Media given freedom to cover GE15, says Zahidi

PADANG BESAR: Local media are given the freedom to cover the 15th General Election (GE15) but they are asked only to report authentic news, said caretaker deputy communications and multimedia minister Datuk Zahidi Zainul Abidin.

“We (ministry) have been practising an open policy for a long time, not only to the media associated with the government, but other media are also given freedom,” he said yesterday.

Zahidi, an independent candidate contesting the Padang Besar parliamentary seat and Titi Tinggi state seat, said the news reported by the media must be transparent and true without touching on matters related to racially sensitive issues which could cause conflict between multi-ethnic communities in this country.

“The media is given freedom; we only ask that the news disseminated is correct and must be true,” he said.

Zahidi said that he saw the news reports throughout GE15 thus far were balanced. — Bernama