THE NATIONAL Union of Journalists Peninsular Malaysia (NUJ) has criticised national newscaster Bernama’s threat to sue one of its outgoing TV broadcast presenters for defamation.
This comes after Bernama TV’s Mandarin News programme news reader Sydney Yap took to Facebook to air her grievances relating to wage and staffing problems at the media organisation.
NUJ secretary-general Chin Sung Chew said the trade union is deeply concerned over the incident and recommended all parties solve the issue amicably through the right channels and negotiations.
In a statement yesterday (Aug 10), Chew added that the benefits of journalists at Bernama should be improved from time to time to ensure they are not underpaid.
“NUJ is in the view that Bernama, as a Government news agency as well as an authoritative media organisation in the country, should always pay extra attention to the welfare and wages of their employees, journalists and media workers in particular,” he said.
He said Yap was merely speaking out on what had happened to her, in line with the principle of defending and fighting for better employee rights.
“NUJ doesn’t see any motive to slandering the company,” he added.
“Defending employee benefits is the fundamental right of every worker in any corporation. Therefore, the issue of ‘slandering’ the reputation of Bernama doesn’t exist.”
“Tarnished our image”
Bernama is of the view that Yap’s comments tarnished the image of the state-owned agency and even the Government.
It also dismissed her claim that staff at the Mandarin broadcast unit were facing pay cuts, saying new contracts were offered after Bernama acquired the unit from a private firm in 2019.
It said staff that were absorbed into Bernama at the time agreed to the wages offered during the interview process, and they are also offered annual increments every time their contracts are extended.
Bernama added that the manpower shortage was an industry-wide issue for Mandarin broadcasters, following Bernama Mandarin News’ broadcast days being reduced from seven days to five and in response to Yap’s claim that her team of five was reduced to three.
Meanwhile, human rights group Suara Rakyat Malaysia (SUARAM) said it was concerned that the defamation suit would create a chilling effect on journalism, which will further damage the “already backsliding” state of media freedom in Malaysia.
It made reference to Malaysia’s latest ranking on Reporters Without Borders’ (RSF) World Press Freedom Index 2022, where Malaysia was ranked in 113th place, a jump of six spots despite its overall score deteriorating from 60.53 to 51.55.
“Aside from working in an environment where press freedom is not guaranteed, the COVID-19 pandemic and the recent economic downturn have pushed the media industry into a more perilous state, where the welfare of reporters is regularly being cut or not prioritised,” SUARAM executive director Sevan Doraisamy noted.
He added that some of the issues that Yap raised, such as the welfare of news reporters, wage cuts, downsizing of news programmes, staff shortages and a bureaucratic hiring process, were “entirely appropriate and legitimate” labour issues.
“We, therefore, urge Bernama to retract all legal actions against Yap and instead focus its attention on addressing the issues that she has raised,” Sevan said.
Earlier today, it was reported that Bernama would not be suing Yap for now as its CEO Roslan Ariffin would prefer talking things out first. – Aug 11, 2022
Main photo credit: Bernama
