Various local groups are gearing up their preparation to celebrate World Press Freedom Day as May 3 a date to remember the principles of media independence and pay tribute to journalists who lost their lives in the line of duty approaches.

National Union of Journalists (NUJ) will organise a half-day forum o­n Friday to discuss the proposal of setting up a media council.

Officiated by Attorney-General Abdul Gani Patail, the event will be held at the Hilton Hotel in Petaling Jaya.

Activities in Penang

The panelists are National Human Rights (Suhakam) commissioner Prof Mohd Hamdan Adnan ( right ), former Bar Council chairperson and National Human Rights Society (Hakam) president Raja Aziz Addruse, Universiti Teknologi Mara communication lecturer Dr Mokhtar Muhamad and a representative from New Straits Times .

NUJ in a statement said it will conduct a research survey among union members o­n the draft proposal of the media council a self-regulatory body for journalists which was formulated by the Malaysian Press Institute.

Several activist groups including Save Ourselves (SOS), Suara Rakyat Malaysia (Suaram) and Inisiatif Wartawan will also be organising a World Press Freedom Day festival in Penang o­n Saturday.

The festival will start from 12pm to midnight at the Gan Kongsi, a Chinese clan temple.

Among the highlights are a press freedom roundtable o­n the state of press freedom in the country and the presentation of a Consumers' Media Award for the best and worst media in representing the people's interests.

Other programmes include an essay competition o­n press freedom in Malaysia, thematic workshops o­n media issues, street theatres, launch of new books and public screening of Dari Jemapoh ke Manchestee a film by malaysiakini columnist Hishamuddin Rais who is being held under the Internal Security Act for two years.

Joining the World Press Freedom Day commemoration is Asian Institute for Development Communication (Aidcom), which will organise a o­ne-day forum at the APDC building in Kuala Lumpur o­n Saturday.

The keynote address will be delivered by Hana Ibrahim, senior associate editor of Sri Lankan newspaper Sunday Observer .

Journalists o­n panel

This will be followed by a panel discussion moderated by special United Nations rapporteur o­n the independence of judges and lawyers Param Cumaraswamy ( left ).

The panelists for the session are The Star associate editor Bunn Nagara, malaysiakini editor-in-chief Steven Gan ( right ) and New Straits Times associate editor Rehman Rashid.

UN declared May 3 as the World Press Freedom Day at the general assembly o­n Dec 20, 1993, o­n the recommendation of its Economic and Social Council and the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco)

Unesco had in 1991 adopted a resolution to recognise that "a free, pluralistic and independent press is an essential component of any democratic society".

For this year's celebration, Unesco has chosen 'Impunity' as the theme to highlight the unpunished crimes against journalists and the difficult circumstances under which many journalists work.

During the World Press Freedom Day celebration last year, a group of local journalists submitted a memorandum to Suhakam, calling for the repeal of the Printing Presses and Publications Act 1984.

The memorandum was first presented to Acting Prime Minister and Home Affairs Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi in 1999 o­n behalf of 581 reporters and editors who signed the document then.

It was again submitted to the minister in 2000 with an addition of another 370 signatures by journalists.

To date, the memorandum has been endorsed by some 1,000 journalists from both the new and traditional media.