changes in technology per se but as well how the country political landscape has transformed.  

​

We all must have remembered, when the mighty Barisan Nasional led by Umno came crashing down from being in the power for over 60 years to a sinking ship, when it lost heavily in14th General Election (GE14), it was something that no one ever think of. 

​

As a journalist covering the GE14 for a mainstream newspaper (The Sun Daily) at that time in Kedah, I must check several times whether the early results have indicated that Pakatan Harapan under the leadership of Tun Mahathir Mohamad has overwhelmingly led the general election and poised to be the new federal government replacing the decades old regime of Barisan Nasional. 

​

Many of us in the media fraternity was in awe and some in disbelief that Barisan Nasional were brought to its knees after all the brouhaha and shenanigans prior to the election. 

​

So, what did this meant to us journalist? Well for most of us the promise of media openness by Pakatan Harapan leaders were something that we have been waiting for. 

​

But question arises how media practitioners like us adapted to the changing of government after GE14. 

​

I still can recall during that the transition from BN to Pakatan coalition government many of us especially from the news portal and political reporters were entice in joining the new government administration, some of us has come back to journalism, some were left without a job (post Sheraton Move), and some were still working with the new government.

 

On the public sphere, many of us is in the knowledge that most of the mainstream media in the country is owned or at least sponsored by certain political parties and individuals who used the media organisation as their tools for their own political agenda. 

​

So, if the media organisation is heavily influence by certain political parties, we know that some of them has suffered major loss post GE 14 and some of them has either been forced to shut down and went under restructuring exercise that affected thousands of employees including journalists. 

​

Do journalists have political ideologies? Yes, but that should not necessarily prevent them from disseminating news to the public accurately and responsibly. The challenge for us is to be on the middle line and true to our ethics in executing our duty to the country. 

​

While some of journalists can be quite conservative in penning out their opinion especially in political stories, one should bear in mind that journalist working in a media organisation should at least refrain from jotting down their own political opinion supporting certain political parties to the public. I am a true believer that as a journalist, I have the great responsibility in creating an independent media free from political clutches and influence. 

​

But hey who am I kidding now, our country is still lack behind in term of media freedom and I can say all media organisation be it news portal or mainstream media has somehow connected political influence, as they need support in term “political security” so that they can continue with their busines concept. 

​

I guess it is quite ok for the time being to have all that political influence if it is healthy and does not breach practice of good journalism ethics and culture. 

​

I can say that media freedom in Malaysia is pretty much a big challenge for us in media fraternity now and in the future. 

​

As a true-blue journalist, as long as we have our stories checked for authenticity and provide a right to reply to the other parties, it is a good practice for us to keep in mind in years to come. 

​

Politically speaking, challenges for journalist comes in various and sometime in different myriad of obstacles.

 

You can be heavily political while you were a journalist but always to keep in mind to be good journalist, passion must come first before we thrown ourselves in the evolving industry of journalism.