KUALA LUMPUR: Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) Information chief Datuk Razali Idris has taken a swipe at Communications Minister Fahmi Fadzil over the latter's recent remarks on the issuance of media cards.
Razali, in a strongly worded statement on his Facebook page, labelled the minister's statement as disrespectful and an insult to media practitioners in the country.
"Let us not fool the people and media practitioners about the function of media cards compared with licences in other professions, such as medicine, law, architecture or engineering," he said.
"Thus far, media practitioners have been aware of the accreditation process for media cards issued by the Information Department through official registration, screening and approval to enable the media to operate freely without restrictions for their assignments."
Razali added that the question is whether there are rumours to tighten regulations for media card approvals, shorten the validity period, control the proliferation of online media practitioners, and restrict media freedom at present.
He chided Fahmi and urged him to respect the professionalism of the media and journalism, which have their own institutions.
"Remember, the champions of independence, nation-building and the dissemination of knowledge come from the sweat that never knows the meaning of exhaustion, namely journalists and media practitioners," Razali ended the statement.
Yesterday, Fahmi, in an event in Petaling Jaya, said the issuance of media cards was not akin to licensing for professions like doctors or lawyers.
However, Fahmi said media cards were issued by the Information Department (JaPen) specifically to facilitate journalists' access to cover government events.
"You do not need a media card to work or function as a journalist," he was quoted.
"This is not akin to being called to the bar… and we do not have any specific act that allows or licences a journalist to report.
"These cards are not professional licences like those for lawyers or doctors," he said.