No absolute press freedom but journalists, media organisations should push the envelope

KUALA LUMPUR: There is no such thing as absolute press freedom but journalists or media organisations should always attempt to push the envelope, said former Malaysian National News Agency (Bernama) chief executive officer and editor-in-chief Datuk Yong Soo Heong.

He said journalists and media organisations must also try their level best to highlight particular issues through good, comprehensive and insightful reports by examining and evaluating the matter deeper.

"I reckon that there is no such thing as the absolute press freedom but as journalists or media organisations, we should always attempt to push the envelope.

"...and if there are issues that need to be highlighted, we should try our best to highlight them so that we can give a balanced view of things," he said when appearing as a guest in Bernama TV's The Nation programme today.

Meanwhile, Yong said it was also about time to rebrand watchdog journalism because the media now plays a very important role in holding public officials and corporate executives accountable on certain matters.

"As media practitioners, we have got to be very alert of the information, put out very good narratives and be more transparent in order to serve the public well," he said.

Another speaker, Dr Murallitharan Munisamy, who is a writer, said the rising of alternative sources of news had been quite a positive change.

However, it had also given the opportunity for individuals or companies with certain agendas to come up with their own narratives and versions of the truth.

"Very clear example like medical perspective and the COVID-19. I think if we were still in the very kind of the traditional journalism era or perhaps in the 1990s, you wouldn't have much problem in terms of the infodemics.

"There was much damage caused by telling of false narratives in spreading COVID-19, as much as the disease acted to spread itself," he said.

-- BERNAMA