IF there are more dedicated media union leaders and practising newsmen/persons of current NUJ president's mould. Imay join upas member of National Press Club soon, and mayhaps, contest the Presidency eh!:) OR :( New brooms sweep the dust from under the carpet, red or blue. Desi salutes Hata Wahari, a newsdog after my he-ART! `` ~~ YL
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New chief promises a renewed journalists’ union
By Shazwan Mustafa Kamal
October 02, 2010
KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 2 — While not quite a veteran unionist, Hata Wahari reminisces a lot about the glory days of when being part of a union actually meant something.
Going back to the 1980s, the Utusan Malaysia journalist said that the thing that he missed the most was the ability to safeguard journalistic ethics, where protests were as much a part of his life as was writing articles.
“The union has not only been inactive for some time but we have been too quiet to the point where people think that we no longer exist,” explained the new National National Union of Journalists (NUJ) Malaysia president.
His bylines might be few in the Umno-owned newspaper but the 41-year-old journalist has been hitting the headlines in other dailies and news portals for being critical of Utusan’s direction lately.
Hata (picture) told The Malaysian Insider in an exclusive interview that as the union’s new chief, he wanted to ensure that the 48-year old union for Malaysian journalists remained relevant and reignited its push for its liberalisation of the mainstream media agenda.
“People today do not realise this, but we in the union have always dedicated ourselves to freedom of expression and pushing for the freedom of the press. There have been two main principles in the NUJ - upholding press freedom and taking care of the welfare of journalists.
“The problem affecting the union is that it has placed too much importance on bread and butter issues concerning the welfare of journalists over press freedom. This should not be the case. Under the new leadership, we want to change this,” said Hata.
His recent election as the new NUJ chief has not been without controversy.
The veteran journalist, who has been an Utusan Malaysia reporter since 1995, made his first impression as union president by attacking his own company for practicing “unethical” editorial policies.
He claimed that the Umno-owned daily’s existing policies, which only reserved positive reporting for Barisan Nasional (BN) had resulted in a sharp decline in the paper’s circulation in recent years.
“Ever since a political party took over Utusan in 1961, it has never been the same. The daily has since then reported news for the interests of political parties,” said Hata.
He said that the NUJ would push for Umno to release its hold on the Malay daily by “floating” its shares so that ordinary people can own the shares of the newspaper.
“As of right now, 51 per cent of Utusan’s shares belong to Umno,” said Hata.
The NUJ chief stressed as a part of the union’s renewed agenda for a free press, they will also urge the Najib Administration to abolish the Printing Presses and Publications Act (PPPA) 1984 as well as the Official Secrets Act (OSA) 1972.
The PPPA requires all print media in the country obtain a licence and abide by its strict regulations. The license or permit must be renewed annually in order to publish any form of news.
The OSA prohibits the dissemination of any information classified as an official secret.
“The government of the day cannot stifle journalists and tell them what they can write or not. If any print media is seen as aggressive, the government will take away and not renew our licence,” said Hata.
He maintained that existing laws were already in place to make sure that journalists remained ethical while reporting.
“Why do you want to control the media when we already have laws like the Sedition Act to make sure that journalists are responsible for what they write,” said Hata.
The unionist claimed that current restrictions surrounding print media has resulted in the rising popularity of online news portals as an altenative media source.
“Print newspapers are being suppressed by unfair laws, and we find ourselves not being able to keep up with the alternative media. Oddly enough, there have been no strong measures by the government against online news portals,” he said.
Hata also said that the printing and publishing of licenses need not be renewed on a yearly basis.
“The government should not give any time frame for renewing newspaper licenses. Let the newspaper circulations determine whether a newspaper can keep its licence or not,” said the union chief.
The NUJ represents some 1,300 members from eight media organisations.
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