By Jailani Harun
(extracted from Jai's blog)
I remember journalism during the 80s and early 90s. So much fun, so much excitement and lots of energy. When I mention energy, the stories, the write-ups and the impacts were.
Journalism then was not only a profession but an arena to carry the people's voice across. The reporters did not depend much on assignment but created their own instead. They produced good analysis and comments to the satisfaction of readers.
However, it is sad to note that journalism nowadays is bound to mere reporting - no hard analysis. What appeared in the print media today are straight-forward reports, almost 85 per cent of which are politically-oriented and tailored to some leaders.
We dont have anymore good crime and court reporters who try to unearth the truth behind the scene, like what ex-Bernama reporter Ahmad Puad Onah (now with Grand Brillance) did until the early morning when Botak Chin was about to be hanged at Pudu Jail.
We dont have anymore the calibre of A Kadir Jasin, Hardev Kaur, Ahmad Talib and Ahirudin Atan who went deep into certain issues and produced materials of international standard for the newspapers.
Where are the likes of Nuraina Samad, Ibrahim Yahya, Jaafar Hussein, Abu Bakar Ismail, Nashruladdin (now with Malaysiakini) and Sufi Yusof who always made a non-issue topics into most interesting articles?
Reading newspapers and watching television nowadays are to confirm what we have heard on the streets, except for few.
Economic analysis are hard to come these days. During my tenure at Business Times, names like Fauziah Ismail, Kartini Kadir and Mustapa Kamil (Mus is still with NST) are the good ones. Ho Kay Tat, too got a class of his own.
Journalism after 2000 did not augur well to the business of the media institution itself. Most journalists are there to 'makan gaji'. Quality of reporting has taken a big dip ever since some 37 senior journalists (many of whom are Malays) left their respective media companies in 2000 or 2001.
During the 80s and 90s, we even sent out our reporters for a two or three month stint at foreign media in Japan, Korea, Indonesia, England and other countries on a reciprocal program.
We dont have that anymore. If not for foreign assignments to cover the Prime Minister or other senior leaders, our reporters would be geographically-blind.
No wonder the circulation of mainstream newspapers are taking a big dive of late. Why? The editors or the bosses are too busy with politics while their staffs are made to provide pillars to their interest.
Forget about good stories which concern the rakyat. Politic is numero uno!
(Tiger's Mind : Recently, during a conversation with me, the Information Minister couldnt hide his disappointment on what he experienced at two press conferences in Kuala Terengganu and Kuala Lumpur involving the Prime Minister. He was suprised that there was no question raised by the press on the event, but instead the questions posed were only about local politics. The events involved efforts by the government to create numerous jobs for the rakyat in East Cost under ECR. The other event was a regional seminar which was attended by leaders from all over the world. What a shame! Nowadays,..journalists dont have to do their homework ka?)
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7 comments:
Sabar beb, ini sindrom silat -- mahaguru bagi kat guru 90 %, guru bagi kat murid 80 %, lepas tu murid tua kena ajar murid muda. Habeh lah.
Selamat Hari Raya Haji. Jai tu takdo kampong ko?
Bro,
Borapo kobau tumbang? Lombu?
Jai tu kan orang pokan. Ado kampong, tapi bunyi macam mexiho atau uruguayan - MONCINO. Pokan dio pun kongsi dongan pokan ese - MASTANA.
Cheers. Raya to you too.
Selamat menyambut Idil Adha, Datuk dan rakan-rakan blogawan (pinjam istilah Datuk) sekelian.
Satu renungan yang menarik juga daripada Sdr Jai sempena Raya Korban ni... Ya, pengorbanan sebagai wartawan, kan? dan satu lagi muhasabah diri kita, mengapa kita memilih kerjaya itu. Tak gitu, Datuk?
bro tiger,
saya rasa the standard of our journalists now has gone down. perkara utama yang saya perhatikan ialah mereka tidak bersedia (bukan semua) untuk membuat sesuatu liputan berita. kebanyakan mereka langsung tidak membuat homeworks dengan melihat fail-fail yang berkaitan dengan subject matter. kedua - kurang pendedahan yang mengakibatkan kurang berpengetahuan. boss-boss yang ada di news desk seharusnya memberi tunjuk ajar yang sewajarnya kepada anak-anak buah generasi muda ini. wartawan-wartawan muda ini pula malas nak belajar dari senior journalists yang ada.
Itulah keadaannya jikalau "reporter/journalist" dicucuk hidung. Semua nak jaga periuk nasi. Yang dinaikkan pangkat kebanyakannya orang so-and-so. Yang di"deepfreezekan" wartawan yang boleh berfikir dan suka berdebat. Tuan Tiger pun ingatkan semua perkara itu di BH dan TV3? No?
Saya
salam.
saya berminat juga dengan dunia journalism.tetapi saya lebih minat pada muzik jadi penulisan yang saya suka baca dan tulis lebih kepada muzik dan kehidupan seharian saya.politik juga saya minat.
saya amat-amat mengagumi mana-mana wartawan dan penulis yang dapat mewujudkan perasaan ingin tahu dan terus membaca dari rangkap pertama hingga ke penghujung.
saya tak pasti bagaimana hendak merankingkan tahap journalism dinegara kita.tapi melalui pengamatan saya sebagai pembaca,boleh dirumuskan yang pembaca ingin tahu sesuatu isu itu lebih mendalam dan bukan hanya fakta semata-mata.
owh.juga memang saya ada perasan wartawan/penulis yang cenderung untuk memihak pada seseorang ahli politik seperti sudah dicucuk hidung.mungkin kerana mengikut arahan pihak atasan?.entahlah.
Tugas wartawan adalah tugas yang amat penting kepada masyarakat. Namun berikutan perubahan zaman dan ramai wartawan yang mahir telah bersara menyebabkan mutu liputan berita semakin menurun dengan mendadak. Generasi wartawan muda masih dalam proses pembelajaran dan ramai yang tidak menjalani latihan. Oleh itu, pihak medis massa hendaklah mengadakan lebih banyak lagi bengkel dan kursus kepada para wartawan muda bagi meningkatkan pengetahuan dan mutu liputan berita..
Mungkin juga disebabkan keutamaan akhbar tempatan kepada berita berunsurkan politik yang mendapat perhatian orang ramai.. Apa yang menyedihkan, berita yang tidak baik diambil, tetapi berita yang berbentuk informasi tidak diutamakan, sehingga masyarakat terpengaruh dengan berita yang tidak BENAR.. Pihak media massa hendaklah mengambil perhatian terhadap masalah tersebut..jangan sampai lesen digantung...
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