KUALA LUMPUR: The Alliance for Safe Community has called for the government to establish a body to accredit journalists.
Its chairman Tan Sri Lee Lam Thye said the accreditation should be similar to professional organisations that set standards for professionalism.
"It may be useful to give journalists the kind of training and tools to separate the wheat from the chaff, think critically, resist intimidation, and give the public all the news that is fit to print," he said in a statement in conjunction with National Journalists Day 2022 (Hawana) celebrated today.
He said if the public wants independent journalism, they must do their part to make it happen by giving them proper recognition and support.
He said that such support must be given alike to other frontliners.
"We must also ensure that they have safe working environments including providing them with personal protective equipment (PPE), similar to those supplied to other frontliners," he added.
He paid tribute to newsmen including photographers and other media personnel who have often been the forgotten heroes and have had to overcome challenges and face hardships on a daily basis to bring news, both good and bad.
At times, he said they have been accused of being biased, of cowering to authority, or of being partisan.
However, journalists have borne all these accusations and never wavered to bring news through various means.
He said media practitioners are often among the first on the scene of a crime, an accident, or a landslide and are always present at important national and social events.
"In fact, they never miss a beat when it comes to keeping us informed and abreast of events and occasions that impact our lives on a daily basis," he said.
May 29 was gazetted as National Journalist Day (Hawana) in conjunction with the publication of the first newspaper edition in Malaysia, which is Utusan Melayu on May 29, 1939, which became the first media platform in Malaysia.
The inaugural Hawana celebration themed "Defending the Nation, Building the Country", held on April 11, 2018, at the Matrade Exhibition and Convention Centre in Kuala Lumpur was attended by about 1,000 media practitioners from all over the country.
On Nov 30, 2021, the government agreed to maintain May 29 each year as National Journalists Day.