Does The Media Undermine Democracy In Malaysia Media Essay

Does The Media Undermine Democracy In Malaysia Media Essay Throughout the last decades, Malaysians have enjoyed regular elections and political stability. However, the stability slowly took a turn when the detention of former Deputy Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim and the subsequent sentence of 15 years for charges of corruption, abuse of power, and sexual misconduct made the public lose its faith in the integrity of the governments aims (Heufers, 2002) This the somehow added the growing number of detentions under the Internal Security Act (ISA) and other repressive laws severely threaten political competition, participation, and civil and political liberties. The media in Malaysia comprising of the mainstream that is mainly owned and controlled by the government and the alternative media, a form of independent journalism. Many government leaders in the developing world would justify their control over the media in terms of jealously guarding and guiding its members towards the path of national development and to ensure that the media does not fall into the wrong hands (Mustafa, 2005) In other words, the government wants to take control of media so they can set the agenda in the minds of society. This already restricts a sense of openness in the mainstream media. Mustafa (2005) stated in an analysis on the coverage of Malaysias 2004 general elections by four mainstream newspapers (The Star, the New Straits Times (NST), Berita Harian and Utusan Melayu), the total number of news items that were positive towards BN among all four major newspapers were roughly 40% and above. The other part of the percentage went straight to new items that were negative towards the opposition. Only a slight number of news (4% and below) were negative new items towards BN. Mustafa (2005) also highlighted sample of headlines used by these newspapers that gave an idea of slant news reporting; Malaysians prefer Pak Lahs vision of Islam (NST, March 15 2004), Perlis merana jika pilih pembangang (Perlis suffers if opposition is voted) (Utusan Melayu, March 16 2004 ) This shows a high level of bias coverage within the highly influential mainstream newspapers during the 2004 general elections. Another research presented by Ramanathan (2008) consists of a two month content analysis on how the mainstream media presents their reports on the 2008 general elections. Choosing newspapers in four languages (English, Bahasa Malaysia, Tamil and Mandrin) and the new media; internet, online newspapers and SMS as well as monitoring commentaries by selected television channels such as RTM, CNN and Channel News Asia on a selective basis. According to research, the type of coverage done by five of the mainstream newspapers was sided towards pro-BN stories. 277 stories analysed from Utusan Malaysia has 155 pro-BN stories, 56 pro- opposition and 66 neutral. The Star had a total of 153 stories analysed, 100 were pro-BN and only 22 were pro-opposition. Nanyang Siang Pau had 118 stories, 74 of them pro-BN and 26 pro-opposition. For Tamil newspapers, a qualitative analysis was undertaken that led to conclusions of since Tamil Nesan was being majority owned by Datin Indrani Samy Velu, the newspaper printed many stories featuring Dato Samy Velu and prominent MIC politicians and there were hardly any coverage given to Indian candidates form opposition political parties. The mainstream media weakens the openness of presenting political news to society. If democracy is all about the peoples right to oppose, to provide critiques with the role of media to influence the people, they are not giving much of a decision or choice to begin with. Of course there are minimal parts where the government values and would take into consideration the opinions of the people. For example, the topic of teaching Maths and Science in English (PPSMI), society is free to give out comments and opinions on what they think about the topic. People are writing in to newspapers, taking part in massive forums to state their opinion and to fight for what they stand for and the government values the opinion of the people in this case. Why cannot this be the same with political issues? After all, it is the political opinion and stands made by the public that would contribute to the democracy of the country. Some may say that the alternative works as a perfect place for independent journalism; however it is still closely monitored by the authorities. Blogs and online publications are beginning to worry the Malaysian authorities enough to re-consider the existing policy of non-regulation of the Internet and to call for some controls over the content (Ramanathan, 2008) A clear example was when Raja Petra Kamarudin, editor of alternative news Portal Malaysia Today was charged with publishing a seditious article on 25 May 2008 with the title, Lets send Altantuya murderers to hell. Raja was the first blogger to be charged under a sedition act where he claim trail but refused to post bail. Six months after detention under the ISA, Raja was released with no charges being filed against him. Accountability The tight gate-keeping and censorship practised by the government over the mainstream media influences the accountability of democracy. The government does not like reports that are too critical; therefore the responsibility to forming a democracy country is limited due to the restrain in reporting. During the general election in 2008, Ramanathan (2008) analyzed two-months prior to and after the elections, the mainstream media did coverages on upbeat stories about Barisan Nationals chances and dismissed the oppositions chances. Among them were: a two-page focus on Issues close to the heart featuring an in-depth interview with Abdullah, an article titled Guan Eng not a threat in Penang dismissed the chances of opposition leader Lim Guan Eng in capturing the state government in Penang and instead Lim won handsomely. With slanted reporting like this, the accountability of the government would be doubted by the public hence would give the public the opportunity to opt for something else which they did in the 2008 general election whereby BN suffered one of their worst lost because the public opted for an alternative media. This incident brought the alternative media to a different level when weblogs, text messages and copies of Internet-streamed videos became the most influential information sources for voters ahead that resulted in a surprise blow to the BN) party, which has ruled the country for more than 50 years. The media holds the representative responsible for taking care of the the people so what happens when these politicians lose in an election? How would they answer to accountability? The innocent death of Teo Beng Hock signifies a crisis of confidence in Malaysian democracy and accountability. Many critics, including those in the current government, argues that restrictions were put in place at a time when they were needed and that preventing public discussion of certain issues is not only counter-productive but it is also futile (Ramanathan, 2008) With the support towards the alternative media and the growing public sphere, the results from the 2008 election are bound to bring about greater freedom of expression. Though the responsibility of the democracy is in hand, there are some heartening post-election developments; The Home Affairs Ministry approved in April 2008 an application for a permit from the opposition Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) to publish its party newspaper. With such actions, this would indeed encourage and strengthen the accountability of the peoples perception towards the countrys democracy. Conclusion The mainstream media needs to loosen its strings and start to bring greater media liberalisation to unclog the clouds of uncertainty and doubt in the minds of society. The alternative media is not enough. Society needs to hear the truth from the government. Only then can the country achieve great democracy.

A Revolutionary People at War

Rightfully taking its place on the bookshelf next to Alexis-Charles-Henri Clerel de Tocqueville’s (1805 to 1859) Democracy in America and Howard Zinn’s A Peoples History of the United States (1980), Charles Royster’s classic study A Revolutionary People at War (Chapel Hill, 1996) takes us once more through an emotionally stirring panoramic view of the Revolutionary War and the people who fought it.In a similar vein to Zinn, Royster’s book focuses on the political and cultural forces that have arguably remained somewhat at the heart of the American character. Royster as well, is never too shy about informing us just what made us who were are, and how we came to remake ourselves in the process. Although it is not always pleasant to hear, he never fails to tell us the truth.This is a book about how the Revolutionary War came to shape the character of the American people; and not the other way around. It is about broken promises, fear and suspicion, and then i t is about the broken hearts of so many loyal American soldiers who left the battlefield, some of them after eight long agonizing years of war, truly feeling as if they had been betrayed by their country.They could not have felt much unlike many Americans must feel today. We are also living though an era when families of fighting men and women in Iraq have often expressed feeling alienated by their own country; while the burden of fighting this war seems to have rested solely upon their shoulders. The emotions felt by many who fought in the Revolutionary war could not have been much unlike the feelings of so many Viet Nam era combatants, who faced down a skilled guerilla army in a foreign land with no clear purpose in mind; only to return home and be spat upon and treated like criminals by their own people.The only difference here is that there was indeed a clearly defined purpose for the revolutionary colonist to throw off the yoke of British colonialism. If there was one thing tha t 75% of the colonialist could agree upon, it was that they were sick of British taxes and British rule. They ultimately took up arms and fought with honor. However, before the war was over the burden had become too great for some to bear.In the beginning, the war had promised the fighting men glory beyond everything else, because at the heart of the mounting revolutionary sentiment was an undeniable sense that the nation was offering them a â€Å"dual immorality; in heaven and posthumously† (p.32). In the end though, the nation had largely disparaged and then abandoned them altogether.Royster’s book is about the clamor for resistance that got us into war in the first place, and the sense of betrayal that many soldiers in the Continental Army felt afterwards. It is about the sense of fear and suspicion that the citizenry grew to feel towards the soldiers who were raiding their farms and confiscating their wagons and life stock at will, all throughout the war (52).Yet, it is also about an officer or two, who ultimately left the battlefield feeling beset with a sense of anger; and then the looming sense of dishonor that would accompany them at the end of the war. It is about the resentment of the solider towards the Continental Congress for not doing the right thing by awarding them the pay that they deserved, after putting them in harms way.Yet it is also about the riotous manner in which a portion of men brought dishonor upon themselves. Royster presents the Clausitzian concept of the natural Trinity, framing a primordial surge towards violence, hatred, and enmity, and the effect that this came to have upon three contentious forces of our society; the army, the Continental Congress, and the people, all of whom conspired in their own self-interest to drive the nation to war.He presents the evidence and then he lets the reader decide for themselves. This is because in the end, it is really up to us as a part of this great experiment to deicide how we view the motives of each of them. A Revolutionary People at War It was the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War and first blood had been drawn at Lexington. Once Lexington had served to bring out the capabilities of the Redcoats against the fragile militias of the colonies, the need for an armed defense for on a national scale was imperative.On the 4th of 1775, the Continental Army was founded and the Americas decided to enter into a battle that would go on for eight years (Wright 1983). Congress gave George Washington the authority to not only lead the Continental Army, but the powers granted to George Washington were those that would be granted to a British Commander, as well as those that a Colonial Governor would hold.In his book A Revolutionary people at war, Charles Royster not only elaborates upon the varying aspects of the Continental Army, but also makes use of statistics to strengthen the contents of the book (Royster 1996). According to Royster, the Continental Army was one of the best armies that the United States fielded.It was an army that defined success in terms of the authentic sense of the word since it learnt its lessons for any and all shortcomings that it held. It was an army that chose to take on the enemy even though it was well aware of the fact that it severely lacked training and expertise. But as Royster notes, the men were dedicated and willing to go into battle under the leadership of their major-generals and the brigadier-general for the sake of the safe keeping of their country.The attempt that Royster has made in his book A Revolutionary people at war is to determine the true emotion of nationalism that prevailed amongst the people of that time. Royster has made this possible by delving into the emotion that existed in the Continental Army and the obstacles that the army faced in the many battles it fought and how it evolved into the refined fighting mechanism that eventually defeated the Redcoats.In the beginning, the Congress did not desire for the Continental Army to become a permane nt army and wages were established on the basis of short term enlistments. The Continental Army had its roots deep with the idealism. However, the fact remains that one finds it difficult to come to a conclusion without feeling that Royster overstates the very concept of idealism and gets carried away with his the very subject of his own book.When the American Revolutionary War began in April 1775, the revolutionaries of the colonial front did not have an army to defend them. The closest thing to an army that they had was the only available fighting force which was composed of part time soldiers. These part time soldiers constituted the individual militia of each colony.However, it has been recorded in numerous history books that colonies had begun to carry out attempts to train their militia in light of growing tensions between the colonies and Great Britain. Colonies began to bring about steady changes in the way their militia operated in order to attempt to train them to an exten t where they can ward of any unforeseen attack by the Redcoats.In 1774, Colonist Richard Henry had put forth the idea of creating a national militia. It was suggested that this militia would be held under one flag which would represent the colonies on a united front if the colonies were to experience an attack by external elements. However the idea was rejected by the First Continental Congress and the result was that the first line of defense against the Redcoats found itself severely outnumbered and caught unaware.The Redcoats had been trained for battle through the numerous battles that they had been fighting on numerous fronts for the last few decades whereas the militia was not in any way prepared to face such a highly trained enemy in the battle field.But Royster is immaculate in his attention to detail and does not show bias in his book as he boldly writes of the several developments that took place in the Continental Army as well as in the war that were in complete deviation from the ideology upon which it had begun.Royster uses historical facts and figures to highlight how the war was fought by the brave men of the Continental Army and how the war evolved into a scenario where certain colonies began to establish arms trade with the enemy and how the war became a business venture for suppliers of war material. Yet, Royster makes sure that at no point does the reader forget that the men of the Continental Army did not lose sight of their mission and continued to struggle on through thick and thin.Royster’s accounts of the Continental Army are accurate in the regard that the battalion of men that was referred to as the Continental Army was in fact a flag under which the group of men continuously changed as more men lost their lives and losses were replaced by more men. However, one advantage that the Continental Army had over their oppressors was that they knew the lay of the land. This was a factor that the Continental Army learned to benefit fro m as the war progressed.

Tylenol Code of Ethics Paper - 2182 Words

1. Identification A. Laura Moscone, a Human Resource Director for a small firm, has to decide which applicant out of a set of finalists she should hire for an outside sales position; however, her firm’s policy includes Facebook postings of their private life in her decision making for hiring any applicant for the outside sales position. B. 1. Should Laura hire Jack Friendly? 2. Should Laura disregard company policy? 3. Should Laura use Google, Facebook, LinkedIn, and other private sites used by people as a final decision? 4. Is it morally right for Laura’s company to use a collection of Internet information in all job searches? 5. Is it morally right for Laura not to hire the best†¦show more content†¦| Laura could work in an area other than Human resources. | Stakeholder #2 Jack Friendly | He would be offended by the invasion of his social media. | He would be happy knowing he is the best qualified person for the position. | He would feel violated and would wonder what kind of company he was applying with. | He would feel Laura had done her job properly and would support her decision. | Stakeholder #3 Laura’s Parents | Highly concerned as well as disappointed | Laura’s parents would be happy and proud of her doing the right thing in making her decisions. | If Laur a does the right thing, she wouldn’t have to look back wondering, her family is supportive. | Laura’s family will help her even if doing the right thing cost her job. | Stakeholder #4 Laura’s boss | He would probably be supportive of her decision based on social media. | Her boss would be disappointed because social media was not included. | He would be proud that she did her job. | He would be upset and she could be terminated. | Stakeholder #5 Laura’s friends. | They would be upset because they would be worried that other employers could do the same thing to them. | They would be supportive because they would want to be hired on their qualifications not their private life. | They would not like it because it would be a violation of their privacy. | They would be supportive of her decision to question whether or not the hiring practice is legal. |Show MoreRelatedLeadership: Project Management1237 Words   |  5 PagesLeadership Paper This short paper is about leadership and management. 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What Is a College Booster

Broadly speaking, a booster is someone who supports a school sports team. Of course, college athletics have all kinds of fans and supporters, including students who enjoy a fall weekend football game, alumni who travel the country watching womens basketball  or community members who just like to see the home team win. Those people arent all necessarily boosters. Generally, you would be considered a booster once you have in some way made a financial contribution to a schools athletic department or been involved in promoting a schools athletic organizations.   Defining Booster in a General Sense As far as college sports go, a booster is a very specific kind of athletics supporter, and NCAA has a lot of rules about what they can and cannot do (more on that later). At the same time, people use the term to describe all sorts of people who may not fit the NCAAs definition of a booster. In general conversation, a booster can mean someone who supports a college athletic team by attending games, donating money or being involved in volunteer work with the team (or even the larger athletic department). Alumni,  parents of current or former students, community members or even  professors or other college employees may be casually referred to as boosters.   Rules About Boosters A booster, according to the NCAA, is a representative of athletic interest. That covers a lot of people, including people who have made a donation to get season tickets, promoted or participated in groups promoting a schools athletics programs, donated to the athletics department, contributed to student-athlete recruitment or provided assistance to a prospect or student-athlete. Once a person has done any of these things, which the NCAA describes in detail on its website, they are forever-labeled a booster. That means they have to follow strict guidelines about what boosters can or cannot do in terms of making financial contributions to and contacting prospects and student-athletes. For example: The NCAA allows boosters to attend a prospects sporting events and tell the college about the potential recruit, but the booster cant talk to the player. A booster can also help a student-athlete get a job, as long as the athlete is paid for the work theyre doing and at the going rate for such work. Basically, giving prospective players or current athletes special treatment could get a booster in trouble. The NCAA can fine and otherwise punish a school whose boosters violate the rules, and many universities have found themselves on the receiving end of such sanctions. And its not just colleges—high school booster clubs have to follow local athletics associations rules, as well as  tax laws regarding fundraising. So if youre using the term booster in any kind of sports-related context, make sure youre clear on which definition youre using—and which one your audience thinks youre using. The general, casual use of the term can be quite different than its legal definition.