LATELY, it seems that a few Malaysian journalists are more obsessed with making sure they get credit for who first broke the 1MDB (1Malaysia Development Bhd) scandal that rocked and impoverished the country.
As incarcerated former premier Datuk Seri Najib Razak made a questionably-timed heartfelt apology over his role in the multi-billion ringgit scandal last week, a journalistic pissing contest over “I was there first” is unfolding right before our eyes.
Veteran journo P. Gunasegaram in his Malaysiakini column took fellow pressmen Leslie Lopez and Ho Kay Tat to task for allegedly overlooking the “true origins” of 1MDB coverage. The founding editor of KiniBiz claimed it was his scoop that first opened the can of worms on 1MDB’s dodgy deals.
Lopez in his new book The Siege Within suggests otherwise. Datuk Ho Kay Tat also claims credit in The Edge’s anniversary book. It’s a sight to behold the three-way ego tug-of-war with each party convinced they planted the flag first.
Does it matter which publication broke the story first if the primary goal is to keep the public informed and hold the powerful accountable?
Thankfully, Sarawak Report founder/editor Clare Rewcastle-Brown did not join the fray otherwise it would have been a four-cornered fight to the finishing line, if there is any.
Wasn’t it the sustained media reporting after the scandal was first uncovered – involving almost ALL media outlets – that culminated in the Barisan Nasional (BN) collapse in the 2018 polls?
Court of public opinion
Watching seasoned journalists battle for credit feels cringey. While it’s true that knowing who broke a story first can inspire journalists to dig deeper – think Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein’s Watergate scoop – there’s no need to take the credit-grabbing to extremes, especially in the public domain.
Does one need to “recruit” AI (artificial intelligence) to “settle” the matter once and for all? Spoiler alert: AI doesn’t always get it right, especially in a subject as complex and nuanced as 1MDB.
And there’s the irony of one taking the moral high ground over anti-corruption but whose partner is linked to a company that benefited from the 1MDB scandal.
Perhaps someone needs to remind them that true journalistic impact lies in the facts and the truth. And definitely not throwing shades like “superiority complex” to all and sundry. Media is not the shower room to compare who is more well-endowed.
These veteran journalists need to remember that the traditional media industry is crumbling under tech’s relentless onslaught with real-time information and independent voices easily accessible online.
In other words, the media industry is already in its twilight years – a sunset industry to be precise.
If top editors and journalists continue obsessing over accolades for coverage published more than a decade ago, then they have nobody but themselves to blame when younger readers turn their backs on the Fourth Estate as we know it today.
Perhaps it’s time that the media elite ditch the self-glorification in an industry under siege from social media and technology.
The Fourth Estate is about reporting the facts, holding people accountable, and, yes, serving the public interest – not one’s ego. The latter only pushes readers away from the media as we know it into the cesspit of disinformation that is so prevalent today.
There’s a line between self-congratulation and getting back to the real prize: exposing corruption, reporting the truth and ensuring that democracy – and not ego – wins the day.
The next time a journalist wants to go overboard to claim a media “first” and run down the competition, maybe they should consider what the public really cares about. – Oct 29, 2024
Main image credit: The Edge
