As a creature of habit, one would generally reach for the morning papers over a cup of coffee or perhaps open up the laptop to get the news. But over times, the pleasure is no longer there because what is being churned out by the mass media could no longer lay claim to be the truth. Now, the pleasure in the morning is merely in reading the news without the serious need to comprehend because we could no longer accept what is being written as the gospel truth.
The advent of technology and the internet has further amplified the situation. All news and reports are now slanted or tainted with personal perception, views, motives and agenda only known to the writer. In the past, the general public accepted the mainstream media - be it local or international - to be partial and only writing the truth. But of late, this is no longer the case. We now come across different versions of news depending on the writers and the media with the objetive of changing perception of the people. So are news that comes from the alternative media. One would really have to scrutinize over and over again to know the real truth.
News or reports that are tainted or worst still fabricated are dangerous to society. It could stir unrest among society and perhaps lead to the downfall of governments or conflict such as the fabrication of lies to claim the right to invade Iraq. Those could be the extreme. But nearer to home, for example, we could have conflicting reports on the effects of sand mining on the wetland areas. One side would come up with reports of no implications on the wetland areas but another side say otherwise. So is in the case of water need for Selangor and Wilayah Persekutuan!. All these news/reports are suppose to be factual but could still be twisted.
News and reports are important needs in our daily life. But it is becoming to be an insurmountable tasks on a daily basis to find out what is the truth, half truth, lies and fabrication .......
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