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Media blackout on opposition’s events, but extensive coverage for PAP’s

jeremyyau555

Alfrescian
Loyal
The flagrant media bias displayed by the mainstream media towards the Singapore opposition cannot be more obvious in the recent weeks.

While the state media has given selected opposition politicians rare publicity from time to time like the article on Potong Pasir and opposition MP Chiam See Tong’s political career in the Straits Times’ “Insight” column today, there is very little coverage on events organized by the opposition thereby giving the public the erroneous impression that the opposition is “hibernating” during the period in between the elections.

On the other hand, the Straits Times has no qualms giving extensive publicity to PAP events such as the recent YPAP on youth which was allocated more than half a page in its printed versions.

The Reform Party organized a forum on “minimum wage” last Saturday which was not even reported in any of the mainstream papers.

Similarly when the Youth Wing of the Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) sent a delegation to Hong Kong in September this year to attend a communication workshop organised by the Council of Asian Liberals and Democrats (CALD), it did not receive a brief mention in the press.

Since the majority of Singaporeans depend on the mainstream media as their primary source of news and few are actually exposed to the alternative media, many are not kept in the loop about the activities conducted by opposition parties.

During the 2006 election, a PAP minister commented wryly that the opposition only made a “cameo” appearance once every five years while contributing literally “nothing” to nation-building in between.

But how are Singaporeans supposed to know what their opposition is doing when the media doesn’t give them any publicity at all?

And when they do, it is often done distastefully in a blatant attempt to portray them in a negative manner.

For example, the Straits Times only bother to publish news of Dr Chee Soon Juan’s acquittal from charges of speaking in public without a permit by the Attorney-General Chambers only a week later.

The journalist Jeremy Au Yong chose to highlight Dr Chee’s past record of convictions instead of questioning why he was charged on eight counts for exercising his right to speak as guaranteed under the Singapore Constitution Artice IV, Section 14.

Furthermore Dr Chee was only speaking about the NKF scandal and nothing pertaining to race or religion which might create disharmony and unrest in the population.

The Singapore media has no credibility at all because it is owned indirectly by the ruling party via a public-listed company, SPH whose chairman is a former deputy prime Minister Dr Tony Tan.

Unless the government is divested of all interests in the media companies and allows independent papers runned by non-government related companies to exist and compete in the domestic market, one must continue to take whatever is published in the Singapore press with a heavy pinch of salt.
 

Brightkid

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Loyal
Don't worry, we were assured that the States Times is non-partisaned, objective, and credible during the cooling-off period.
 

ccchia

Alfrescian
Loyal
We will only believe this, when pigs can fly, just like birds (and not in planes like most of us).

Don't worry, we were assured that the States Times is non-partisaned, objective, and credible during the cooling-off period.
 

woofy

Alfrescian
Loyal
There are good reasons why SPH is 154th. Very often the opposite of what's being reported is the truth; nothing much we can do now except to remember some names of 'running dogs' and make them pay later
 

mscitw

Alfrescian
Loyal
this is the main reason why the Mouthpiece is ranked among the worst newspapers in the world, it is merely the mouthpiece of the ruling family and constantly write babble to confound and confuse many stupid peasants.
 

Subok

Alfrescian
Loyal
end of the day, opposition should not expect the PAP govt to move the goal post in favor of the latter or even make it "fair"/..

This is politics.

As much as I hate it, Opposition must find their own ways to circumvent around it otherwise it is a chicken or egg issue.
 

woofy

Alfrescian
Loyal
Singaporean are not stupid; many knew that the news are not reporting the truth but they have grown use to it. They are selfish; as long as their own benefits are preserved, they will shut their mouth and carry on voting for PAP, they are complacent; believing that that their lifestyle would be preserved indefinitely, they are naive; especially the younger ones, not having been screwed by the PAP system till a later day.
 

angry_one

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Loyal
Why should bloggers and the alternative media listen to this stupid rule?? By all means just blog if you feel like it. And if you're cunning, post some unrelated story about freedom and democracy in some 1st-world country. Smart people don't even need to heed such a stupid rule!
 
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