National Seminar on Development Journalism 19-21 Sha'ban 19-21 1413 / 11-13 February 1993 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Abstract

This seminar, organized by the Asian Institute for Development
Communication in collabomtion with the Asia Foundation, was attended
by thirty journalists and media professionals from Malaysia. Among the
resource persons were Mochtar Lubis (Chairman, Press Foundation of
Asia) and S. M. Ali (Chief Editor, Daily Star, Bangladesh).
The seminar was opened by Riley Haji Jeffrey (Deputy Minister of
Information, Malaysia), who discussed the importance and the need for
development journalism to achieve the goal of Vision 2020 (i.e., becoming
a fully "developed country" by 2020). He said that "mass media
should not deprive people of in-depth analysis or exposition of issues in
the social, economic, cultural , and environmental fields." James R. Klein
(Representative, Asia Foundation) analyzed the complementary roles of
editors and journalists in fulfilling the objectives of development journalism.
Khairul Bashar (Executive Director, Aidcom) outlined the seminar's
goal: to offer a forum for senior journalists and media executives
to exchange views, identify issues, and recommend methodologies for
training in development journalism.
The "Satellite Teleconferencing" session, which focussed on investigative
qxxthg, featured an Asian panel of senior journalists and American
journalists. This was organized with technical assistance from the
United States Information Service. The Asian panelists were Philip Matthews,
Mochtar Lubis, s. M. Ali, Gamsudin Rahim, and Islami Lustapa.
American panelists were Bell Dedman and Jonathan Newman. This panel
discussed investigative journalism as practiced in the United States and
on sharing the norms followed in practicing the same skills in Asia.
The panel on "Development Journalism: Challenges and Future Direction"
was chaired by Haji A. Samad Ismail (Chairman, Panel of National
Information Policy, Malaysia). Participants included Mochtar Lubis, S. M.
Ali, Kadir Jasin (Group Editor, New Straits Z'imes, Malaysia), Abdul Rahman
Sulaiman (Editor-in-Chief, Bernama [Malaysian News Agency]),
Haji Mazlan Nordin (Chairman, Bernama), and Samsudin Abdul Rahim
(Head, Communication Department, National University of Malaysia).
The panel made the following points: development journalism should
always portray changes that should be humanized; the process of adjust ...