By CHESTER CHIN
Let me begin by stating that I'm probably the last person you would go to for an objective view regarding the brouhaha surrounding The Star's publication of a photograph showing neo-soul singer Erykah Badu with body art depicting the Arabic word Allah and the subsequent ban on the American artist's concert in KL.
Having been a regular contributor and interned for the aforementioned publication, I've had a glimpse of the inner workings behind the newspaper's masthead and bylines. Throughout this time, I've also had the opportunity to observe and learn from the journalists and editors there.
So yes, given my connection to The Star, you would know better than to expect a completely unsympathetic and unbiased revelation on my part towards that particular daily.
That said, what I could do though, is perhaps provide a quasi "insider's" view of sorts to the controversy.
From an inadvertent editorial oversight to an episode of religious insensitivity, the issue has now metamorphosed into another debate on the matter of press freedom and integrity in Malaysia.
Our mainstream media is flawed. That fact is as clear as day.
But that does not necessarily mean the people behind the news front is to be held completely liable for any perceived lies and propaganda that is disseminated to the society.
The media fraternity, regardless of their publishing companies or political ideals, devote their time and effort to the pursuit of veracity and passion.
More often than not, the defect here stems from unfortunate governmental policies that seek to stifle liberal reporting in the name of conserving a relatively volatile multi-ethnic community.
It's an open secret that The Star or any government-owned media don't hold the candle for being the most balanced contemporary news reporting medium out there.
But just because a publication doesn't go in the way of conflicting the big bosses' interest, that doesn't mean that the people working behind the scenes aren't doing their every best to make the most out of a blemished and corrupt system.
Thus, when strongly-worded criticisms are directed toward media practitioners, or in this case the two suspended editors, it just show hasty reactions done in the light of overgeneralisation.
While The Star has deemed the usage of that particular photograph of Badu to be a product of "ignorance", I for one, can vouch that meticulous consideration is given to every detail by editors (of any publication) before publishing a story.
During my short stint at the publication's Features Desk, I overheard a senior editor double-checking the number of movies Jay Chou's acted in for a story on the Taiwanese heartthrob.
While that might seem like a laughable thing to many, it also goes to show that even frivolity has its foundation when it comes to journalism.
But then again, anything that can go wrong will go wrong and mistakes are bound to take place. In The Star's case, that mistake is magnified 300,000-fold.
And in crying foul over mainstream media's biased coverage towards certain issues, we should perhaps evaluate the options that we have.
We are now fortunate enough to be served with alternative online news portals and Facebook link updates. Thus, we're not exactly constricted when it comes to news consumption.
The notion that the rakyat is kept under the evil spell of mainstream presses' fallacy is rather daft if not beguiling. Apart from that, the mainstream media don't exactly shove information down our throat.
At the end of the day, newspapers, online news portals and the evening TV news are just there to report on matters and issues.
It's up to us to ignite our own discourse beyond the news frame and form our own educated opinion on the matter.
> Chester Chin is J-on's English desk sub editor. This opinion piece reflects the opinion of the writer, it does not necessarily reflect the views of this publication.
