Today is a day of infamy for Malaysian journalism – with the UMNO publication Utusan Malaysia defending the indefensible instead of apologizing for being the foremost “Lies-paper” in Malaysia in the past three years under the premiership of Datuk Seri Najib Razak.

At a forum on social media organized by Biro Tata Negara (BTN) of the Prime Minister’s Department and the 1Malaysia Social Media Convention secretariat, Utusan Malaysia’s deputy chief editor Mohd Zaini Hassan claimed that media practitioners are allowed to spin the facts to paint a “desired picture” to the reader and to launch a “gentlemanly attack” against the Opposition.

Claiming that there are three categories of “fact, spin and blatant lies”, Zaini purports to distance himself from “lies” but gives his approval to “spin”, saying: “Spin we can; no matter how we spin a certain fact to be biased in our favour, that’s okay.”

Zaini is insulting the intelligence of Malaysians in trying a “spin of all spins” attempting to pass off lies and blatant lies as mere “spin”!

Spin must clearly be delineated from lies and blatant lies. Spin occurs when facts are linked in a deceptive way that attempts to portray an individual or organization in the best or worst possible light.

But what Utusan had been most guilty off in the past three years is not just deception through “spinning” certain facts while omitting other facts, but the retailing of downright lies and falsehoods. Read the rest of this entry »