GE15: Respect duty of media practitioners - Annuar

KOTA BHARU: Candidates, party machinery and the public must respect the duties of media practitioners covering news during the 15th general election (GE15), said Communications and Multimedia Minister Tan Sri Annuar Musa.

He said that this was because media practitioners also have journalistic ethics and rules that they must adhere to when carrying out their duties.

"The media must be given respect because the job of disseminating information and news is for everyone," he told reporters after the 10th-anniversary celebration of The Red Warriors (TRW) 2012 Treble achievement here today.

Also present was Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) vice-president Datuk Rosmadi Ismail, who is also the Kota Bharu parliamentary seat candidate.

Annuar said this when asked to comment on the matter after a Negeri Sembilan journalist was allegedly threatened and abused by two drunken men while covering the GE15 campaign of a party candidate at a restaurant here recently.

Elaborating, Annuar said the attack on media practitioners should not happen because society needs to understand the duties of journalists when they are on assignment.

On a separate matter, Annuar, who is also the former president of the Kelantan Football Association (KAFA), expressed his intention to be active again in football in the state.

"I have to discuss with the owners of TRW and Kelantan United first because I want to revive football in the state," he said.

-- BERNAMA