MIRI: Some 60 local media practitioners came together for an appreciation night last Friday in conjunction with National Journalists Day 2022.
The event which started on May 29, 2018 has become an annual affair to recognise the role of the media in nation building.
Minister of Public Health, Housing and Local Government, Datuk Seri Dr Sim Kui Hian, in his address at the function, described media practitioners as a crucial pillar of the community.
“Journalists are able to create positive mindsets by reporting true and valid news because their news is a source of community referrals.
“We want everything posted in the news to be accurate not only in the print and electronic media but also in social media,” he said.
His text of speech was read out by Minister of Transport Datuk Sri Lee Kim Shin.
Sim noted that with the advance of digital era, many mainstream media were struggling to stay relevant in delivering accurate and valid information to readers.
“In the digital era, the way information is produced and received had changed, but the professionalism and credibility of journalists remained indispensable till this day,” he said.
Sim pointed out that people nowadays want to get frontline information, and social media provides this platform that creates citizen journalists who tended to post anything anytime.
He lamented that only a handful of these so-called journalists’ would check the authenticity of the information they posted. Hence their actions had generated a lot of fake news.
Also present were Deputy Minister for Tourism, Creative Industry and Performing Arts I (Tourism) Datuk Sebastian Ting Chiew Yew, Telang Usan assemblyman Dennis Ngau, Pujut assemblyman and Miri mayor Adam Yii Siew Sang, Miri MP Dr Michael Teo Yu Keng and president of the Federation of Sarawak Journalists Associations (FSJA) Andy Jong Wan Joon.
