Media practitioners are Perak Govt's closest allies - Exco

IPOH - The contributions of media practitioners in delivering information to the public are always appreciated and they are the state government’s closest allies, Perak Communications, Multimedia and Non-governmental Organisations (NGO) Committee chairman Mohd Azlan Helmi said.

He added that the state government maintained good ties with media practitioners as all public initiatives and actions were delivered in the form of writing, audio and visuals.

The state government understands and does not discount other media besides the mainstream media, he said.

"To me, if the intention is good to deliver what’s recommended by the state government or if it’s information vital to the public, we appreciate it, whether it’s a big company or not.

"Cooperation with the media in Perak, maybe we can hold joint activities, aimed at fostering closer ties and finally we can get along well and channel whatever intentions of the government to the public,” he told Bernama during an exclusive interview in conjunction with National Journalists Day (Hawana) 2023.

Mohd Azlan said the state government also understood the problems faced by media practitioners currently as they face a difficult time with newspapers not being the main choice of the public, as the focus has shifted to social media platforms. This shift has affected the income of media companies in Perak.

"But we still maintain good ties with media practitioners and in one of two previous programmes, we had a get-together with media practitioners organised by the Perak Media Practitioners Association that was attended by the Menteri Besar himself.

"We gave a bit of donation to the association, so through my portfolio, I provided some funding to the association to open a temporary office in Medan Istana, Ipoh," he said, adding that it was proof that the state government appreciated the media’s role in Perak as they gave their full cooperation to deliver information to the public.

He also stressed that the state government was serious in curbing fake news, especially those that involved Perak, and would continue to refute fake news with a systematic approach through the cooperation of all departments under his portfolio.

According to him, there were efforts under Digital Perak Corporation Holdings to have parterships with computer clubs at school level.

"There were a series of initial meetings between the state education director and I, but we are still setting up the best team for a programme, getting modules ready for computer clubs in schools.

"Insya-Allah we will invole one or two schools as a pilot project, and involve Education, Higher Learning, Youth and Sports Committee chairman Khairudin Abu Hanipah," he said.

This was all part of the effort to educate students in school so they can share with their parents ways to detect fake news.

The Hawana 2023 celebration, with the theme ”Media Bebas, Tunjang Demokrasi” scheduled to take place from May 27 to 29 at Casuarina, Meru here will be officiated by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim on May 28. - BERNAMA