Media's role crucial to present news in right context to avoid creating tensions - Shahril Sufian

KUALA LUMPUR, June 30 (Bernama) -- The media have an important role to play in ensuring that any news with potential to spark tensions is presented in the right context, said Shahril Sufian Hamdan, the Economic Director in the Prime Minister’s Office.

He said organisations like the Malaysian-Indonesian Journalists’ Association (Iswami) are in a special position to strengthen this task by serving as a channel of diplomacy for the people and media of the two countries.

“I believe it is with this realisation that our Prime Minister (Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob) last month announced the approval of a RM1 million allocation to ensure Iswami (Malaysia) can implement activities to strengthen the long-established ties between the media of Malaysia and Indonesia as well as other neighbouring countries.

“The allocation given is seen as capable of helping Iswami in planning cooperation programmes for the media of the two countries. The special cooperation between Malaysia and Indonesia must be constantly strengthened to a level that can truly realise its potential and keep it relevant to current challenges,” he said.

He was speaking at a dinner held by the Economic Director of the Prime Minister’s Office for an Indonesian media delegation here tonight.

Also present were Malaysian National News Agency (Bernama) acting chief executive officer Roslan Ariffin, Iswami advisor Datuk Zakaria Abdul Wahab and Iswami Malaysia president Datuk Mokhtar Hussain.

Meanwhile, in his welcoming speech, Roslan said Bernama will continue to organise the National Journalists Day (HAWANA) celebration on May 29, 2023 with the support of other media, adding that media friends from Indonesia were definitely on the guest list. 

He said the invitation was on the basis of solidarity and it was only appropriate that this comradeship be celebrated as all journalists take on a similar role.

“The most important role is for our motherland, which means Indonesian journalists take care of Indonesia, Malaysian journalists take care of Malaysia.

“In actual fact, many conflicts, issues can be resolved at the negotiating table by both nations, not on leaders’ or ministers’ tables but on the media table itself as sometimes these conflicts can be petty but get amplified by the media for sensationalism,” he said.

The Indonesian media delegation is in Malaysia as part of a four-day programme organised by Iswami Malaysia beginning June 28.

-- BERNAMA