CIJ2 

The Centre for Independent Journalism is organising a forum at Pusat Rakyat LoyarBurok. Admission is free and no registration needed.  Details are as below.

Forum: “What price, media freedom?” by Centre for Independent Journalism (CIJ)

Date: 1 June 2011 (Wednesday)

Time: 8:30 – 10:00pm

Location: Pusat Rakyat LoyarBurok, 3-4, 4th Floor, Jalan Bangsar Utama 3, 59000, KL

(To get to Pusat Rakyat LB: It’s a five-minute walk from Putra LRT Bangsar stop; cut through Menara UOA Bangsar, head toward Komplek Niaga Utama, but turn into the one-way uphill road right before the complex. Pusat Rakyat LB is in the row of shoptlots on your right.)

Synopsis:

For RM1.20, we get a newspaper to supply us with our daily diet of news and views that are supposed to matter to us. But this newspaper is tethered to the federal government via the Printing Presses and Publications Act (PPPA) and/or is spouted out from the mouths of some ruling political parties.

On the other hand, we can often read online news that’s free, in both content and price. But, is online media sustainable? There’s no such thing as a free lunch. Who is footing the bill for news that is politically free but financially not so? After the downscaling of thenutgraph.com last year, another online media, Merdeka Review, (Chinese and Malay) may soon end its operations if it cannot find new investors in time.

Hence, can media be possibly free? If yes, who pays for it?

Giving their 2sen (in BM, English and Mandarin):

MOHAMED HA’TA WAHARI, National Union of Journalists (NUJ) president, former senior journalist with Utusan Malaysia

WONG CHIN HUAT, political activist, columnist, journalism lecturer

(Third speaker to be confirmed)

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Forum: “Harga kebebasan media” oleh Pusat Kewartawanan Bebas (CIJ)

Tarikh: 1 Jun 2011 (Rabu)

Masa: 8.30 – 10:00pm

Tempat: Pusat Rakyat LB, Tingkat 4, No. 3-4, Jln Bangsar Utama 3, Bangsar Utama Kuala Lumpur

(Dari stesen Bangsar Putra LRT, ambil jalan pintas menerusi Menara UOA Bangsar, ikut hala Komplek Niaga Utama, tetapi ambil jalan sehala sebelum kompleks itu di sebelah kanan. Pusat Rakyat LB berada dalam barisan kedai di kanan anda.)

Sinopsis:

Dengan RM1.20, kita boleh membeli senaskah suratkhabar untuk mendapatkan berita dan pendapat yang sepatutnya penting untuk kita. Tetapi suratkhabar ini diikat kepada kerajaan persekutuan melalui Akta Mesin Cetak dan Penerbitan (PPPA) dan/atau diludah keluar dari dalam mulut beberapa parti politik yang berkuasa.

Namun kita masih ada alternatif; kita boleh membaca berita dalam talian yang percuma dan bebas. Tetapi bolehkah media dalam talian terus beroperasi tanpa mengenakan apa-apa bayaran untuk kandungannya? Tak ada benda percuma dalam dunia ini. Siapakah yang membayar kos untuk berita yang bebas dari segi politik tetapi tidak pula dari segi kewangan? Setelah thenutgraph.com terpaksa menurunkan skala operasi pada tahun lepas, satu lagi media dalam talian, Merdeka Review, (Bahasa Cina dan Melayu) mungkin terpaksa berhenti jika tidak dapat mencari pelabur baru.

Jadi, bolehkan media wujud secara bebas dan percuma? Jika ya, siapa yang membiayai atau membayar ia?

Dengar pandangan (dalam Bahasa Melayu, Inggeris dan Mandarin):

MOHAMED HA’TA WAHARI, presiden Kesatuan Wartawan Kebangsaan, bekas wartawan kanan Utusan Malaysia

WONG CHIN HUAT, aktivis politik-kolumnis-pensyarah

(Penceramah ketiga belum dipastikan)

 

Malaysian Centre for Constitutionalism and Human Rights (MCCHR) is a non-profit based in Kuala Lumpur with the mission of promoting active democratic participation and human rights awareness.