BLOG TASK #002 – THE CHALLENGES AND FUTURE OF MALAYSIAN MEDIA.
- Aug 29, 2015
- 6 min read
BLOG TASK #002 – THE CHALLENGES AND FUTURE OF MALAYSIAN MEDIA.
So, what/who are your two favourite local and foreign media icons?
The local media icon that we have chosen for this task is Yunalis Mat Zara’ai, or better known as Yuna. She was a student of law and graduated with a Bachelor of Legal Studies (Hons.) degree. She began writing her own songs at the age of 14 and first performed when she was 19. She is now a successful international singer- songwriter and business woman, bringing the name of our country to glory throughout the world.
We are certain that Yuna will be remembered as one of the very few Malaysian women to become famous internationally through her music. She will be remembered as the Malaysian girl who sang soundtracks for famous western films and series. Other than singing English songs, she also sings Malay songs thus making Malay language and our culture more known to people around the world. She is a big icon for the present generation and will continue to inspire the younger generation in pursuing their dreams and making our country proud.
A number of us have listened to her songs for a long time now, and she has a sweet voice that calms us down and helps us think. We admire her because she is bold enough to pursue her dreams in a world dominated by Western artists. Besides that, her success has conveyed a message that even a simple girl coming from a basic background could be so successful in pursuing her dreams if we could just take a leap of faith and pursue our dreams. We should not be tied down by what others want us to do or tell us to do. In the end, it is our life and we should be the ones who decide how we want to live it.
The foreign media icon that we have chosen for this task is a fairly well known American icon known as Demetria Devonne Lovato; or Demi Lovato for short. Demi Lovato debuted as a child actress in “Barney and Friends” back in 2002 up to 2004, along with another American icon named Selena Gomez and became famous in 2008 because of the movie “Camp Rock”. She has acted in plenty of television series and even became a judge/mentor in the American series of “X-factor”. Her fifth album is to be released this October. She was born in New Mexico; raised in Dallas and her parents got divorced when she was only at the age of two.
It is no secret that Demi has left a big impact on the world as she speaks out on anti-bullying and sings catchy songs with a winning smile. When she was younger, she was bullied very badly and so she was home schooled. She is and has been a huge icon towards anyone who is or have been struggling with depression, eating disorders and bullying. Demi is a very open minded and religious person that also believes in and supports gay rights; which is not so easy to find and fight for in the world today.
We are inspired by Demi’s open mindedness and her amazing confidence to stand up for others. She speaks out without fear for the weak and that is something we respect, mainly because not many people or artists would do what she had done to simply humble herself to show that there is still hope for the ones who think there isn’t. They would much rather walk away and close their eyes to what is happening around them. Demi is a strong woman that fights for the rights of women and the oppressed while battling her own sickness, and we aspire to be like her.
In not more than 1000 words, how can the industry overcome these challenges? Suggest at least three recommendations that you would implement to help boost the local media industry.
"Many critics and analysts are saying that Malaysian media, especially news and entertainment media, is currently stagnant and not fulfilling its potential. Singers such as Shila Hamzah and Yuna chose to be based overseas rather than in Malaysia, while the film and TV industry are lacking in fresh creative content, choosing to recycle and rehash the old formula of romantic comedies, horror and gangster plots. News media, especially mainstream media, continues to be shackled by the government whereas online news media often just focuses on critiquing policies and supporting the opposition government."
After having a brief discussion and a thorough research, our group has concluded some of the best ways and recommendations different ones could implement to help boost the current local media industry.
Under the category of the Malaysian TV & Film Industry, the industry should get more involved in collaborating or learning from the big TV & Film Industries around the world. They can send representatives or researchers to visit these big TV & Film industries and entertainment departments. Being collaborative and involved in these areas will help our local media industry to be more acknowledged and at the same time, helps them to learn more about the real deal from the very experts themselves and once they return, they can analyze how they can incorporate and put to action what they have learnt from the experts and merge it with our own culture and ethics to create amazing films that would be worth watching not only by us locals, but internationally.
Next, the local TV & Film Industry should also bring up more new aspiring filmmakers and broadcasters who are filled with fresh new ideas and creativity. A few examples on how they can do this would be to organize entertainment and film campaigns to encourage different ones to join in and to show off their talents and creativity in the field of filmmaking and entertainment. They can also organize more Creative Thinking Skills workshops or talks in the different media industries to help start a movement of making and creating new fresh ideas for the media.
Furthermore, the local TV & Film Industry can also be more creative when it comes to advertising new films. Advertising a film in a way where it can catch a certain audience’s attention is key to a draw in more viewers wanting to find out more about the movie or show. One example would be Japan and how their advertising ideas are always outside the box, and they really show their creativity and weirdness to attract attention especially in their Manga or Anime adverts. Filmmakers should also go out of the norm when it comes to creating story lines and plots for their movies. Recycling the themes of a typical love drama, horror or gangster movies are one of the main reasons why there has been a drawback in people wanting to watch our local films and TV shows.
Filmmakers should try to create movies with a better outline that can relate to, and touch the hearts of us Malaysians. One example of a movie that was capable of doing so was a movie called “The Journey” directed by the Malaysian born director Keng Guan Chiu. “The Journey” became a huge hit because not only did it touch the hearts of Malaysians, but it was also a movie that we could all relate to, and the overall location setting of the movie was amazing. The industry should focus on what's more close to home and reality.
Lastly, the local Government should also invest more financial support toward the local TV & Film industry so that the industry will be able to grow and expand more together with their thoughts and ideas to create bigger and better movies and shows that will be able to attract more viewers and a bigger growth in aspiring filmmakers wanting to get involved knowing that they have financial aid to help carry out their filmmaking. They should also be more lenient on the content in films, giving less restrictions so that filmmakers are able to have a wider range of options and creativity to add. The benchmark for the number of local films being screened in cinemas at a certain time should also be increased to at least three or four at a time.
Moving on to the Local Mainstream News Media, a few ways this department can use to improve is that their media should not be shackled by the Government. The different elects should stand firm at their feet and to have the courage to publish the right and correct news instead of false or biased reports that involve a lot of apple polishing. This will show that the News Media will do anything to not compromise their integrity and many viewers would start listening to the news without fear if or not the news is biased or is being used to cover up different accusations or evil plots.
The media should also not be too overly focused on posting news about local political issues over and over again as this can bring up different controversies and a rise of hate and spite towards certain people. Adding more postings that are more relevant to the people will definitely improve the number of readers who will actually be interested to read the different variety of articles that they can relate to or obtain information from.
THE END.
Writer:
Sarah.
Editor:
Matthias Lim.
Researchers:
Charlotte, Natalia, Darshni, Kok Sern & Farah.
SOURCES:
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