KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysian Media Council (MMC) needs to be established immediately as an independent self-regulatory body involving various industry parties.
In a joint statement, the Centre for Independent Journalism (CIJ), the National Union of Journalists Malaysia (NUJM) and Gerakan Media Merdeka Malaysia (Geramm) stressed that the MMC (self-regulatory to enforce a code of ethics) should be given a mandate to protect journalists legally, physically, economically and socially.
"Recognising the importance of the media and maintaining its position in our society must be upheld at the highest level in all institutions in Malaysia," according to the statement issued in conjunction with the 2024 International Day to End Impunity for Crimes Against Journalists (IDEI) on Saturday (Nov 2).
The statement informed that in conjunction with IDEI, the Media Solidarity Festival organised by CIJ, Geramm, the Dutch Embassy and the United Nations Country Team (UNCT) will be held on Nov 16 to shed light on related issues.
"All events, including live performances, bazaars, live podcasts, speaker sessions and exhibitions, will fully feature journalists and ex-journalists to support their businesses and highlight the economic challenges and difficulties journalists face in doing their jobs.
"IDEI and the Media Solidarity Festival are an urgent call to policy-makers and heads of media companies that the neglect of the rights of journalist workers, harassment of democratic agents doing their job amidst threats to our media landscape cannot be allowed to prevail," said the statement. – Bernama
