by: Feyra Shamsuddin

Nowadays when we talk about the communication technology process we can’t escape from connecting it with questioning the publisher’s right. In this content, we often are wondering about who have the rights that conquered the communication technology, and what is owned by whom; which in this case is the mass media.

There are two types of publisher’s right of mass media in Malaysia that is one; published by the government itself and two; published by the capitalist comity. The capitalist comity that is publishing under its own company is also known as the non-government that fully operates by itself.

There are too many ways on how media can transfers their information through the right channel and medium. 

For example, the medium that is often being used currently is through the television, advertisement, radio, news, the internet, and believe it or not, Short Messaging Service or SMS is also one of the medium that the media used.

Short Messaging Service or SMS, is just a small part of a medium in communication technology process, but still SMS gives big impact toward the process of communicating among ourselves and towards our community. This really makes people wonder, how does this small medium can contribute in our daily life?

SMS is a short messaging service offered through mobile phones for the users to communicate with other user by sending and receiving short messages besides calling each other. SMS also could be use to send graphic, audio, and video in its contents in the larger form of it that is called MMS, also known as Multimedia Message Service.

Sending messages using SMS is definitely the people’s choice in these days because of its convenience traits and characteristics like, easy, cheap, fast and practical. With those characteristic and traits, SMS is often used as public sphere that is as a medium for the community to spoke their mind and opinion freely.

As an example, in the TV program, “Bersemuka Dengan Media” published by RTM₁, the spectators at home were given a chance to share their opinion through SMS. Not only that, newspaper like SINAR, KOSMO!, and also METRO also has their own section in the newspapers that display SMS from the public about matters that happens around them.

There is also a reality TV show that depends on SMS to cast the viewer’s votes, such as Akademi Fantasia, Maharaja Lawak, Malaysian Idol, Mentor, and many others. These reality TV shows choose SMS because of its convenience for the viewers as they need the votes fast enough to make the final decision by the end of the show.

In accordance to its disadvantages, SMS is just not enough to provide the media itself the efficiency to channel correct information to the public. Because of that, SMS is rarely chosen by the media as a primary medium to transfers information, but of course the effect of SMS in the process of communicating is undeniable.

Different from SMS, internet is more convenience; it is widely used to channels fast information as it is categorized as virtual, fast, easy, simple, open, and also wide. Internet is seen as the best alternative media that is more open on the information that is being exposed because of its traits; internet is globally used all over the world.

Internet is totally agreed by many people as the ideal medium for the media in channeling the latest news, rumors, updates, information, entertainments and lots more. Not only that, through the internet we could also get as many information as we want from all over the world as the whole world is only a click away.

Through the internet people are interacting daily in social networks like Facebook, YouTube, Bloggers, with this they also exchanged information that they have with other user. By indulging with other user in the social networks, we get to know about many things that occurred around us and even the incidents that happened out of our reach.

The blog, website and portal holder may not have the credibility to produce an article that is as great as the newspapers were because producing it cost much and it needs enough practice and high level of skills. Because of that, the information that is exposed is just based on the writers own logic thinking; due to this, the information just cannot be trusted so easily.

Newspapers such as Utusan Malaysia Kosmo!, Berita Harian, Harian Metro, New Strait Times (NST) and Malay Mail has their own websites in the internet that they use to channeled the news they have publish in the newspaper to their own news page. Not only that they also have archive which we can search the old news and the news from the other year.