Kuala Lumpur (Antara Babel) - About 300 students majoring in
communications at the Faculty of Leadership and Management, University
of Malaysia Islamic Science (USIM) enthusiastically attended a lecture
on press freedom in Indonesia delivered by ANTARAs News Director Aat
Surya Syafaat on Wednesday.
The lecture that took place at the local campus, Seremban, Negeri
Sembilan was attended by the Dean of the Faculty of Leadership and
Management, University of Malaysia Islamic Science , Prof. Dr. Mohd.
Yahya Mohamed Ariffin.
Also present were Chairman of the Department of Dawah and Islamic
Management Program, Associate Prof Dr Kamaluddin Nurdin Marjuni and a
number of other academics.
The Head of Public Relations of Mathlaul Anwar which is a
non-government organization in Indonesia began his lecture by asking if
Prime Minister Najib Razak suddenly visited USIM, was it a news
story or not? The students then answered that it was news.
"If journalists did not report the visit of Prime Minister Najib
Razak then it is not news. News is a fact of an event or a fact of an
opinion which is constructed by journalists. While the figure of Prime
Minister Najib still has a news value," he said.
Writing news should be based on facts and not based on rumors, Aat
said, adding that based on experience in the Indonesian, press freedom
could be either good or bad for a society.
"In the good side, the press freedom tells transparency and
openness in expressing opinions, while in the bad side, when the press
freedom comes to uncontrollable rallies, it could result in unstable
economic condition and when media coverages go beyon the limit, it could
trigger intertribal conflicts," he said.
Aat also explained that in Indonesia there are 12 major media groups
that have all channels whether in print, broadcast and online media,
in addition to two public media namely TVRI (the Indonesian public
television station) and RRI (the Indonesian public radio station).
According to Aat, freedom of the press in Indonesia is protected by
Article 28 of the 1945 Constitution, Law Number 9 of 1998 on Freedom
of Expression in Public, Law Number 39 of 1999 on Human Rights, Law
Number 40 of 1999 on the Press, and Law Number 14 of 2008 on Public
information.
At the question and answer session, one of the students asked about
ANTARAs coverages of mass rallies to take place on November 4.
In response to that question, Aat Surya Syafaat said the rallies
were expected to take place in a safe and peaceful condition,
otherwise, investors may not come and tourists may not visit Indonesia.
"Journalists must uphold diversity. Indonesia has ethnic groups of
Bugis, Sunda, China and so on. News should be neutral and take side with
the truth. It must be independent. Then the news should be derived from
clear sources. News should be enlightening, educating and
empowering,"he said.
On that occasion, Aat gave motivation to the students that the field
of communications offered many good job opportunities both in the field
of journalism and public relations, and therefore students must
continue to practice writing, photography and broadcasting.
Malaysian Students Keen To Attend Class On Press Freedom in RI
Sabtu, 5 November 2016 14:49 WIB