Nur-ul Afida, Arul Rajoo appointed deputy editors-in-chief of Bernama

KUALA LUMPUR - The Malaysian National News Agency (Bernama) today announced the appointments of Nur-ul Afida Kamaludin and Arul Rajoo Durar Raj as new deputy editors-in-chief.

Bernama chief executive officer Roslan Ariffin made the announcement at Wisma Bernama here.

Nur-ul Afida, 56, was appointed as Deputy Editor-in-Chief of News Service, while Arul Rajoo was appointed as Deputy Editor-in-Chief of Economic News Service.

Having served Bernama for 38 years since 1985, she has worked in various departments and units including the General News Desk, the Malay Subs Desk, the Photo Unit and the Features and Strategic Writing Desk, in addition to being a teaching staff of the Bernama School of Journalism since 2009.

Prior to her historic appointment as the first female Deputy Editor-in-Chief of News Service, Nur-ul Afida served as the head of Strategic Planning.

She hopes to strengthen the role of the News Service as a trusted channel of news and information for the people and at the same time, guide journalists to make objective and fair news reporting as provided for under the Bernama Act 1967.

"Bernama is the only news agency under the Ministry of Communications and Digital (KKD) that is relied upon by dozens of subscribers including media portals as well as the public to get accurate and authentic news content.

"In today's digital era, we (Bernama) need to help the government to convey the message accurately, and at the same time, try to combat fake news, and that's what I will work on in the initial stage," she said.

Meanwhile, Arul Rajoo, 54, hopes to assist in producing more in-depth and diverse news articles.

He said the Economic Desk, which has already been doing very well, will try to look at new products to be rolled out in the coming years.

"I’ve reported on business stories on and off especially when I was Bernama Perak bureau chief and in Thailand as a correspondent. I hope with my experience, I can contribute even more to the desk, especially with the current economic situation.

"We’ll work with the team to come up with better stories and exclusives for our clients and viewers; most probably we’ll do more on interdepartmental programmes involving other platforms like Bernama TV, Radio and digital platforms, as well as our international partners,” he said.

Arul Rajoo who joined Bernama in 1991 as a cadet news reporter worked at the Sports Desk until 1998 and then at the General News Desk until 2001 before taking on the role of bureau chief for Bernama Perak and in 2005, as a correspondent in Bangkok, Thailand.

He then became Editor 3 of Bernama News Service in 2010 and in 2011, assignment editor of Bernama TV before his appointment as head of broadcasting in 2022. - BERNAMA