KUALA LUMPUR, March 10 -- The government should expedite the establishment of a foundation to assist media practitioners especially those who were laid-off due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Malaysian Press Institute (MPI) chief executive officer Datuk Dr Chamil Wariya said the proposal made by the Communications and Multimedia Ministry could assist 3,000 media practitioners who were left jobless due to digital disruption and COVID-19 since two to three years ago.
“The government must also give ample allocation to ensure the foundation can function effectively,’’ he said in a statement here, today.
Apart from the foundation, MPI also urged the government to provide a stimulus package to assist media organisations affected by the COVID-19 pandemic or otherwise more media practitioners would lose their jobs.
It said the stimulus package could be in the form of corporate tax reduction, exemption from sales and services tax (SST) imposed on media products and aggressive purchase of advertisement space by the government.
“The stimulus package is important to ensure that media practitioners in this country remain healthy economically and financially to enable them to play a role as a legitimate information provider to combat false news,” Chamil said.
On March 9, Deputy Communications and Multimedia Minister Datuk Zahidi Zainul Abidin said the ministry plans to set up a special foundation to help media industry practitioners who have lost their jobs.
-- BERNAMA
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