Bernama to strengthen colaboration with National Council Of Professors

KAJANG, Nov 27 -- The Malaysian National News Agency (Bernama) will strengthen its collaboration with the National Council of Professors (MPN) in a bid to enhance public understanding of certain issues.

Bernama chairman Senator Ras Adiba Radzi said the expertise and opinions of the distinguished professors were highly required especially in addressing technical issues and Bernama was ready to provide a platform for them.

She said this would also close the gap and enable the people to get access to the professors’ expertise.

“Bernama will continue to collaborate with distinguished professors in the country and we will ensure that they are accessible to the people.

“They are all intellectuals and from them, we can learn and understand (certain issues) so that our nation can be more successful,” she said after being a guest in the Minda Profesor Negara programme organised by MPN here today.

This was Ras Adiba‘s first appearance as Bernama chairman in a public event after being appointed to the post on Nov 23.

Meanwhile, MPN president cum chief executive officer Prof Datuk Dr Raduan Che Rose said professors were public intellectuals who were ready to share their expertise with the public.

He said they owed it to the country and the people as most of them were funded by the government to become experts in their respective fields.

“...what matters most is to have the platform. We have collaborated with Bernama in other programmes before, but the cooperation will be more meaningful with the involvement and support from the new chairman (of Bernama).

“We can arrange how we can highlight the expertise of the professors and to have a programme where we can share our thoughts and knowledge with the public,” he said.

Earlier in the programme titled Bernama dan Masa Depan Media Massa di Malaysia (Bernama and the Future of Mass Media in Malaysia), Ras Adiba explained that her main mission as Bernama chairman was to ensure all of Bernama’s platforms would be OKU or persons with disabilities-friendly.

She said news delivery, such as in infographic posters, should take into consideration the various aspects to ensure that persons with disabilities will not be left behind.

For example, she said the normal people would be able to grasp the information presented in the posters quite easily compared to the OKU who would need more time to comprehend and understand it.

“Hence, the need to ensure that we have one poster for the normal people and one that is more OKU-friendly. For the OKU, the posters must have a bigger logo, use a bigger font and the right colour as these are also important.

“I want the people to know that Bernama is an OKU-friendly agency, that we don’t discriminate. I want to ensure that while our OKU friends watch our (Bernama)TV channel and listen to Bernama Radio, they can also obtain information. Bernama is for all,” she said.

-- BERNAMA