What would it take to change our pro-government mainstream media practice? Perhaps, a second wave reformasi ? That theory crops up often in my speculative chats with friends. Last week’s election outcome, we hope, represents this second wave that will sweep through the mainstream media (MSM) newsroom.

The MSM’s traditional pro-government stance is often pinned on the argument that they necessarily need to be so. To do otherwise is to see the ministry cancel the paper’s annual printing licence. Which is a fair argument, but only to a point. To stretch it further is to say that the errand-type journalism we’ve lived with is the only practice suitable to the Malaysian socio-political setting. Well, that practice is certainly not so with the strident coverage by the online media.