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What can we expect now?

The local dailies will be offering more videoblog ala Youtube, setting up blogs and updating news at breakneck speeds. We see The Star as one example of a Internet-embracing media, while Utusan, BH, NST, Sun, tamil dailies lag far behind. NST has been providing video feeds of late. So, we can expect more of the one-sided stories to be available online as well. More IT jobs for the young people!

We can also expect more ministries to follow Youth and Sport Ministry to set up blog and whatnots. More ministers and MPs will be launching their blogs.

I believe there’s another point to it. The element of trust )or the lack of it). Anyone can publish a news – via SMS, blogs or youtube, but does it have credibility? The government should first work on rebuilding its credibility, so that whatever news being published is able to be verified and trusted. The Internet provides abudant resources for cross-checking facts, so the leaders cannot simply go around giving half-baked, vague or misleading statements.

Why do people don’t trust the newspapers? Because they can relate to some of the news and realise how distorted the writings are. For example, if I was at a function and witnessed everything that happened there, and later read something different in the newspaper, would I trust the paper more?

People don’t trust newspapers much these days. So how can they trust the same news that is just being packaged differently?

Cyber war

http://malaysiakini.com/news/80342

Admitting that the voters, particular the young technologically savvy ones, had sent a “strong signal” to the government, the prime minister pledged that the government would respond accordingly. “We need to respond to the enthusiasm and ideals shown by the young people,” he said.

Abdullah also admitted that BN had ignored the impact of the internet during the run-up to the general election. “We thought it was not important… it was a very, very big mistake… we thought that newspapers were enough” said Abdullah, adding that not enough attention was given to the ‘cyber war’.

He said that young voters were influenced by SMSes and internet campaigns and this in return, affected BN’s performance in the polls.

Reforms have not been fast enough, PM admits

source

By IZATUN SHARI

KUALA LUMPUR: The Prime Minister has admitted he had not moved fast enough in pushing through with the reforms that he promised to undertake. Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said the result of the general election was a strong message that he had not done so.”I thank the Malaysian people for this message. Point well made and point taken,” he said Tuesday in his keynote address at the Invest Malaysia 2008 conference here.

“During the last elections, we lost the cyberwar. The young people were looking at SMSes, Internet and other tools to get information. We did not think that it was important to respond to them. It was a serious misjudgment. It was a very serious mistake on our part.”

He said the Barisan Nasional Government needed to respond to the young people. “It is my intention to respond to the young people and their enthusiasm. We have no other choice but to respond to the message as swiftly as we can.

He said in his second term as Prime Minister, he intended to implement a bold agenda for addressing the concerns of the people as expressed through the ballot box. Abdullah said the Government was ready to change and address the people’s concerns and grievances. “Already, we are beginning the process of rejuvenating the Government. Last week, I appointed a new Cabinet – a reform Cabinet in which half of the ministers comprise new faces, with a number of independent personalities appointed to key portfolios.”

He said that the Government would work very hard with honesty, integrity and zero tolerance of corruption. “I believe we have the means to do well. We are working very hard. We are ready to rectify our mistakes. It is important for us to do it,” he added.

Abdullah: Big mistake to ignore cyber-campaign

http://malaysiakini.com/news/80354
Mar 25, 08 2:45pm

Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi today said his “biggest mistake” in disastrous elections was to ignore cyber-campaigning on the Internet which was seized by the opposition.

The powerful Barisan Nasional coalition suffered its worst-ever results in March 8 polls that left five states and a third of parliamentary seats in opposition hands. The opposition, which was largely ignored by government-linked mainstream media, instead waged an enormously successful online campaign using blogs, news websites and SMS text messages.

We certainly lost the Internet war, the cyber-war,” Abdullah said in in a speech to an investment conference. “It was a serious misjudgement. We made the biggest mistake in thinking that it was not important,” he said. “We thought that the newspapers, the print media, the television was supposed to be important, but the young people were looking at SMS and blogs.”

The comments are a major about-face for the government, which had vilified bloggers, calling them liars and threatening them with detention without trial under draconian internal security laws. In line with promises to reform after the humiliating election results, Abdullah said the government would “respond effectively” and move to empower young Malaysians. “It was painful … but it came at the right time, not too late,” he said.

Malaysia’s mainstream media are mostly part-owned by parties in the ruling coalition, and what was seen as biased coverage in the run-up to last month’s vote alienated voters and boosted demand for alternative news sources.

Media watchdog Reporters Without Borders ranks Malaysia 124 out of 169 on its worldwide press freedom index. It says mainstream media are “often compelled to ignore or to play down” opposition events.

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