The press as 'The 4th Estate'?

The Malaysian Blogshpere has been full of controversies lately... and sad to admit, but the reason that i started to blog is that on one sunny afternoon, with nothing to do, I went to the tried and trusted 'www.thestar.com.my' for an evening dose of news... heck I was in the office sitting down like an idiot with nothing to do... you know lar... Being a copywriter, you think of a few lines, then you rest, then when something comes in, to you think of a few lines, then you rest...

So anyhow, I saw this feature on the e-news site and i read it without much of an interest as first, but when i went into their links, I found out that blogging could be a way out for me... It might just turn out to be my muse... Ok Ok... enough of me... getting back to the topic that's written on the 'title' box,

The press' function as the 4th estate has come under tremendous criticism lately because a few of the blogs published and publicised contains 'profanities'. And a segment of the general public has been making complaints about it, saying that there are young readers who now frequent these sites. And aparrently, the writers are seemingly destroying thier feeble minds with the harsh language that they are using to express themselve. Some say that it is the press that should have been more responsible in screening the blogs and the languages that the bloggers use before publishing thier URLs out to the Whole Wide World.... but some are attacking the bloggers saying that they were the ones who wanted thier URLs published and should therefore practice self censorship...

So where does the 4th estate come in? According to communications theory, the Press (Newspapers / Government Controlled TV Networks) should be responsible for the plight of their readers aka the Nation. But how much should the press censor?? If they take away all the profanities, then they are denying the readers the truth... The truth that the community of Malaysia (and any community for that matter) is actually walking down that line... that profanities are unavoidable. But how much protection should the press give the public in these terms? You see, the more you censor, the less of truth comes out. So wold you rather have the Malaysian public walk around in false consciousness, thinking that the world is a bed of roses, no profanities, no vulgarities, and no swearing???

This is the common misconception that people always have. They blame the country, blame the society, and blame every other 'blame-able' source. Have they ever thought that by bringing-up thier children correctly not by avoiding the dark and profane side of the society, but by teaching them and educating them about such things?? I mean, I've been growing up in a gangster filled society, filled with profanities and 'dark' activities... but has that made me a bad person?

In truth, it is what you teach your kids when they are young that matters. If you never tell your kids what they should do, what is bad and what is good, then who do you expect to do just that??? the society?? That's one of the problems that society is facing today... Parents are getting more and more busy, less and less time for the family... it has already happened since 20 over years ago that parents abandon thier children for thier careers... The result, kids grow up thinking that thier grandparents are thier parents... feeble minds are left to fend for themselves, trying and trying to find out what is good and what is bad... the only people that they can look up to (the grannies) aren't even physically able to chase around the house what more discipline them??? Look at yourself, if you think that your parents did a good job, then go ahead... let them teach your children as well... but i tell you the truth: Your parents learned jack-shit about teaching their Kids (aka YOU).. so don't expect your children to end-up better than what you ended-up as...

So blame it on society will you?? Take this article, print it out, keep it somewhere safe, and maybe you'll make sense of it some day, when your children have gone bad and you ask yourselves, "What have i done to deserve this?" then you'll realise that is was something that you have not done... Love your children and teach them while you still can. If you've never been in thier lives while they were developing thier character, then you should not expect them to listen to you when they are old and have minds of thier own.

word...