Boycotting Utusan is not a good idea
By : Mohamed Hanipa Maidin
Harakahdaily today reports that Council of five Chief Ministers from Pakatan Rakyat has urged the rakyat to boycott Utusan. The report inter alia says
“Salah seorang ahli majlis, Menteri Besar Selangor Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim berpendapat akhbar itu bersikap keterlaluan dan tidak profesional serta tidak adil, kerana terus memburuk-burukkan serta memutar-belit berita tentang pentadbiran negeri dan juga gabungan Pakatan Rakyat.
Khalid juga menegaskan akhbar terbabit membesar-besarkan isu untuk menimbulkan kemarahan rakyat terhadap pentabiran serta parti dan juga membakar api perkauman yang sempit.
Katanya, semua ahli majlis ini meminta semua jabatan dan institusi kerajaan di lima negeri di bawah pentadbiran Pakatan berhenti membeli akhbar tersebut dan juga berhenti memberikan iklan kepada mereka.
Justeru, ahli majlis ingin menyeru supaya semua pembaca Utusan Malaysia dan Mingguan Malaysia berhenti membeli akhbar tersebut serta-merta.
Personally and with the greatest respect, I don’t think boycotting utusan is really a good idea. Being an UMNO linked newspaper it is ridiculous to expect Utusan to carry a just report on these five states. To expect Utusan to compliment Pakatan Rakyat is akin to asking Harakah and Suara Keadilan to praise BN and its policy.
By asking the rakyat to boycott the newspaper, the Council has sent a wrong message that it is not tolerating any painful criticism thus undermining freedom of speech as well as freedom of press . Whether the criticism leveled against these five states are justified or not is immaterial and irrelevant. In democracy bad criticism even by a lousy newspaper must also be tolerated. We must understand in democracy one is not expected to sing the same song.
If Pakatan Rakyat governments are serious to nurture and enliven democracy in this country they must practice what they preach. They must never penalize any newspaper for publishing damaging remarks against them. All criticisms against them must be met with convincing reply. Boycotting , even if is needed, must only be resorted to as a final option.
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