down their political enemies. One such one is the recent posting, purporting to show our Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim (DSAI) groping Elizabeth Tan, a local celebrity. The so-called incriminating photo being posted was, in fact, doctored, photoshopped to blacken the name of Anwar.
Obviously, a nefarious scheme by his political enemies.
Fortunately, Elizabeth Tan posted a video, showing the original version where she backed up and accidentally bumped into Anwar and she was heard apologising for her misstep.
“Sorry, sorry!” she said out in panic and added: “It’s such an honour to meet you.”
Minister of Communications and Digital Minister Fahmi Fadzil also shared his concern by tweeting that the Royal Malaysia Police (PDRM) must take further actions towards the accusers.
Well, we wait with bated breath how quickly PDRM would act to apprehend the slanderer, or slanderers. Are they going to land on them like a ton of bricks, or let them off with a mere slap on the wrist?
Let’s go back to the ‘everyone can be a journalist’ mantra. Yes, every Tom, Dick and Harry, and every Ah Beng, Ali and Aminah, can foist his or her view on the world, and with impunity.
Let’s compare them to the established publishing house. The former could very well be just a ‘one man and his dog’ – an idiomatic expression for just anybody, or a nobody.
Whereas an established publishing house, a newspaper concern, is an organisation with legal publishing licence.
It is definitely more that ‘one man’. Its business identity is an open book.
The Tom, Dick and Harry, on the other hand, can hide in the dark recess of the cybernet. When the situation gets hot, he could just slink off into the darkness. Hence, his brazenness in publishing rumours, unverified news or outright lies, either in jest or with outright malice.
The ardent proponents of unbridled freedom of expression and democracy would argue the right to broadcast is a human right, that it is unfair to pit the individuals, the bloggers and vloggers, against the business concerns.
Well, if the bloggers/vloggers fall foul of the law of defamation, only the individuals would be affected – provided that the authorities could root them out in the first place.
However, if a publishing house or newspaper concern were to get its permit cancelled, dozens of individuals and their families would be affected.
Ponder on that.