Criticism
Utusan Malaysia's credibility as a newspaper has come under fire from many circles for its blatant practice of double standards in its reporting, especially with regard to politically-related news. Statements by Chief Ministers in Opposition-held states have been taken out of context, manipulated, or otherwise downright fabricated.
Of late, Utusan has also stoked racist sentiments with provocative headlines championing the New Economic Policy and Ketuanan Melayu.
In view of Utusan's extreme racist rhetoric, the former Opposition-led Perak state government staged a boycott against the newspaper, with other Opposition states following suit. A motion was also set by the Selangor state government to boycott Utusan while all Selangor state agencies and departments were told to refrain from buying the newspaper and to stop advertising in the newspaper, in a move to protest a short story titled "Politik Baru YB J" by columnist Datuk Chamil Wariya that appeared in the paper and depicted an assassination of a fictional character that portrayed Teresa Kok. In addition, Teresa Kok has demanded RM100 million in compensation from Utusan Malaysia Chamil and the publication for defamation, demanding an immediate public retraction by Utusan and an apology to be published in newspapers of her choice, plus an undertaking that Chamil and Utusan will not repeat the allegations and comments contained in the article. DAP has also filed a report against Utusan Malaysia, claiming Chamil was attempting to stir up public sentiments to carry out political assassination against Kok.
Utusan has also been criticised for publishing very little international news; the Foreign News section typically consists of only two to three pages out of 50 pages in total.
In January 2011, the newspaper suspended a journalist, Hata Wahari, president of the National Union of Journalists, after alleging that Hata had brought the newspaper into disrepute and "insulted" its management.
The widely-perceived view that Utusan Malaysia is nothing more than a propaganda newsletter for the ruling government has been given much greater credence after its deputy chief editor Zaini Hassan openly stated in a forum organised by the National Civics Bureau that it was acceptable for Utusan to "spin facts" to be "biased in our favour". The Malaysiakini reporter covering the forum was later barred from attending.
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