Alternative Media: A Boon to the Opposition
Mar 9th, 2008 by Steven
You can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you cannot fool all of the people all of the time.
Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865)
16th President of the USA
Did the Barisan Nasional-controlled government underestimate the power of the alternative media? I don’t think so. The BN-controlled mainstream media, including the electronic media (television and radio stations), practically starving their readers and audience of news on the Opposition. In fact, weeks before Polling Day, The Sun newspaper was acquired a pro-BN supporter; and with it, the paper delievered similar news as the other mainstream nedia. (Take a look at this piece by Jed Yoong.)
A child can tell you that the public will turn to other sources for information and news. The Internet and the Web help changed the whole ball game. To the extent that BN top guns took to the media to warn the people not to believe in the so-called lies spread by bloggers. What they (BN) failed to realize is that the people are not kids, but adults who can differentiate between black and white; between what is true and false.
Without doubt, the Opposition has capitalized on the reach and effectiveness of this alternative media to maximum. Apart from the websites of political parties, bloggers provided the news-hungry public with a rich source of alternative news.