Freedom of Journalism

In a democratic country, do you think journalist has the freedom?

This topic has kind of interest me with our country's latest development, especially in the political scene. The mass media, especially the printing media in Malaysia had been accused of being biased and favouring certain quarters, be it the govt or the opposition, well mostly govt, as they wd be the easier target to attack bcos they are in power.

I think, even in the most so called liberal and democratic western countries, there is no true sense of freedom for the journalists. They are just working for media corporations which are owned or rather majority controlled by certain people or organisations. Capitalist in action.

I can be very sure, whatever that is printed wd be in favour of whoever that controls the media corporation. So, in a way, the reports coming out from this media wd never be fair, independent and unbiased.

So to me, the freedom is actually being implemented if the distribution of the publications are not being blocked. The consumer would then, shd have the freedom to choose and read whatever that is available in the market. Having said that, this scenario can only happen if the journalists themselves produce responsible, factual and accurate reports.

There's always 2 sides of a story...