NUJ, papers to get media council report this month
The Malaysian Press Institute (MPI) will distribute the report on the proposed Malaysian Media Council to all newspapers and the National Union of Journalists by the middle of this month, said MPI chairperson Mazlan Nordin.
A meeting with the editors and union will also be held to finalise the matter, he said at the Malaysian Press Awards 2001 organised by MPI at the Putra World Trade Centre in Kuala Lumpur yesterday.
The annual event is an award presentation ceremony for journalists and photographers who excel in various categories. Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad and Information Minister Khalil Yaakob also graced the function.
In April, malaysiakini reported MPI director Zaihan Mahmud as saying that the report on the media council which carried recommendation from a 14-member panel has been submitted to the Home Affairs Ministry last November.
He said the report will be made public after the government has decided whether or not to go ahead with the setting up of the council.
It is learnt that the working committee which came up with the report was led by Utusan group deputy chief editor Sirajudin Rafia. Other members were Jaafar Husin, chief editor of national news agency Bernama and Zainon Ahmad, chief editor of The Sun . Mazlan served as adviser to the group.
In his speech last night, Mazlan also said that while journalists are making a lot of demands, there are others who have similar expectations from them.
"At times journalists are praised. At times they are criticised and have been accused of being skeptical, cynical and opportunists," Mazlan said.
Gag journalists
The government's proposal to set up the Malaysian press council has caused anxiety among the media fraternity as fears have been expressed that the council will be used by the authority to 'gag' journalists.
Malaysian journalists are already bound by legislations such as the Printing Presses and Publications Act, Official Secrets Act as well as various other laws governing defamation and libel.
However, malaysiakini understands from a reliable source that one positive aspect of the proposed press council is the 'protection' it could offer to journalists from unreasonable legal suits.
In recent years, a number of journalists have faced a battery of multi-million ringgit defamation suits.
"Anything concerning the press must be referred to the press council first before action can be taken," the source said.
Press awards
In last night's event, Utusan Melayu journalist, Kamarulzaman Mohamad, snatched the coveted Kajai award for his article on the Sipadan hostage crisis entitled 'Penculikan di Pulau Sipadan, Sabah'.
The outstanding journalist award went to Errol Oh Boon Peng from Malaysian Business for his piece, 'E-commerce: Making net gains'.
The Star 's, Philip Golingai won the best news/feature prize (English) for his article, 'Into the lion's lair' also on the Sipadan crisis.
The best news/ feature prize (Bahasa Melayu) went to Berita Harian 's Karim Sulaiman for his article, 'Masalah pekebun kecil getah' on the plight of rubber smallholders.
For the Chinese language category, the prize went to Nanyang Siang Pau 's Tan Yoke Nai for her 'Ecstacy — murder of life
feature while the Tamil language prize was bestowed upon Makkal Osai 's Vijayaahveeran Doraisamy for his article ' Makkal Osai dalam tahun 2000'.Awards were also given for, among others, best coverage on economic and finance news, sports, entertainment, telecommunications and photography.
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