Najib should engage media more, allow more press freedom: Academic

KUALA LUMPUR: Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak should engage the media more while giving them more freedom to ask questions on pressing matters.
Discussing media matters, its direction and future in Malaysia, academicians and media practitioners agreed that there should be greater engagement between media and the authorities in addressing issues of public interest.
Pointing that the media raises questions on matters of public interest on behalf of the public, Universiti Sains Malaysia deputy vice-chancellor Prof Datuk Adnan Hussein agreed that authorities are answerable to the people.
He said the media's role among others is to represent the people and speak up for them.
Adnan was responding to a question on whether Najib and other leaders alike should be more open to take questions and respond to the media on issues related to the state investment arm 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB).
However, he cautioned that journalists when posing questions should not be biased or with agenda based on "his or her version of the truth".
"Press conferences can turn ugly when journalists insist on getting responses based on their version of the truth or story.
"The space for questioning must be given but we do not know the intentions of the journalists when posing questions," Adnan told reporters after speaking on facing the challenges of foreign media agenda at a forum by the Malaysian Press Institute today.
He also noted that when journalists query with an agenda or prejudice, they would not be satisfied with any answer that is given to their questions.
Adnan was responding to a suggestion by another panelist, Indonesia's national news agency Antara chief editor Aat Surya Sufaat, who said local governments and authorities should have more engagement with foreign journalists.
Noting the importance of such an engagement, he said the media should not be seen as the enemy.
Meanwhile, the forum also raised questions on the long-standing call for the setting up a media council.
Noting that the issue of setting up an independent media council has been around since the time of the late Tun Abdul Razak, media veteran Datuk Abdul Jalil Ali said the government does not seem serious about setting it up.
He said the latest is that media practitioners have submitted the proposal to the Attorney-General's Chambers and are still waiting for an outcome.
Abd Jalil, who is Karangkraf editorial executive adviser, moderated a session on Media, Law and the nation at the forum.
He said it has been like a "tug of war between the government and media practitioners" and the latter is totally against having any kind of government interference in the council even if it was just as an "adviser".
Abd Jalil recalled how he was personally involved in the talks and process of setting-up a media council along with MPI executive director Datuk Chamil Wariya and the late veteran editor Zainon Ahmad, who was theSun's former editorial adviser.