Public trust and sustainability in focus at news leaders’ roundtable
KUALA LUMPUR: Improving media literacy, its anchor role and the sustainability of the business in the coming five years were among the issues discussed during a gathering of top newsmen.
The high profile event – Roundtable 2026: From Insight to Action – was organised by the Malaysian Press Institute (MPI) and held here yesterday.
A total of 25 editors-in-chief and senior editors from the country’s leading media organisations participated in the programme.
It is a follow-up to the Industry Forum Balancing Virality and Responsibility: Journalism Amid Speed, Trust and Impact that was held from June 15 to 16 in Putrajaya.
The roundtable session aims to refine the forum’s findings and resolutions before formulating recommendations to the Communications Ministry to strengthen the development of the country’s media industry.
MPI chief executive officer Dr Ainol Amriz Ismail said the previous forum identified various challenges and proposed solutions.
“Through this session, we hope to reach an industry consensus on practical and implementable actions.
“The discussion summary will be refined before being submitted to the ministry as a joint view of the media industry.
“We received a lot of feedback and some new things were also brought up but a lot of it is about helping media agencies.
“Once everything is collected, the consensus will be brought to the secretariat, then documented before it is submitted to the ministry,” he said, adding that they are expecting to submit it by July 17 in conjunction with the Malaysian Press Night 2026.
Ainol Amriz also said the roundtable focused on the framework to sustain the media agency in the next five years in terms of work, advertising and operations.
“This is because we don’t want to see issues cropping up in the coming years.
“So, we want to make sure media agencies remain relevant today and in the future.
“We also want to enhance public’s trust in the media. This means the reference of media is in the right place which must come from the mainstream media.”
On press freedom, Ainol Amriz said the topic was also brought up and discussed during the session.
