IN any vibrant and mature democracy, the media has a crucial role to play as an agent of check and balance on the government of the day.
Malaysians are witnessing that phenomenon, with the media enjoying a greater space and freedom to play that role more effectively.
A more heartening sign is the gradual transformation of Bernama, our national news agency.
The respected 51-year-old agency is evolving its role as not just a provider of government news, but more importantly, as an increasingly credible source of local news.
It is now operating true to its objectives, set out in the 1967 Bernama Act of Parliament, which stated that Bernama must seek for, and present complete, objective and impartial news or news material on any matter of public and national interests within and outside the country.
Bernama must also distribute such news or news material to subscribers on payment, either in the form of fees or news exchange or both; and to report truthfully and fairly, without prejudice to public and national interest, the views of all sections of the population of Malaysia.
The editorial policy, being shaped by the new Bernama management, must uphold these objectives. We are seeing some positive results so far.
The Bernama coverage of the 2020 Budget and the myriad of high profile court cases has been exceptional, to say the least, keeping both Bernama paid subscribers and their readers quite happy.
The recent hiring of some experienced media hands plus the commitment of the current editors may have helped contribute to the overall improvement of the Bernama news content, be it TV or wire or online or radio.
The improved work culture and the change management are helping to transform Bernama too.
Bernama TV, or known as Bernama News Channel, is now watched by a total of 2.4 million viewers a month, compared to 1.1 million before the 14th General Election.
The Bernama news portal, Bernama.com, is now being accessed by more than 10 million visitors a month, a significant increase compared with three million visitors before GE14.
With government support, Bernama can and should play a bigger role as a news and content powerhouse, just as the BBC in the UK.
The Communications and Multimedia Ministry could consider, for a start, allowing Bernama to run the RTM newsroom to make RTM news broadcast more appealing and gain wider audiences.
Kudos to the minister and team at Bernama for embarking on this transformation.
We wish you the best.
A.J. HASSAN
Taman Tun Dr Ismail, Kuala Lumpur