KUALA LUMPUR, May 15 — The government is looking into the ‘3W’ (win-win-win) situation between media organisations, media practitioners and readers, in line with the changes and development of today’s media.
Communications and Digital Minister Fahmi Fadzil said it should be explored following the change in reading patterns including social media content which is a challenge today.
“Today’s media environment is very different compared to before…there were only print and broadcast media, but now there are diverse issues, we have social media and citizen journalists where anyone with a mobile phone can become a media partner, causing media organisations to face unprecedented pressure,” he said.
Fahmi was speaking at the officiation of the pre-launch of National Journalists’ Day (Hawana) 2023 at Wisma Bernama, earlier today.
Also present were the Ministry of Communications and Digital (KKD) deputy secretary-general (Strategic Communications and Creative Industries) Mastura Ahmad Mustafa, and Bernama chief executive officer Roslan Ariffin.
Elaborating, he said via the 3W approach, the government would try to help media organisations and practitioners who may need to change their business models in line with current developments for their survival in the industry, while at the same time paying attention to the needs of readers if they have to pay for the news content they consume on social media.
“Not all news material is content and not all content is news, it has an impact on the economy, so as the government we are concerned with this development and are ready to work with the industry to find a way to help our media partners.
“Do paywalls work? Does paying make consumers read the news? So I believe the debate is still ongoing. But it is clear that many media outlets are also starting to change strategies, but their readers want information, so we hope that if the government can look into this matter, there will be a win-win-win situation,” said Fahmi.
Asked if the government would charge social media platforms for news content as implemented in Australia and Canada, he said KKD together with the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) are examining developments in the two countries.
He added it also held engagement sessions with the media industry and social media platform providers, to obtain information to study the appropriate methods that can be implemented in this country.
“We have not reached the stage of drafting a bill on the matter (imposing fees). But the MCMC chairman has held a meeting recently with Meta (Meta Plafforms Inc) and TikTok in Singapore,” Fahmi said.
The minister also reiterated the Unity Government’s stance to continue defending media freedom and look after the welfare of the practitioners but reminded the group to continue to comply with ethics and the law.
“…observe the ethics of journalism so that the professionalism of media practitioners is always protected. In this context, we must ensure that the information received is accurate, authentic and true and avoid conveying false information,” he said.
— Bernama
