In a highly biased article appearing in today’s lapdog sheet The Straits Times, PAP lackey reporter Tessa Wong poured cold water over the movement calling on her political masters to rescind the Internet licensing regime.
She cited the low turnover (2000) at last week’s protest as an indication that Singaporeans are lukewarm to the call of prominent sites like TOC and TR Emeritus which she said was trusted by only 1-3% of respondents in a Blackbox survey.
(Now Tessa, using one survey to justify your thesis is hardly good professional journalism. And the turnout of 2000 certainly trumps the rallies of your PAP.)
Tessa Wong proceeded to list examples of why the online media cannot be trusted namely:
1. Case of rumour floating around that maker of Ilo Ilo was turned away by MDA when he asked for finding.
2. Accusation that TNP had faked the photo of cyclists on the road.
Tessa, Tessa, those two rumours were perpetuated by individuals. They are hardly representative of the online media’s integrity.
In contrast, the Straits Times has been exposed time and again for its use of former employees and PAP grassroots and supporters to write in letters to its Forum page to sing praise of the PAP and criticize the Workers’ Party.
The only difference between the Straits Times and online media is that the former can and always does deny others the right to rebut unfair allegations and claims. Online media however allows readers to post comments and replies so long as they address the point in contention.
Tessa Wong summed up her biased article by saying that the ability of online media to self-regulate is not evident and asked if the blogs and online sites shouldn’t earn the people’s trust if it’s asking to be left alone.
Tessa Wong’s article appears to fly in the face of MDA’s assurance that the regime is not meant to clamp down the online media since in the past two years there was only one take down order.
Working for a paper that has perfected and internalized self-regulation into propaganda art form, it is perhaps beyond Tessa Wong that in cyberspace, netizens trust and use their own judgment and do not need the PAP to tell them what news is the right news to read. In other words, we use our brains. We don’t wag our tails at a particular political party unlike she and her ilks.
Boycott Straits Times & Zaobao