Director of the National News Agency Bernama of Malaysia Nurini Kassim (Source: Thestar)Hanoi (VNA) - Director of the National News Agency Bernama ofMalaysia Nurini Kassim has highlighted professionaljournalism and the need for press agencies to affirm their prestige today duringan interview with the Vietnam News Agency (VNA)’s reporters.
Theinterview was granted to the VNA on the threshold of the 44th Executive BoardMeeting (EBM) of the Organisation ofAsia-Pacific News Agencies (OANA) in Hanoi from April 18-20, the themeof which is “For a professional and innovative journalism”.
Following is the full text of the interview.
Reporter: What do you think about the theme of the 44thOANA Executive Board Meeting and issues on the agenda of this event?
Mrs. Nurini Kassim: The theme is highly relevant in theworld of media today. Professionalism in journalism is needed more than everdue to the emergence of social media and the challenges it poses to the trade.
Whilethe rapid development of social media has brought along many positive changes,some negative side effects have been observed. The rising trend of citizenjournalism has provided many stories of popular and public interest, but theveracity of the information can be questionable and opinionated. Thismisinformation could then become widespread online and through social media.
Thislack of professionalism has its ramifications as, unchecked, it could drag asociety or even a country into political or economic instability and socialunrest. This lack of accountability threatens the ethical reporting by themainstream and traditional media.
Thisis where professional journalism can play a key role, something that newsagencies can be proud of, where our journalists and reporters are carefullytrained, not only with writing skills but along with the cardinal rules ofjournalism.
Unlikecitizen journalists, professional journalists look at every aspect to come upwith well-rounded and unbiased stories. In other words, professionalismjournalism is founded on professional quality.
Thework of professional journalists encompasses credibility, ethical reporting,accountability, responsibility, quality reporting, and fact checking andverification - a combination necessary to ensure nation building, peace, racialharmony, and political and economic stability.
Thecredibility of a news organisation rests on the professionalism of itsjournalists.
InnovationJournalism
Thedictionary defines innovation as the process of translating an idea orinvention into a product or service that creates value or for which customerswill pay.
Italso says that innovation involves deliberate application of information,imagination and initiative in deriving greater or different values fromresources, and includes all processes by which new ideas are generated andconverted into useful products.
PeterDrucker, a leading authority on entrepreneurship and innovation, saysinnovation involves finding a new and better way of doing something.
Conclusively, if I may say so, innovation is about change and progress, bothbuilt into one. By extension, innovative journalism or innovation journalism isabout transcending the traditional journalistic approach to writing.
Hence,it is imperative that journalists are equipped to deal with this change. Forexample, when reporting on a new technology, they will need to have a goodunderstanding of, among others, the technology, the company that developed thetechnology, the techniques of marketing the technology, the business model ofthe company and the viability of the company.
Innovativejournalism also encompasses the use of various platforms for story-telling,which I will elaborate under Issue No. 1 of the Agenda.
Agenda:1) News Agencies’ strategies to cope with the shift of news content consumptionbehaviour, focusing on video content and the Youtube platform
Thegrowth of digital news and social media has prompted many people, particularlythe young, to shift their attention from print material such as newspapers tovideos and the YouTube for news and information.
The fast-paced world is denying them the time needed to pore over printed text.At the same time, they prefer the faster, shorter and live information broughtto them over the YouTube and other video platforms on their mobile devices.
The mainstream media, realising that this trend can eventually put it out ofbusiness, has rushed to have a presence on the new social media platforms suchas Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and YouTube.
Bernama,the Malaysian National News Agency, is no exception. We have set up what iscalled a Multimedia Desk exclusively to disseminate news and information onthese platforms. One other form of presenting news and information, by way ofinfographics, is also gaining momentum.
The feedback from users has been positive and encouraging, an indication thatour increased focus on this news consumption behaviour is timely.
BERNAMAhas also introduced a Front Desk digital news service that focuses on human interestand soft news, entertainment news, and video and photo news to cater to thegrowing number of consumers in this segment.
The Facebook Front Desk Arabiya (FDA) accountdisseminates news, video clips and photos to cater to consumers conversant inArabic.
2)Fake News and Fact-checking Journalism
Fake news was almost unheard of some years ago but today it is one of thegreatest threats to democracy and free debate.
Citizen journalists, in their haste to post information on social media, areusually guilty of circulating unverified news.
Fake news can only be checked by the publication of news and information afterverification.
It is important for news agencies to have fact-checkers, like the key mediaoutlets in the United States, to examine and verify news before it ispublished.
For example, during the US presidential election debates, news outlets checkedand verified the facts in the speeches delivered by the candidates.
We should not compromise truth, accuracy and accountability for speed.
In the case of advertorials, companies will usually feed news agencies withwhatever information they want them to disseminate. However, the news agenciesmust always give priority to consumer interest and ensure that the companies donot attempt to disseminate content which is not truly reflective of what theyclaim.
3) Regain public trust in mainstream news
Thechallenge today is for the mainstream media, which is slowly losing out tosocial media as the main source of news and information, to regain the trust ofthe public, especially the younger generation.
People who prefer the alternative media do not trust the mainstream media. Itis not an easy task for the mainstream media to regain the trust of the public.Nevertheless, it is not a battle that cannot be won. We have to innovate andcome up with the right strategies.
Onestrategy is to maximise the use of the multimedia platforms such as Twitter,WhatsApp, YouTube and Facebook, by coming out with more human interest,lifestyle and entertainment stories that are more compact and easilyunderstood.
Another is to avoid churning out biased news. Despite the transformation in thefield of information dissemination, many people still yearn for truth in thenews they digest.
Newsagencies must engage in constructive journalism and not just harp on negativeissues that can turn away consumers.
Reporter: Whatis Bernama’s development strategy and its policy for cooperation within theOANA?
Mrs. NuriniKassim: BERNAMA’svision is to become a renowned news agency which is recognised internationally.
Its mission is to produce and disseminate news and information in an accurate,speedy, fair and objective manner in the nation's interest; to mould aninformed society in line with the New Malaysia; to generate revenue throughdiversification of news and information products; to enhance the standard ofjournalism in the country by offering challenging and rewarding careers; to usethe latest technology in service delivery; and to fulfil the needs of clientsat all times.
In keeping with the vision and mission, BERNAMA aims to grow its news agency,radio and television services professionally and spread its wings beyondMalaysia to be a regional and, eventually, world player.
In tandem, we want OANA to continue to be a reliable and credible and theleading organisation of Asia Pacific news agencies for the betterment of themember countries.
Withthe existence of OANA, we are able to source news on a wide range of topics andperspectives without being overly dependent on the Western-centric media.
Towards that end, our policy is to further strengthen our cooperation with allOANA members by actively sharing news, photos and videos to ensure that OANAremains relevant in the ever-transforming field of news and information.
We are open to working with all member countries to explore new areas ofcooperation through OANA.
Reporter: Thank you very much.-VNA
VNA
