WHEN fake news is repeated, it becomes difficult for the public to discern what is real, United States Congressman Jimmy Gomez said when he and another proposed a bill to counter it just before the 2016 US elections.
Purveyors of fake news help perpetuate rumours and myths which can tarnish a person’s image and credibility, sometimes beyond repair.
Today’s Internet-driven age has made it possible for news to travel at light speed, so that secrets are no longer safe.
It is for this very reason the New Straits Times strives to communicate the truth, so that the public is more informed about the good, the bad and the ugly. We provide facts. We do not engage in idle talk, neither do we entertain gossip. It is our bounden duty to the people.
A case in point is the news about Sultan of Kelantan Sultan Muhammad V and his marriage to Rihana Oksana Voevodina.
Hearsay, rumours and unsubstantiated news had for so long influenced and shaped the people’s perception of the royal couple.
And when gossip of any kind is perpetuated, curiosity will always get the better of one’s judgment as he surfs the Internet to feed his inquisitive mind.
Apart from the unannounced marriage, the people had also expressed puzzlement over Rihana’s status as the ruler’s wife. Some even pointed out that she had not been accorded the honour befitting her status, unlike Regent of Kelantan Tengku Muhammad Faiz Petra’s wife, Sofie Louise Johansson, who is being referred to as Cik Puan, a respectable salutation for a consort.
Such a peculiarity is among the many theories about the royal couple’s supposed marital woes.
To a certain extent, the controversial wedding had, perhaps, unwittingly led Sultan Muhammad V to step down as the 15th Yang di-Pertuan Agong to quell the speculation by critics and sympathisers.
Such negative narratives do not sit well with our greater aspiration of being an informed and intelligent society.
This Leader has been consistent in the paper’s principled stand in observing journalistic ethics. The article front-paged yesterday is by no means an affront to the Kelantan royal family or to vilify the parties involved.
It is merely to put to rest rumours, differentiate fact from fiction, and separate wheat from chaff.
The NST has been monitoring the controversy since it took root in January. But we have held back from having a say in the matter. Only when it made waves on the grapevine did we see it fit to restore order by verifying the truth once and for all.
The development may elicit more questions, as man is wont to do, but the NST will again keep its tongue in check, until such time when we may be called again to play our role as a member of the Fourth Estate.
And as a responsible paper we are in agreement with Mexican writer Don Miguel Ruiz, to be impeccable with our words, to say what we mean and speak only the truth and with integrity.