News in Malaysia

Friends,

Tonight I want to talk about Malaysia's news, newspapers and news channels. Believe it or not, we have so many channels for the news to be published and broadcast, either through the television, papers, radio and even the internet.

OFFICIAL NEWS AGENCY

The official news agency in Malaysia is Bernama, which is an abbreviation of BERita NAsional MAlaysia. Bernama does not publish its news on a newspaper; rather, they broadcast it through newswire, its television section and its radio section.

Most news publishers in Malaysia will either pick-up the local news from Bernama or run their own stories, with news coming from their own journalists. In a way, you can think of Bernama as a newa agency like AFP.

Bernama has its own TV called Bernama TV, which is full of news and info-tainment. You can view the TV section in Astro or stream it on the internet.

Bernama also has its own 24-hour radio station branded as Bernama Radio 24. Most of the news are broadcasted in Malay, especially from 6:00 AM until 8:00 PM. The English segment of Bernama Radio 24 is from 8:00 PM to 12:00 PM, hosted by Gerard Ratnam. Currently, this station is available in the Klang Valley area with the frequency of 93.9 FM, and also in Johor Bahru. You can also listen to the radio live on the internet through Bernama Radio 24's website.

STATE NEWS

The government also have their news arm, which is incorporated as Radio Televisyen Malaysia (RTM). The RTM work closely with the Ministry of Information and it is the most important tongue of the Government organ.

RTM controls two TV sections/stationsa, namely TV 1 and TV 2. Of course, the news and views presented in these stations will reflect the views, opinions and the perspective of the ruling government.

RTM also control many radio stations throughout Malaysia. Some of the stations that are under the purview of RTM include, but not limited to:-

*KL fm - 97.2 FM
*Nasional fm
*Klasik fm
*Traxx fm, and others.

NEWSPAPERS

Even in this digital age of the 21st Century, newspapers still play a large role in our society. To say that newspapers are on the verge of facing extinction like dinasours are a bit too exaggerated with weak argument. That said, I do not foresee that newspapers are facing extinction for we still rely on the newspaper on every single morning.

In Malaysia, newspapers can be categorized into its languages. We have newspapers written in Bahasa Malaysia, English, Tamil and Chinese.

Let us examine the paper in more detail.

Malay Newspapers

Some of the common Malay newspapers include (in no particular order):-

*Utusan Malaysia - daily political newspaper, linked to UMNO and BN. Some headlines are quite controversial, the latest being "Apa Lagi Cina Mahu" (What do the Chinese Want). Some would say that this paper is a racist paper, while others say that this paper is the mouth that speaks the interest of the Malay community. You be the judge, dear readdrs. This paper is published by Kumpulan Utusan.

*Berita Harian - daily newspaper owned by The NSTP Group and with steong inclination towards UMNO and BN. Published by The NSTP Group. One good thing about this paper is the fact that they highlight numerical figures in their news via "Fakta Nombor" box.

*Harian Metro - daily tabloid with catchy headlines and seductive bylines. This is the highest-selling and leasing Malay newspapers. Some headlines are just so catchy and damn creative, aimed at seducing the public to read more of its contents. You can also find bizarre news that are rarely heard of in this paper. Well, it's a tabloid. The paper is published by The NSTP Group.

*Kosmo! - daily tabloid and rival to Harian Metro. Headlines are not that catchy, but the news are quite okay. Published by Kumpulan Utusan.

*Sinar Harian - daily neutral and balanced newspaper, though it doesn't have wide circulations compared to the above papers. I rarely buy Sinar Harian, because I tend to judge a paper by its look. The paper doesn't have an appealing look to me, but the content is really good. Published by Kumpulan Karangkraf.

*Harakah - weekly political and Islamic newspaper whose main audience are members of the opposition political party, PAS. The newspaper is mainly written in Malay, and embedded in it are Islamic agendas. This paper also has its English segment. The news presented in here focuses on politics, current isssues and public affairs. The paper is published by the Islamic political party PAS.

English Newspapers

Some of English newspapers are (in no particular order):-

*The Star - Malaysia's leading English dailies with high circulations and readerships. Published by The Star Media Group, linked to the Chinese political party, MCA. The paper is priced at RM 1.20 on weekdays and RM 1.50 on weekends. Oh, the Saturday paper is very popular among:-

(a) the jobseekers, as they have a dedicated section on job listing, and,

(b) business analysts, as they have a dedicated section (pull-out) called Star Biz which sumarizes business news for the whole week.

*The Sun - daily English newspaper and published by The Sun Media Group, a company linked to Berjaya Holdings controlled by Tan Sri Vincent Tan. This paper is given out free at some locations and if you want to subsribe it, it will cost you only 30 sen. The paper is published on a very thin paper that is presumably eco friendly.

*The Malay Mail - published on weekdays. The news coverage is quite okay, and some headlines scream loudly and hit at anyone. The paper is priced at RM 1.00 per copy.

*New Straits Times - daily newspaper and rival to The Star. Published by The NSTP Group, and inclined toward UMNO and BN. This paper is priced at RM 1.20 every weekdays and RM 1.50 every weekends.

*The Malaysian Reserve - business newspaper published on weekdays and priced at RM 7.50 per copy. If you subsribe it online, it will cost you RM 3.60 per copy. The news analysis is very detail, with wide business and corporate coverage. Highly suitable for business analysts and corporate figures. And it is published together with The International Herald Tribune, the international arm of New York Times. Due to its rather pricey price tag, it is a bit difficult to get this paper as it is not sold at 7-Eleven, even within Klang Valley. Only selected stores in the KL City Center have the courage to sell this paper ;)

*The Edge Financial Daily - business newspaper published on weekdays, by The Edge Media Group. Priced at RM 1.50 and you can always get it at selevted 7-Eleven stores in the Klang Valley.

*The Edge Weekly - weekly busines newspaper, and usually published on Saturdays, by The Edge Media Group. Priced at RM 5.00 and you can always get it at 7-Eleven in Klang Valley starting on Sunday. The news in the paper is very comprehensive, ranging from corporate move, capital market and fund performance. There is a dedicated section towards the back of the news, written by reputable local columnists and international commenrators.

*Focus Malaysia - weekly business newspaper, and published every Fridays by HCK Media, a company controlled by Dato' Clement Hii. A rival to The Edge Weekly. Priced at RM 4.50, and you can also get it at 7-Eleven or MyNews.com on Friday afternoon.

Online English News

Some of good online news portals for reading are:-

*The Malaysian Insider - a news portal containing news from both sides of the political divide: the coalition (alliance) and the opposition. The news published are sometimes controversial, but then again, I guess theybare trying to balabce the news. One good thing about this portal is that they publish views from all sides. I love this portal because of their brave stand in publishing news without fear or favour.

*FZ (www.fz.com) - I think this news portal is part of The Edge Media Group, targeting at Gen-Y and the new millenials. Until now, I cannot figure out what FZ really stands for, but if you go to their website, they will say the "F" stands for "Free", "Fun" and "Fair". Some articles published are really good, but I have yet to show full liking of this portal.

*Malaysia-Today - this is a very controversial news portal owned and managed by controversial journalist, who happens to be the cousin (twice removed) of the current Sultan of Selangor. I have yet to verify the credibility of the news published in this portal, but I always read it with a pinch of salt, and a bit of sugar too, in case it gets really salty.

*MalaysiaKini - this is a really good news portal, whose inclination tends to be with the opposition. The news is quite credible as most news come with videos to prove their credibility. This news portal also have their own TV channel called MalaysiaKini TV which you can also accessit from YouTube. There is also a new division of the news, which focuses on business news, namely called "BizKini". Again, read this news portal with a cup of coffee and sugar by the side, just in case the news get bitter.

And that ends my analysis of Malaysian news. Well, Malaysia is ladened with so many newspapers and news channels. There are so many tabloids and news channels that I can write about, and it will never end for Malaysia is truly a blessed news haven. That exclude personal news published in independent blog or website.

But anyway, above are the mainstream  news for your own knowledge. I think that reading some of the above news are sufficient for you to keep abreast of Malaysian news, politics and current affairs.

Choosing the right channel for the news to be digested is the right thing to do, for if you choose the wrong channel, the  you may either puke or lose your eating appetite.

You might also have eating disorder, or probably a bad diarrhea should the morning paper contain news that are hard to digest together with the breakfast!

My hope is that the news published through the many platforms mentioned above will be more balanced, and reported and published without fear of being politically silenced.