Media council best platform to deal with issues like Sin Chew, says Fahmi

Summary

• Communications Minister Fahmi Fadzil hopes the media council will be the best platform to handle issues like the flag gaffe involving Sin Chew Daily.

• However, Fahmi says until its formation, existing processes will continue.

Communications Minister Fahmi Fadzil has expressed hope that the Malaysian Media Council will be the best platform to handle mistakes such as the recent Jalur Gemilang error by a Chinese-language newspaper.

“Once the media council is formed, it will be the best platform to handle issues such as this.

“But until then, the (existing) processes will continue,” he said in reference to various ongoing investigations conducted over Sin Chew Daily’s error in its front-page illustration of the Malaysian flag.

Fahmi revealed that he met with the Sin Chew management along with his deputy Teo Nie Ching earlier today.

“We have informed them of the ongoing investigations,” he told a press conference at Angkasapuri.

The Chinese-language newspaper had published an incomplete illustration of the Jalur Gemilang, without the crescent moon, on its front page last Tuesday in conjunction with the coverage of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s state visit to Malaysia.

Earlier today, veteran journalist A Kadir Jasin also suggested that the matter would be better addressed by the media council, rather than becoming a police or MCMC case.

The incident drew criticism from various quarters, including Yang di-Pertuan Agong Sultan Ibrahim Sultan Iskandar, who said the unacceptable mistake could trigger public sensitivities.

Subsequently, the newspaper issued an apology for the mistake, explaining that it was an unintentional technical error.

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COMMENT | Kill Sin Chew for its honest mistake?