Fact or Opinion? No going back- The Malaysian Insider
September 14, 2010- In the last couple of weeks, the word sedition has been flying around so much as if it’s going out of style. A cursory search on this website alone found 479 results for the word. Are we really in that much danger of destroying the country? What is at the bottom of these deep seated fears and insecurity about other people’s opinions and what they are doing to us? According to Wikipedia, sedition is encouraging one's fellow citizens to rebel against their state, whereas treason is actually betraying one's country by aiding and abetting another state.
None of the ordinary citizenry of Malaysia can be accused of either of the above, so what is going on? It seems in essence a battle between political parties for control of public opinion, and their use of different media channels in an increasingly hysterical way, watched with bemused wonder by a lot of us.
The battleground can be put into context by comparing the increasing popularity of online media contrasted with the falling circulation of the mainstream print media. According to the Audit Bureau of Circulations Malaysia, circulation of almost all major dailies in the peninsula has been on the decline since 2007. In fact the circulation of the NST fell 8% in just the six months between June and December 2009. The corresponding decline for the Star and Utusan are 3% and 6.5%. In contrast, according to Nielsen Malaysia, the country currently ranks fifth globally in terms of digital media consumption. Internet penetration is almost 39% of the population. Advertising expenditure on online media also expanded nearly 55%, albeit on a much smaller base, compared to 18% for the print media in the first half of 2010.
So it is no surprise that both sides are trying their utmost to push their media choices on us. Recently there has been political encouragement by some asking us to distinguish between the two as opinion based or fact based and to choose mainstream media which is ostensibly fact based.
The problem with that is that even if we agree that the mainstream media is fact driven, the idea that fact based reporting is somehow better than opinion based reporting is also a subjective opinion. If I like to hear differing points of view to help me make up my mind, why should that be anybody’s problem? Of course this is not to condone racism in speech or action, but to take the misguided action of a few and to equate our reactions to that with sedition seems a step too far. After all, mere expression of a point of view cannot be equated with incitement to rebellion; just as active incitement cannot be equated with merely expressing an opinion.
At a deeper level though, it is the fear of freedom that is underlying the current rhetoric. Racist comments and political adversaries bashing each other are not new. What is new is that it is now in the public eye, for all to see. What we could only think about, is being articulated openly, whichever side of the divide you may be. This is why opinions are more important now. The facts are really not in question, our reaction to them is.
It is almost a guilty pleasure to read or hear about what we have been secretly thinking ourselves, and herein lies the fascination with the alternative media today, especially the news and analysis portals. We still can’t quite believe that we can express all these opinions and marvel at those with the courage to do so by consuming ever increasing doses of news and political commentary and opinions online. To the point that online media has come to represent the voices of change and the mainstream media as advocates of the status quo. This may not be true, but in this world perception is reality.
Facts and opinions need not and indeed are not opposites, and most news media online or otherwise recognise that opinions are critical to the interpretation and digestion of facts. The only question is whether we have the maturity to accept that other people are entitled to opinions other than ours, even if they lead to political change and upheaval, as long as they are not an incitement to rebellion. And if we went to an even deeper level, you could argue that there are no facts, only opinions. And for those of you who will immediately point to scientific facts, here is some food for thought http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confirmation_holism
Frankly, the Pandora’s Box is open. There is no going back to the days of facts being interpreted according to only one opinion.
Of course, this is merely my opinion.
None of the ordinary citizenry of Malaysia can be accused of either of the above, so what is going on? It seems in essence a battle between political parties for control of public opinion, and their use of different media channels in an increasingly hysterical way, watched with bemused wonder by a lot of us.
The battleground can be put into context by comparing the increasing popularity of online media contrasted with the falling circulation of the mainstream print media. According to the Audit Bureau of Circulations Malaysia, circulation of almost all major dailies in the peninsula has been on the decline since 2007. In fact the circulation of the NST fell 8% in just the six months between June and December 2009. The corresponding decline for the Star and Utusan are 3% and 6.5%. In contrast, according to Nielsen Malaysia, the country currently ranks fifth globally in terms of digital media consumption. Internet penetration is almost 39% of the population. Advertising expenditure on online media also expanded nearly 55%, albeit on a much smaller base, compared to 18% for the print media in the first half of 2010.
So it is no surprise that both sides are trying their utmost to push their media choices on us. Recently there has been political encouragement by some asking us to distinguish between the two as opinion based or fact based and to choose mainstream media which is ostensibly fact based.
The problem with that is that even if we agree that the mainstream media is fact driven, the idea that fact based reporting is somehow better than opinion based reporting is also a subjective opinion. If I like to hear differing points of view to help me make up my mind, why should that be anybody’s problem? Of course this is not to condone racism in speech or action, but to take the misguided action of a few and to equate our reactions to that with sedition seems a step too far. After all, mere expression of a point of view cannot be equated with incitement to rebellion; just as active incitement cannot be equated with merely expressing an opinion.
At a deeper level though, it is the fear of freedom that is underlying the current rhetoric. Racist comments and political adversaries bashing each other are not new. What is new is that it is now in the public eye, for all to see. What we could only think about, is being articulated openly, whichever side of the divide you may be. This is why opinions are more important now. The facts are really not in question, our reaction to them is.
It is almost a guilty pleasure to read or hear about what we have been secretly thinking ourselves, and herein lies the fascination with the alternative media today, especially the news and analysis portals. We still can’t quite believe that we can express all these opinions and marvel at those with the courage to do so by consuming ever increasing doses of news and political commentary and opinions online. To the point that online media has come to represent the voices of change and the mainstream media as advocates of the status quo. This may not be true, but in this world perception is reality.
Facts and opinions need not and indeed are not opposites, and most news media online or otherwise recognise that opinions are critical to the interpretation and digestion of facts. The only question is whether we have the maturity to accept that other people are entitled to opinions other than ours, even if they lead to political change and upheaval, as long as they are not an incitement to rebellion. And if we went to an even deeper level, you could argue that there are no facts, only opinions. And for those of you who will immediately point to scientific facts, here is some food for thought http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confirmation_holism
Frankly, the Pandora’s Box is open. There is no going back to the days of facts being interpreted according to only one opinion.
Of course, this is merely my opinion.
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