KUALA LUMPUR – The long-standing proposal to establish a national media council is more relevant today, in view of the media organisations’ present state, which is being currently undermined by business rivals and political foes, said National Press Club of Malaysia president Datuk Ahiruddin Attan.
The situation, he said, which stems from shrinking advertisement revenues and pressure generated from social media platforms has forced media industry players to resort to launching “attacks” or character assassination against certain brands or individuals for monetary gains.
“This is because the media being used to launch such attacks are not owned by publicly known businessmen, political entities, or individuals.
“Some of them are owned by those who remain in the shadows.
“Today, media outlets are basically owned by anyone who has access to the Internet,” he said, after attending the Malaysia Global Business Forum (MGBF) round table on Addressing Weaponised Information in the Media last Thursday.
As such Ahirudin, who is popularly known as Rocky Bru, opined that the need for a national media council is necessary to address the situation effectively and ensure that media organisations are fair and balanced in their reporting.
“This can also be addressed if media organisations themselves agree that they need to uphold credibility, and place truth above ad ringgit and sponsorships.”
However, Ahirudin who is also Petra News executive director, admitted that such a move is easier said than done given that the media council has yet to be formed despite being mooted for the last four decades.
“But we mustn’t give up and give in.
“Set up the media council, let’s work with cyber security experts to train journalists so that we are aware of how information and data can be manipulated to win contracts and kill off the competition,” he said.
An example of the said “attacks”, he said, was the recent allegations hurled via social media against former attorney-general (AG) Tan Sri Tommy Thomas.
“An outfit, that has presence on Twitter and Telegram, used whatever little information it had with regard to the drug charges against a tycoon’s son, to suggest that the former AG was corrupt, or at the very least, complicit.
“Thomas denied the accusations, but the damage had already been done,” he said after attending the MGBF round table discussion.
The discussion focused on addressing one of the most relevant threats to businesses in the digital economy – cyber threats causing physical and reputational losses.
Other speakers include CyberSecurity Malaysia’s Cyber Security Industry Engagement and Collaboration department head Anwer Yusoff, Intellize Tech Services chief strategic officer Kavitha Muthy, Abyres Holdings Sdn Bhd chief information security officer and (cyber security) practice director Amitabh Srivastava and Censof Digital CEO Vicks Kanagasingam. – The Vibes, February 28, 2022
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