Updated/FMT stands by story:
We stand by our report
FMT editor in chief K. Kabilan said the FMT report was absed on a question posed to Khalid after his press conference.
“We reported what he told our journalist. There is no reason for us to manufacture anything here.
“After the press conference, our journalist had approached Khalid, saying that he wanted to ask one final question. Our journalist had asked if hired killers were involved in the Sanjeevan shooting to which the IGP responded by saying what was reported.
Bru's comments:“We just reported what Khalid told our journalist,” said Kabilan, adding that the IGP was entitled to deny his statement.
Kabilan's attempt to defend his reporter is noble - all editors should do that. But his explanation doesn't make sense, all the same.
Logically, if the IGP had info that Sanjeevan's friends were the shooters and wanted that info to be made known to the public, wouldn't he have announced it during the press conference? Why would he give that info to a reporter from a news portal who might have missed his press conference earlier? If that reporter is from the national news agency, maybe I can understand because what Bernama reports will be shared by the subscribers and most newspapers, portals, tv/radio subscribe to Bernama
Original report:
Screenshot 5.30am, 31/7/13: Despite a clarification, FMT's report stays
I was taken aback to get a tweet just after buka puasa yesterday about Free Malaysia Today's scoop: the Inspector-General of Police had told the news portal that the people who shot Sri Sanjeevan were the MyWatch chairman's own friends!
The tweets over buka puasa and a tweet to the IGP |
Alarm bells in my head went off immediately. Sure, there was talk about the victim's purported links with the underworld and the real role of MyWatch, etc, and of how Sanjeevan had refused to cooperate with the police (that bit is included in the FMT report above), but the IGP saying the shooters were Sanjeevan's own "friends"?! You'd understand if I say that it sounded rather fantastic.
Thanks to the journo-blogger Apanama, who sent a tweet to the IGP for clarification, and kudos to the IGP for responding to the query, we now know that the FMT's report is, in Apanama's word, "bullshit":
"Bullshit! |
Moral of the story, bros and sis, a pinch of salt when you go online. Don't always believe what you read in the newsportals. Always double check.
p.s. The FMT seems to be standing by its story that the IGP had indeed said Sanjeevan's shooters were not hired killers but his own friends ... Wallahualambisawab. Do read Big Dog's Anti-Crime or Guised Anti-Police Bashing?