Media practitioners should operate freely and fairly - Johan Jaaffar

SHAH ALAM - Media practitioners should be given the freedom to operate freely and fairly, says veteran journalist Tan Sri Johan Jaaffar.

He said he was concerned about the interference from political parties in the appointment of editors.

“Time has changed, so too the dynamics of media business.

"Media business is the business for media practitioners. They must be given the freedom to operate freely and fairly.

“Now is the time to strengthen journalistic commitments to ensure the Fourth Estate is the bedrock of democracy," he said in a statement, today.

He added that Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob has assured that media should remain free to operate without interference from other parties.

He said he found the removal of English daily New Straits Times (NST) group editor Ahmad Lokman Mansor unacceptable.

"I find it totally unacceptable that an editor who is helping to resurrect NST is facing the axe.

“I stand by Lokman for his audacity to push the envelope. NST is a more palatable newspaper today thanks to his works,” Johan said.

He said he was also concerned that former financial publication The Edge editor Azam Aris was charged with criminal defamation under Section 500 of Penal Code related to two articles published during his watch.

“I believe those pieces were representation of events and fair reporting relating to penny stock manipulations,” he added.

Earlier, online news portal The Vibes reported that Lokman was facing an impending removal from his post due to alleged interference by Umno bigwigs who were former second finance minister Datuk Seri Johari Abdul Ghani and Umno Supreme Council member Datuk Seri Ab Rauf Yusoh.

It was reported that Lokman was set to be replaced by Farrah Naz Karim with the former given an option to either return to NST's business desk where he had previously served or leave the company.

According to a statement issued by the New Straits Times Press Berhad (NSTP) today, Farrah's assignment to NST as group editor was in line with NSTP’s strategy to further enhance its content offering and that the group was governed by strict corporate governance and transparency as well as capable board of directors.

Farrah has served the company in various capacities since 2000 including as the Executive Editor and most recently, she was attached to Media Prima Television Networks as an Executive Producer for current affairs programmes.