Malaysian Media Council has role to curb fake news, protect welfare of media practitioners

KUALA LUMPUR - The establishment of the Malaysian Media Council is timely to curb the spread of fake news and improve the quality of news reporting by media agencies in the country.

Former chairman of the Malaysian National News Agency (Bernama) Datuk Seri Azman Ujang said the establishment of the council is also seen to be able to play a big role in safeguarding the welfare of media practitioners, especially in the current era of digitalisation.

"I want this media council to be set up in the country, even though this matter should have been implemented a long time ago, but I think it is time for us to really create a body that plays a role in curbing fake news and safeguarding the welfare of media practitioners.

"Fake news is a big issue, as today anyone with access to social media can be a writer. This situation is different from media companies which have their own screening. So this is what we call a big 'setback' in today's media landscape," he said.

He said this when discussing the challenges of media reporting on BernamaTV's Ruang Bicara programme, last night.

The proposal for the establishment of the Malaysian Media Council was raised by participants of the National Journalists Day (Hawana) in 2018 representing various media organisations throughout the country.

On Dec 5, Communications and Digital Minister Fahmi Fadzil was reported as saying that he needed to get details on the proposal from media industry players, especially journalist associations.

In the meantime, Azman said the new generation of journalists also needs to be better skilled and courageous to raise critical issues with the parties concerned, especially when the profession carries the voice of the people and defends their plight.

In sharing the same view, Berita Bebas news portal adviser Datuk Zaini Hassan said the establishment of a media council was seen as timely to protect the media from attacks by certain parties over news reporting.

"In the United Kingdom, they have their own media complaints bureau which is responsible for hearing people's cases involving the media. As an example, when people make a complaint about advertisements that can influence children, this media council will make an assessment of the case.

"This is to curb attacks by certain parties on the media such as lawsuits and so on. So by creating this media council, it will evaluate and listen to these cases and not to directly take them to court," he said. - BERNAMA