KUALA LUMPUR, March 17 — Polarised media outlets will hamper more than help in the national fight against extremist propaganda, Professor Datuk Mohamad Abu Bakar of Universiti Malaya said today.
He said mainstream media organisations in the country are suffering from a trust deficit while alternative news companies and social media channels remain in a state of flux.
“People have different variations as to what is extremism. All this is because mainstream is no longer as important and the social media is havoc.
“Just take the 1Malaysia Development Berhad controversy for example; the whole affair is out of control, there are all sort of views and depiction,” he said during his lecture on media, the state and extremism organised by the Asia East West Institute at the Universiti Malaya campus here.
Mohamad said mainstream media used to shape public opinion based, based on political leadership in the country.
But mainstream media readership, including in Malaysia, has dwindled and would soon “be forced into oblivion”, he added.
“The question is then how will the state control the masses?
“The government will either lose control to either (sic) media or the people. The media could take control. Or the state can go all out to stop it. These are the possibilities,” he said.
