ID :
9911
Fri, 06/13/2008 - 00:39
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/9911
The shortlink copeid
MALAYSIAN MINISTER: REFORMS ARE UNDERWAY BUT AT SLOW PACE
Jakarta, Jun 12 (ANTARA) - Malaysian Information Minister Dato Ahmad Shabery Cheek said reforms in the press in Malaysia was still underway but rather slowly.
"We will be open, the process of reforms is still underway but rather sluggishly," he said in the company of his Indonesian counterpart Muhammad Nuh in a press conference after signing Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on cooperation between the two information ministries here on Thursday.
He said it was a global phenomenon that information is supplied not only through the mass media like the daily newspapers and television, but also through the Internet and personal websites or blogs.
"Information is not only disseminated through the print media and television, but now also through the Internet and blogs which are still beyond control," Dato said.
He admitted that there was a difference between this condition and the law of the press between Indonesia and Malaysia.
"There are many cases of intervention by the power elite under the state system, ranging from legal system to the law, and on how the government manages the country properly," he said.
He believed that reforms in the government not only covers the law, but freedom and openness as well, he noted.
Regional TV
On the occasion, Minister Muhammad Nuh explained that Indonesia and Malaysia as two countries of the same roots, planned to establish a regional news channel TV.
That is one of the points in the agreement carried in the MoU on increased cooperation in the field of communications and information signed by Minister Muhammad Nuh and Minister Dato Ahmad Shabery Cheek.
"But this is just a discourse, as the life of the media in Indonesia and Malaysia is different," he said.
He said that in Malaysia, the mass media is still controlled by the government, while in Indonesia it was a thing of the past, but in Malaysia, the government has the right to intervene in the mass media.
Nuh further said that the establishment of tv for joint objectives was only focussed on providing news contents on Indonesia and Malaysia made by journalists of the two countries, so that the news will be more balanced and factual especially as the two countries' population reached more than 300 million.
The cooperation on broadcasting and news with Malaysia was not only based on business interest, but more on national and cultural interest.
In the MoU, it was said that Antara, RRI, TVRI, BERNAMA, and RTM will form a special committee to formulate a mechanism and steps on the establishment of joint regional tv station.
"We will be open, the process of reforms is still underway but rather sluggishly," he said in the company of his Indonesian counterpart Muhammad Nuh in a press conference after signing Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on cooperation between the two information ministries here on Thursday.
He said it was a global phenomenon that information is supplied not only through the mass media like the daily newspapers and television, but also through the Internet and personal websites or blogs.
"Information is not only disseminated through the print media and television, but now also through the Internet and blogs which are still beyond control," Dato said.
He admitted that there was a difference between this condition and the law of the press between Indonesia and Malaysia.
"There are many cases of intervention by the power elite under the state system, ranging from legal system to the law, and on how the government manages the country properly," he said.
He believed that reforms in the government not only covers the law, but freedom and openness as well, he noted.
Regional TV
On the occasion, Minister Muhammad Nuh explained that Indonesia and Malaysia as two countries of the same roots, planned to establish a regional news channel TV.
That is one of the points in the agreement carried in the MoU on increased cooperation in the field of communications and information signed by Minister Muhammad Nuh and Minister Dato Ahmad Shabery Cheek.
"But this is just a discourse, as the life of the media in Indonesia and Malaysia is different," he said.
He said that in Malaysia, the mass media is still controlled by the government, while in Indonesia it was a thing of the past, but in Malaysia, the government has the right to intervene in the mass media.
Nuh further said that the establishment of tv for joint objectives was only focussed on providing news contents on Indonesia and Malaysia made by journalists of the two countries, so that the news will be more balanced and factual especially as the two countries' population reached more than 300 million.
The cooperation on broadcasting and news with Malaysia was not only based on business interest, but more on national and cultural interest.
In the MoU, it was said that Antara, RRI, TVRI, BERNAMA, and RTM will form a special committee to formulate a mechanism and steps on the establishment of joint regional tv station.
