Screenshots

Barely 100 days into his job as The NSTP Group EIC, Hishamuddin Aun was hissed at by an Umno veteran some 24 hours before the cabinet reshuffle was announced on Feb 14. Next best to God, he needs a master no lesser than Kalimullah Masheerul Hassan to save his ass.

As history goes, the person who hissed at Hishamuddin Aun was to be elevated, some 24 hours later, as Pak Lah's new Minister of Information -- Zainuddin Maidin (ZAM).

For the record, on Feb 12, ZAM lashed out at "journalists from the local media, especially those who have served with the foreign media" for embracing "the western style freedom and not freedom the Malaysian way". We knew who ZAM was targetting at. If in doubt, ask Aisehman.

It's a given that editors at Umno-owned mouthpieces take orders from their political masters. This, even Kalimullah can't deny (The NST, Feb 16, Pg 2):

Zainuddin, since his elevation as deputy minister of information, has had an uneasy relationship with senior executives of some of the mainstream media.

It is ironic that just a day before his appointment was announced, Zainuddin sought the sacking of the top editors of the New Straits Times Group in a closed-door Umno information bureau meeting.

It was to Umno information chief Tan Sri Muhammad Muhammad Taib 's credit that he politely informed Zainuddin that he had chosen the wrong forum to vent his hostility on the media, and it was to the credit of the majority of the bureau - except for a senator from Johor and an assemblyman from Kelantan - that they did not embrace Zainuddin's views.

If you remember well, Hishamuddin -- the person who was given the accolades for building up the sensational blue-collar Malay tabloid Harian Metro -- is touted as the first non-political appointee ever chosen in recent decades as the NSTP Group EIC.

Now, the event in which Hishammuddin received his tongue-lashing was an official Umno event chaired by the political party's Information Chief. So, what goes unaswered is this: Was GEIC Hishamuddin there as an Umno member or a journalist?

If he is truly a non-political appointee he was spin-doctored as one, what business does Hishamuddin have sitting in an Umno bureau meeting to receive that Royal Airf if there isn't this thing in life called 'maruah' or dignity for the media community?

By the way, Is NST's No. 2, Group Editor Brendan Pereira, really leaving this August?

Meanwhile, Kalimullah can only rant about ZAM, yes again, eulogising his own political master also reports to.