Aid available for struggling Malaysian media firms, says minister

PETALING JAYA - Any Malaysian media companies experiencing financial difficulties should seek the government’s help as laying off media personnel should be a last resort, says the country’s Communications Minister Fahmi Fadzil.He also said the Malaysian government had added another RM30 million (S$9 million) to the Media Innovation Fund, which was set up to assist media companies.Prior to this, Fahmi said, another RM30million was disbursed to 72 Malaysian media companies under the Media Innovation Fund 2.0 to support the digital transformation, modernisation and sustainability of local media organisations.The Malaysian minister said this at the launch event for the Journalists’ Health Screening Programme, a joint collaboration between the Malaysian Media Council (MMM) and Cardiac Vascular Sentral Kuala Lumpur on Oct 31.“I am working to put things right, restore the media industry and place it on a more sustainable footing with a brighter future.“The operations of social media platforms, which have taken advertising expenditure away from traditional media organisations, have created a serious impasse for media organisation leaders.“The last thing I want to see happening under my watch is media companies laying off their employees, shutting down, closing their operations or going bankrupt.“If any media company is facing difficulties, inform me early so that we can ensure media employees do not find themselves in hardship and distress because they have been laid off.“If the problem is financial, please approach me. We will do our very best to provide assistance. Please, please, please refrain from laying off employees indiscriminately,” said Fahmi.Also present at the event were MMM chairman Nallini Pathmanathan, Star Media Group (SMG) chief content officer Esther Ng, Media Prima News and Current Affairs deputy group managing editor Farrah Naz Karim, and Borneo Post and Utusan Borneo general manager Phyllis Wong Yang Yong.Fahmi also spoke about encouraging media personnel to undergo health screening under a programme worth RM4,000.At a media conference after the event, he said the Malaysian government will discuss with MMM and all media organisations to assess the suitability and practicality of the health screening initiative.“We recognise that, for example, if the initiative involves medical facilities located in the Klang Valley, it may pose some difficulties for our colleagues in Sabah, Sarawak and areas outside the Klang Valley.“Therefore, we are not making it compulsory, but we want to encourage all media organisations to ensure that their staff undergo health screenings at least once a year,” said Fahmi.Nallini said the welfare of journalists should be prioritised and not be taken for granted by media organisations.“Ask a journalist when he last had a check-up, and the answer is almost always the same: Very soon, after this assignment. And of course, there’s always another one that comes along.“Structures of Acts alone are not enough. An industry is only as strong as the people within it – our journalists,” she said. THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK