New Straits Times – Oct 26
Journalists can criticize ministers and be “direction changers” in this new era of government.
Media and communications adviser to the prime minister Datuk A. Kadir Jasin said journalists now do not have to follow everything ministers and deputy ministers say, especially as some ministers, being new at their jobs, may not be good speakers or very well-informed of every issue.
“Seeing as how almost all the Cabinet ministers are still new, journalists should assist them as many have been doing their jobs longer than the minister have theirs. You should be using your experience to help them. “If possible, I do not want journalists to be blocked or looked down on by any minister or politician. It should be mandatory for ministers and their deputies to accept criticisms,” he said at the Universiti Teknologi Mara Communications Association Regional Conference.
Kadir, who is former New Straits Times Press group-editor-in-chief and Tokoh Wartawan Negara, said when he was in the journalism industry, he had often criticised ministers. “Any criticism, though, must be sincere and not just to find fault with the minister or deputy minister so as to make the news article ‘juicier’. If we believe that our criticism is beneficial, then we have the right to tell them or tell their press secretaries.
“Your duty in journalism is to teach… if such criticism cannot be accepted, then you cannot (do your jobs as) the media.” Kadir said journalists should also use the opportunity of a free media given by the new government to come up with news reports which could increase the critical thinking levels of the people. “Reports which you publish must benefit society, even if they are not interesting or sensational. The media right now seems to be influenced only by the sensational, to the point that it has become the bread and butter of the new media era.”
