When mainstream media's slide became a free fall

Yesterday,

Utusan Melayu ceases operations

Ironically, that oldest Malay-language newspaper group died just a few days after the leading Malay-based party in government, Pribumi Bersatu had its

Kongress Maruah Melayu

So much for Malay dignity, I told myself.

Well, I deeply sympathise with the Utusan staff who lost their job.

I once lost my job too and therefore I could understand how they must be feeling right now.

I hope they will immediately get a new job so that they don't suffer too much.

What actually went wrong?

Of course, Pakatan people and the media which sided with them blamed Umno which for a long time controlled Utusan.

Well, to a certain degree, I do agree with them as I believe that the media should not be controlled by political parties.

Umno is indeed guilty on that count.

But then again, there are those who used to exploit Utusan who are now with Pakatan.

Many of them used to be top Umno leaders who gave instructions to Utusan editors and journalists on what were to be published by the newspaper.

They are indeed responsible for what happened to Utusan due to what they did when they were with Umno.

For instance, those who are old enough may remember how Anwar, as the deputy president of Umno controlled the media, especially Utusan which at that time was more or less reduced to be the party's mouthpiece.

Then there are also former media bosses and journalists with Pakatan now who used to earn big salaries and get Datukship and Tan Sri titles while they were with Utusan and other media outlets.

They got all that by doing the biddings of their political masters who were with Umno at that time.

Some of them now blame what happened to Utusan and the once Umno-controlled media on their successors there, but I'm sure they know, and we also know that's not true.

The rot started during their time, okay.

When the internet era started, one of them even famously said it was just a fad and then refused to develop the online version of the newspapers that he controlled.

And the "jilat" culture at the so-called mainstream media continued.

That was around the Anwar's Reformasi time in the late 1990s.

It was the time when the slide of the mainstream media which I believe actually started with Operasi Lalang in 1987 became a free fall.

But yeah, never mind all that, just blame Umno, as that's the most convenient way to gain political mileage out of what happened to Utusan.

By the way, Umno now has its accounts frozen by the Pakatan government, so that it can't help Utusan this time as it did over the past years.

I'm quite sure they would have tried to do something at least to help the Utusan people if not for that.

Anyway, the media outlets which all these while have been supporting Pakatan and were enemies of Utusan and Umno gleefully reported the newspaper's demise.

They among others told stories about angry Utusan staff condemning their cowardly bosses who shied away from facing them.

True stories, of course.

It's a story of soldiers being angry with their incompetent officers after they lost the war.

The fact however remains that they lost and being on the losing side, they have to suffer the consequences.

Officers, soldiers....doesn't matter, they are in the same boat.

If you ask me, I think the Utusan staff shouldn't be too angry. Instead, they should prepare themselves for the future.

In fact, they should have done that right after BN lost GE14. They should know what's coming their way.

Surely they know that the newspaper was not making money for quite a while and had to depend a lot on Umno to survive.

Once Umno is no longer in power, they should know that it can't help them survive anymore.

Another irony of this whole thing is that, I know quite a number of those Utusan staff who lost their job yesterday are actually not really supportive of Umno and BN.

That's just too bad for them.

Well, who is next? NST, Berita Harian, Harian Metro?

Hopefully not.