PETALING JAYA: Communications and Digital Minister Fahmi Fadzil (pix) supports the media’s right to publish source stories and safeguard their sources’ identities.
FMT reported that Datuk Seri Shahidan Kassim had asked Fahmi during the Dewan Rakyat’s proceedings if the government had any plans to bar media outlets from publishing source articles, to which Fahmi replied that such restrictions were not applied as long as their reports were not defamatory.
“We also take note that journalists have the right to protect their sources’ identity, but this has to be weighed against the issue of defamation,”
“As an example, the television channel Awesome TV reported that based on a source or suggestion, the government plans to dismiss 800,000 civil servants. This is clearly defamatory,” the digital communications minister said.
The Lembah Pantai MP also said that the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) will be having a meeting with Awesome TV’s officials today.
Fahmi also touched on the subject of ‘unethical journalism’, highlighting media reports where headlines were not aligned with the context of the stories published.
“Journalists should be firm in the principles and ethics of journalism by only reporting accurate and authentic news in accordance with the law. Any incorrect information must be corrected immediately with notification of the error (errata).
“The ministry has plans to amend the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998 (CMA). However, it would only be to strengthen the regulatory framework, not to restrict freedom of expression,” he added.
Earlier, Shahidan pointed out how media outlets published articles based on sources who wanted their anonymity maintained and mentioned how ministers gave journalists correct information but prefer not to be on record.
“Why don’t we set a condition that the word ‘source’ cannot be used?,” he asked. “Why don’t we restrict stories based on sources?” he asked.