Unspun

Here we go again with yet another Malaysian Minister, this time an ex-journalist, ranting against the media, this time the Indonesian media, for not writing flattering things about Malaysia and the  Government there.Information Minister Zainuddin Maidin in this Bernama article (via Rocky’s Bru) wonders why the Indonesian media could not write about all the great things that Malaysia has done for its legal workers and has to focus on the negative aspects such as abuse of maids.

The answers are simple:
1. The Indonesian journalists are doing their job
2. The Indonesian journalists have what they call a Free Press.
3. If you do what you’re supposed to do, its not as newsworthy as if you stuff up
4. The skills for dissemination of information in Malaysia suck. Every time there is bad news the government shoots the messenger rather than fixes the problem and communicating about it.

clipped from www.bernama.com BANDUNG, June 30 (Bernama) — The mass media should not jeopardise the close bilateral relations between Malaysia and Indonesia which had been forged officially for 50 years, said Malaysian Information Minister Datuk Seri Zainuddin Maidin. He said the mass media, whether in Malaysia or Indonesia, should play a positive role in helping to resolve whatever crisis that might crop up between the two countries from time to time. “Never create public prejudice that can affect relations between the two countries,” he said when delivering his keynote address at the discussion “The 50-Year Dynamics of Indonesia-Malaysia Diplomatic Relations”, here today. Expressing disappointment, he said he could not understand why the Indonesian mass media were actively reporting incidents which only involved 0.0001 per cent of the Indonesian manpower (TKI) such as abuse and raids against illegal immigrants and deportation.