TO survive Malaysia’s highly competitive online news business, some portals are allegedly manipulating readers’ lack of media literacy and ability to think critically in order to drive traffic to their sites – all in an effort to boost readership figures, media experts said.

They said the situation is worsening as online media outlets fight for readership and dominance.

They added that it was time for a code of ethics to be introduced to moderate the media business.

Kenn Yeap, a mass communication lecturer, said portals that churn out “quality news” are unlikely to generate the kind of traffic they would like see on their website.

“We do have portals with quality content, but they’re all ignored by the readers. What they want to read is news of no quality,” he told The Malaysian Insight.

Such content is often referred to as gutter news in the industry.

To stay afloat, Yeap said some portals would lean strongly on a heavy dose of sensational news and a liberal use of clickbait – headlines and articles designed to make readers want to click on a hyperlink, especially when it leads to content of dubious value or interest.

He was alluding to a non-mainstream media’s recent scandalous report of a Johor couple caught in a compromising position in car and a married social media influencer’s affair with an artist.

Some portals reportedly would run related reports for days in several “series”.

Yeap said it is difficult to have both quality content and high traffic at the same time in Malaysia.

He said if there is, then the portal has a readership that could think critically.

“They understand the content, know what is right and what is wrong, what is acceptable, and what can be believed.”

Yeap pointed out that in advanced nations in the West, media literacy is taught from a very early age, in kindergarten or elementary school.

“There is nothing similar in Malaysia. What are the courses we have from childhood, secondary school or even in university that are related to media literacy?

“We also don’t have critical thinking classes, and in the absence of both, it’s no wonder Malaysians do not know how to distinguish what is good and bad content.”

Yeap said since survival is of utmost importance for portals, authors would do anything to keep the sites alive.

Code of ethics

Liew Wui Chern, a mass communication lecturer at Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman, said the mainstream media is at a crossroads.

“While they are battling for a share of the audience, they are also confronted with the social responsibility mainstream outlets are expected to live up to.”

Liew said it’s difficult to have both.

“You can’t.”

He said mainstream media outlets had been in a conundrum for a long time and things turned critical due recent developments in the digital sphere.

Liew said it is high time a new set of code of ethics be introduced.

He said it should contain guidelines and principles to handle the changes brought about by the electronic media.

“The mainstream media needs to change the media ecology through standard procedures and norms to identify what makes them different from trashy news.” – April 26, 2023.