Saturday June 21, 2008
Five is enough, says Parliament
By LEE YUK PENG
KUALA LUMPUR: Only five – that's the number of journalists each news organisation is allowed inside Parliament from Monday.
The controversial move was announced in a press statement issued after 5pm yesterday.
The Parliament administration stated that the limit was for security reasons.
National Union of Journalists (NUJ) president Norila Mohd Daud said the limit would make it more difficult for journalists to work in Parliament.
“The restriction will only result in fewer stories filed.
“Now that everyone is interested in reading news from Parliament and there are more ministers holding press conferences at the lobby, more pressmen should be allowed to move freely in the building to get more stories,” she said.
Norila also said pressmen on duty wear media tags issued by their companies and also media tags from the Information Ministry.
“Security is not a problem,” she said.
During a normal session, The Star has a team of six to nine journalists reporting from Parliament.
This does not include photographers and video crew from The Star's Multimedia Department.
An Indonesian TV station covered the Malaysian Parliament last May. Wire agencies, Singapore TV and online news portals also regularly cover the parliamentary sessions.
Ipoh Timur MP Lim Kit Siang said Parliament should welcome more reporters, rather than limit their number.
“Parliament gains importance for news coverage with more pressmen here,” he said, adding that journalists were reporting on the national political landscape as well.
However, the Barisan National Backbenchers Club (BBC) has a different opinion.
Deputy BBC chairman, Datuk Bung Mokhtar Radin (Kinabatangan) opines that five reporters are “more than enough”.
He said five newsmen, even with the inclusion of photographers, already represented a small crew.
“Personally, I think that five's too many.
“I am in no position to voice out how news agencies feel, which is why they should appeal to the Parliament administration if there are grouses, but personally, I think it is more than enough,” said Bung.
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