Local media have the skills to report well on MH370 incident - Kadir Jasin

The incident and mystery of the missing Flight MH370 has proven that the mainstream media in the country are also serious and have the skills to report the event well, says prominent journalist Datuk A. Kadir Jasin.

He said this was based on the reports which carried many additional facts on the incident, obtained from research done by the local media practitioners.

"The incident has also been a challenge for the local media to compete with the foreign media if the latter is considered better and more credible. It has been a challenge for the local media to be as good or better than them," he said, here, on Monday.

The editor-in-chief of Berita Publishing was speaking to reporters before giving a lecture on "The 240th Victim of MH370 - Media" organised by Institut Darul Ridzuan, here.

He said it could not be denied that at the beginning of the incident, the authorities did not seem organised and coordinated when facing the foreign and local media.

However, in the end, the government created a system which was easier for the media, by appointing acting Transport Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein as the government spokesman, he said.

"This is a unique situation which involves world passengers, an aircraft which was made in America and the involvement of many nations (in the search and rescue operations). So it is not strange that this incident has attracted huge international media interest," he said.

Kadir also said the international media were not making up stories when they spoke of the various theories as the missing MH370 was a mystery and anyone could come up with their own theories.

It was not surprising that the people gave more attention to the international media as they were more exposed to international media channels on television and the Internet, he said.

However, he said, the local media were not lagging far behind the international media in reporting the MH370 incident although they were lacking in certain aspects such as finance.