MALAY daily Kosmo “should be shut down” for focusing on a joke that has upset football fans instead of real news, said the Johor crown prince today.
Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim, who is also Football Association of Malaysia president, said he was disappointed in Kosmo, which is under the Utusan flagship, for highlighting a remark he made near the end of an hour-long media session, where he had joked about rejecting his Malaysian citizenship.
“After a dialogue of more than an hour regarding football and current issues, only the joke in the last 20 seconds of my dialogue is trending now.
“This is one of the reasons why I don’t read newspapers in the country any more. Their persistence to sell copies has resulted in them writing news and articles similar to those found in gossip magazines ,” he said in a post on the Johor Southern Tigers’ official Facebook page.
He said millions of ringgit had been given by Putrajaya to local dailies for the sole purpose of instigating the people and publishing news similar to “cheap gossip”.
“My advice to the government is, it may be best if you just shut this newspaper company down rather than waste people’s money.”
He said trivial matters usually became the focal point of many such publications, while important issues were neglected.
“No one took note of the important issues, but the joke or small talk was given the limelight.”
During the media session, which was broadcast live on Facebook earlier this week, Tunku Ismail was quoted as saying: “That’s your country’s team, not my country. I’m from Johor, you know.”
He was referring to the national football team, which lost to Hong Kong in an Asian Cup qualifying match on Tuesday.
Kosmo reported that football fans were offended by the remark. – October 13, 2017.
Sources from : https://www.themalaysianinsight.com/s/18424/