Salleh raps WSJ's penchant for quoting unnamed sources

Communications and Multimedia Minister Datuk Seri Salleh Said Keruak has taken a swipe at The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) for continuing to make false allegations but attributing them to anonymous sources.

This, he said, was a cowardly way to avoid being sued.

"But we know they won't provide names, because they can't," he said in a blog posting critical of WSJ reporting on Malaysia.

The truth is that their reporting is based at best on rumours, and at worst on politically motivated lies that they've accepted without proper verification, just for the sake of another sensational headline," he said.

Salleh noted that despite their anonymous sources being proven wrong time and time again, such as their false reports on the new Governor of Bank Negara Malaysia, the WSJ continued to make allegations without any evidence.

The Communications and Multimedia minister said it was no coincidence that all WSJ's reporting on Malaysia since former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad began his Anti-Najib Campaign was based on one thing - what they claimed anonymous sources and anonymous investigators said.

"Not once has a name been provided for these sources. If they actually exist, then why doesn't the WSJ tell Malaysians who they are?

"Otherwise how can they expect anything they write to be believed, after being proven wrong so many times," Salleh said.

The latest WSJ article, again citing unnamed sources, relates to the purported purchase of a property in London.