Back to basic bilingual journalism...

Bernama can be great again if it upholds its bilingual journalism stance.

Media adviser to the Prime Minister, Datuk A.Kadir Jasin said Bernama had pioneered bilingual journalism in the ability of its reporters to write well in Bahasa Malaysia and English.

“I wouldn’t be able to improve my English without Bernama’s requirement for us to be bilingual,” recalled the veteran newsman of his early days as a Bernama reporter and later a stint as Bernama chairman.

He was asked for his opinion on how to make Bernama great again at a meeting with Bernama senior officials during his visit to Wisma Bernama here today.

In the conference room, which had his photograph alongside other former Bernama chairmen,  Datuk Kadir said Bernama journalists had an advantage to write in either language as compared to reporters who represented only the English or Malay language newspapers.

“You have to be bilingual…if the source speaks in BM, you write in BM,” he said.

It was also important for Bernama to ensure that new intakes were bilingual even though they may not possess high academic qualification.

“If we want to make Bernama great again, we need to excel in bilingual journalism…it’s very basic,” he said.

During his visit to Bernama, Datuk A. Kadir was also given a briefing on the news agency by Bernama Chief Executive Officer Datuk Zulkefli Salleh.

Also present were Bernama Chairman Datuk Seri Azman Ujang, Editor-in-Chief Datuk Zakaria Abd Wahab as well as other top management staff.