PETALING JAYA – A media and communications expert has warned that excessive pressure on the media would only create fear and spark a fire that could explode elsewhere.
Mohamad Saleeh Rahamad, who heads the Media and Communications Studies Department at Universiti Malaya, said the current situation did not augur well for press freedom in the country.
“The media have the right to report the truth, and the input from a group of senior national journalists to the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) should be given due attention,” he said as reported by Sinar Harian.
As a democratic nation, adhering to Article 10 of the federal constitution on freedom of expression, Saleeh said the media must be given the right to report the truth.
“The media have clear guidelines on reporting news, and it is not good for a democratic country like ours to put pressure on the media.
“There must be freedom and the media have a social responsibility. On their (media) part, they must ensure they do not report anything slanderous and provocative,” he said.
Saleeh was commenting on a recent joint statement issued by a group of senior national journalists who disagreed with the MCMC’s alleged “big brother” behaviour of blocking online content.
They also expressed concern that media practitioners were called by the MCMC to give explanations about the content they published through their news portals and online sites. – The Vibes, September 2, 2023
