Toward a more ethical media

Forum: Ke arah media yang lebih beretika (Toward a more ethical media)

Ahli ketiga panel ialah Abdul Jalil Ali, Penasihat Eksekutif Editorial
Kumpulan Media Karangkraf.

Terima kasih,
Siew Eng
Pegawai program CIJ

------------ --------- --------- --

Bulan Mei ialah bulan kebebasan akhbar.

Kebebasan akhbar bermaksud keupayaan suratkhabar dan wartawan untuk melapor
secara bebas mengenai sebarang peristiwa atau isu, berlandaskan etika dan
prinsip kewartawanan.

Tetapi bagaimana pula jika etika dan prinsip tidak diikut? Bagaimankah kita
menangani media yang tidak beretika?

Untuk mengetahui pelbagai pandangan mengenai penyelesaian kepada masalah
ini, di samping menyentuh isu berkait - yakni had kebebasan media di
Malaysia - Pusat Kewartawanan Bebas dan Majlis Peguam Malaysia akan
menganjurkan satu forum awam dwibahasa bertajuk, *"Ke arah media yang lebih
beretika - bagaimana mencapainya? "*

*Masa: 18 Mei (Rabu); 6 petang*
*Tempat: Auditorium, Bangunan Majlis Peguam, Kuala Lumpur*
13, 15 & 17 Leboh Pasar Besar
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Tel: 03-20313003


*Panel:
*
- *Abdul Jalil Ali, Penasihat Eksekutif Editorial, Kumpulan Media
Karangkraf*
- *Sharaad Kuttan, pensyarah kewartawanan, kolumnis, Felo Asian Public
Intellectual*
- *Wong Chin Huat, pensyarah kewartawanan, kolumnis*

*Moderator: Andrew Khoo, Ketua Jawatankuasa Hak Asasi Manusia Majlis Peguam
*

Orang ramai dialu-alukan datang untuk mendengar pembentangan ahli panel dan
memberi pandangan sendiri mengenai isu ini.

*Maklumat lanjut: Siew Eng, pegawai program Pusat Kewartawanan Bebas, 016
379 5901*

************ ***

May is the month for press freedom.

Press freedom is the ability of newspapers and journalists to freely report
any event or issue, in accordance with the ethics and principles of
journalism.

But what happens when the ethics and principles are not adhered to? How
should we deal with unethical media?

To find out the different views on how to approach this problem as well as
explore the attendant issue of the limits of media freedom in
Malaysia, theCentre for Independent Journalism (CIJ) and
the Bar Council of Malaysia will be organising a bilingual Malay-English
public forum titled, *"Toward a more ethical media". *
*
Date/Time: 18 May (Wednesday); 6pm
Place: Auditorium, Bar Council
*
*Panel:
*
- *Abdul Jalil Ali, Editorial Executive Adviser, Kumpulan Media
Karangkraf
*
- *Sharaad Kuttan, journalism lecturer, columnist, Asian Public
Intellectual Fellow*
- *Wong Chin Huat, journalism lecturer, columnist *

Come hear what our panellists think, and have your say, too.

*Details: Siew Eng, CIJ programme officer, 016 379 5901*

--
Centre for Independent Journalism Malaysia
Web: cijmalaysia. org
Tel: +603-4023 0772
Twitter: CIJ_Malaysia
Facebook: Centre for Independent Journalism
Blogs: http://worldpressfr eedomday. blogspot. com/;
http://right2info. wordpress. com/

The Centre for Independent Journalism, Malaysia (CIJ) is a non-profit
organisation that aspires for a society that is democratic, just and free,
where all peoples will enjoy free media and the freedom to express, seek and
impart information.

--
If you cannot express yourself you are already behind bars - Mbana Kaitako

Location map & GPS Coords

Bar Council Malaysia
13, 15 & 17 Leboh Pasar Besar
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Tel: 03-20313003
GPS Coords: (3.1466866143456196, 101.69546127319336)
Location map:

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Breaking news - new newspaper birthed: Umnosan

Dean Johns is gifted at coining new terms and in his latest opinion piece in Malaysiakini he has named the racial and religious hatred spewing wastepaper (that is what all the Malaysian main stream media newspaper had been reduced to) Utusan Malaysia which earned its latest nickname by continuing to be a tool and mouthpiece of the double dealing UMNO which head scream 1 Malaysia while his party wastepaper continue to promote religious and racial strife.

Dean Johns also trained his gun at an unnamed currently serving Minister (some blogs has named that Minister as Rais Yatim of the @yorias fame who so far has not confirm nor denied the claims leading people to suspect guilt.

His opinion piece below courtesy of Malaysiakini: Rapining Reality

Raping reality

Dean Johns

Poetic justice, if not the real thing, appears to have caught up with one of the members of Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak's cabinet.

While the country's mainstream media fails to inform the Malaysian people about BN's culture of criminality in favour of communicating its litany of lies, this minister has become the latest casualty of the world's free media.

Not that I'm suggesting he's guilty of the rape of which he was allegedly accused back in 2007. Like every other citizen, he's entitled to the presumption of innocence and his day in court.

Both of which he's been denied so far, as the case was reportedly hushed up by the Abdullah Ahmad Badawi administration, when he was also a minister.

But I'm good and sure of one thing: he's as guilty of figuratively raping reality and robbing the rakyat of their rights and ringgit as the rest of the BN gang and their accomplices and accessories are.

And the revelation of his alleged rape could well bring the BN regime a step nearer to the end of their rope.

Not that you'd know it by listening to the Malaysia's chief ravisher of reality, Najib. Not a word from him so far on the serious allegations about one of his senior ministers.

Just a New Year message crammed with all his customary claptrap, as faithfully reported by his pathetically compliant 'news' agency, Bernama.

Urging all Malaysians "to fulfil their responsibility in building a better future for the coming generations and place the country in its rightful position," Najib apparently omitted to specify what this rightful position might be.
What mistakes did Najib learn from?

But he was certain of the apparently contradictory facts that "the power to build lies in the hands of the people" and that "the government always adopts full responsibility in the management of the country, particularly the economy."

"Learning from mistakes," he went on, "throughout 2010, we built a strong foundation to ensure that the nation's potentials and resources can be stimulated and mobilised towards achieving the national vision."

At this point I confess my attention wandered a little, what with wondering what mistakes Najib was claiming to have learned from.

The still-unresolved PKFZ scandal? The Bakun Dam fiasco? The mysterious disappearance of Felda's cash reserves? The obscene wealth of BN members and cronies like billionaire Sarawk Chief Minister Taib Mahmud? Or what?

Not daunted by such trifles, however, he then proceeded to declare that "this is not the time to experiment, but a time to renew and strengthen the trust in what has been proven to be effective", before proceeding to attack the opposition and finally urging the people "regardless of race and religion to heed the call to strive for the pinnacle of success".

This was a veritable pinnacle of excess in light of all the financial and political scandals over which Najib has presided, let alone other suspicions surrounding him and his underlings, from the Altantuya Shaariibuu murder to the current allegations of rape against his cabinet colleague.

And as his phrase "regardless of race or religion" only served to remind the reader of the scandalous demand for the removal of Christian symbols before his Christmas visit to the Catholic archbishop's residence, and the latest religio-racial atrocity by Umno 'newspaper' Utusan Malaysia.

A rabble-rousing rag

While this rabble-rousing rag has no more seen fit to mention the rape allegations than the other so-called mainstream media or Najib himself have, it has had the temerity to attack Serdang MP Teo Nie Ching for "causing problems again" by wearing "tight clothes" during an aerobic exercise event outside a Selangor mosque.

Citing information provided by an anonymous blogger, Utusan ignored the fact that Teo was, like the rest of those visible in photographs of the aerobics group, dressed modestly in a t-shirt and long, loose sweat pants.

This was Utusan's second attempted rape of Teo Nie Ching's reputation, following criticism of her attendance at a Maal Hijrah breaking-of-fast celebration at a mosque in Kajang.

Highlighting the hypocrisy of the Utusan campaigns against her, Teo reminded Najib Razak of a recent speech in which he called for news organisations to be the "promoter of moderation".

And as if that wasn't enough hypocrisy to be going on with, former Prime Minister Abdullah, the man running the country at the time of rape allegations against the minister, commented on the Utusan report by urging people to "please be mindful of sensitive matters and not create problems. Be mindful of your actions".

But Utusan Malaysia, or, as it should rightly be called, Umnosan Malaysia, was unrepentant. Indeed it proved as rabid as ever in the face of criticism by National Union of Journalists (NUJ) president Hata Wahari, who is also a senior journalist with Utusan.

Claiming that circulation falls prove that people are "disgusted" with the mainstream media, Hata called, on behalf of the NUJ, for "true media freedom" in the new year.

"The union is asking all mainstream journalists, especially of Utusan Malaysia, New Straits Times, Berita Harian and the Star to return to their true function as deliverers of objective information to the public, and not as tools of propaganda for the government of any political party or individual, for their personal gain," he continued.

Hata then turned his attention specifically to the paper for which he works, saying that "the chief editor and journalists of Utusan Malaysia have no principles, pride or dignity.

"They just want to retain their lucrative positions earning tens of thousands of ringgit. That's why they bow to their political masters, who cling onto power by using Utusan Malaysia as their propaganda tool."

Of course the management of Utusan isn't taking such a shafting lying down, and has summoned Hata to a hearing for "insulting the company's management and tarnishing the company's image".

The fact that the company's management well deserves insulting, and that the company's image could hardly be more tarnished than it already is, will almost certainly not save Hata from being well and truly screwed. But it's great to see a rare mainstream journalist stand up to the rapists of the rakyat's reality.

And the more colleagues who find the courage to join him, the sooner the senior members of the BN regime will find themselves on trial as suspects or accessories on professionally-investigated rape, robbery and murder raps.

DEAN JOHNS, after many years in Asia, currently lives with his Malaysian-born wife and daughter in Sydney, where he mentors creative writing groups. Already published in Kuala Lumpur is a third book of his columns for Malaysiakini, following earlier collections 'Mad about Malaysia' and 'Even Madder about Malaysia'