Tuesday October 21, 2008
Media policy drafting under way
By SHAHANAAZ HABIB
KUALA LUMPUR: The Government has started drafting a media policy and the setting up of a media council but it is still in the early stages, said Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar.
“Don’t ask me when (it will be ready) because it is still at the thinking process,” the Home Minister told reporters after his keynote address at a Colloquium on Media Policy in Malaysia.
Syed Hamid said the Government had been toying with the idea for a while, adding that the idea had been accepted in principle but as it was “serious business it should be thorough and well thought through.”
“We need to see the substance and content. We want other sources of information, ideas and views and compare this with our own,” he said, adding that it would be in line with current practices and take into account local peculiarities and circumstances.
The media council, he said, was to self-regulate the media.
Asked if this meant that the current Printing Presses and Publications Act would be reviewed or repealed, Syed Hamid said he did not want to jump the gun.
“I think if that is how we see it, then it will happen. But I don’t think that is our focus. Our focus is how we should have a responsible relationship (with the media),” he said.
Syed Hamid noted that there were many grey areas, with some people thinking the Act was necessary while others feeling there was no need for publication licences to be reviewed annually.
“Lets hear views and we’ll see what can be done,” he added.
In his speech, he said, the media should look deep into its conscience and show some responsibility in fostering peace and understanding, adding that in multi-racial Malaysia its responsibility went beyond just accurate reporting.
“The sensitivities of the various races simply cannot be overstated,” he said, adding that the country’s 50 years of peace and prosperity should not be taken for granted.
On the Internet media, he said, they should not be referred to as the “alternative media” because more and more people were getting their information and news from the Net.
“Newspaper readership is on the decline if you compare it with online news.
“How do you consider it to be alternative when it is become more popular and more and more people are going into it. They (Internet news) have actually become mainstream,” he said.
Syed Hamid pointed out that newspapers too were trying to emulate the Internet media and trying to be as critical as it can because this makes it popular and sells papers.
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