Panellists at a forum o­n the proposed media council today sought to reassure journalists that the council would not become an additional tool for the government to further restrict the press.

During the discussion organised by the National Union of Journalists (NUJ) in conjunction with World Press Freedom Day tomorrow, journalists were told that a media council would help raise professionalism in the industry and thereby increase respect for the profession.

The three speakers at the forum in Kuala Lumpur were journalism lecturers Prof Mohd Safar Hasim of Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia and Associate Prof Dr Mokhtar Muhammad of Universiti Teknologi Mara as well as New Straits Times Assistant Editor Salahuddin Othman.