Media Forum: Commonwealth Should Be More Active In Engaging Media

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The Commonwealth should play a more active role in engaging the media to promote a higher level of awareness of its activities, as well as keeping the association relevant.

This was the conclusion by Institute of Public Relations (PR) Malaysia (IPRM) fellow Shahreen Kamaluddin, who acted as moderator for the five-panel discussion on the topic, 'How the Malaysian Mainstream and Social Media can promote the Commonwealth and Lessons that can be learned from the current lack of awareness among Youth on the Association'.

The session was held in conjunction with the three-day Commonwealth Association for Public Administration and Management (CAPAM) biennial conference at the Putrajaya International Convention Centre (PICC) which ends today..

Speaking as a PR expert, Shahreen said the Commonwealth should put more effort in befriending the media, as well as providing it with newsworthy stories to report.

Earlier, Commonwealth Press Union (CPU) Media Trustee, John Spencer of the United Kingdom (UK) said that media reports should be free from promoting any body, including the Commonwealth.

However, he stressed that journalists should take the initiative in coming up with good stories on the Commonwealth communities.

"There are a lot of interesting stories from the Commonwealth countries. It is just a matter of searching for them. It is (however) not the job of a journalist to write in favour of any organisation," he said during the discussion.

Besides Spencer, other panelists included Malaysian Press Institute CEO Datuk Chamil Wariya, Media Prima Berhad Group Advisor (Corporate Social Responsibilty), Datuk Ahmad A. Talib, Malay Mail Group Editor-in-Chief Datuk Wong Sai Wan and ABN Media Group Editor Balan Moses.

Moses highlighted the importance of having a symbiotic relationship among all 53 member countries in areas of education, art and economics, in which Malaysia could take the lead.

He said having English as the common language among the members would easily help in sharing and exchanging knowledge and culture.

"There are so many commonalities between the members. We need to work at it. The government and private sector need to work on it and see how we can benefit from it. I believe we have a win-win situation," he said.

Moses also suggested that a Commonwealth village be set up in Malaysia to encourage the idea through activities like writing festivals for youths in the Commonwealth countries.

Wong pointed out that the association needed to stop reminiscing on its historical glory if it wished to be more relevant with the young.

Describing the association as 'boring', he said that the young audience was more interested to know about their future rather than something of the past.

Ahmad suggested that in order to engage the youth, the Commonwealth could appoint its famous athletes, such as the world's fastest sprinter Usain Bolt of Jamaica, as the Commonwealth icon.

"Except for the Commonwealth Games, not many people know of the Commonwealth and benefits it brings to the people. Therefore, efforts should be done swiftly and consistently, to promote the Commonwealth not only to benefit the government, but also private sectors, NGOs (non-governmental organisations), and individuals," he said.

Ahmad also shared his findings that only 14,000 Twitter users followed the Commonwealth page, as compared to more than 3.1 million users who followed the renowned Italian footballer Mario Barotelli who played for the English club Liverpool.

By Ainul Huda Mohamad Said & Nur Ashikin Abdul Aziz

-- BERNAMA