By Syafiah Sakirin
PUTRAJAYA, 13 March 2023: A seminar on “The Ultimate Guide to Better Content” organized by The Communications and Multimedia Forum of Malaysia (CMCF) was held at Doubletree Hilton Putrajaya last month (27 February).
The CMCF is an independent industry forum registered under the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) that governs and promotes the creation, distribution, and consumption of electronic-networked content.
The first-panel discussion entitled, “Revamping of the Content Code: Looking Back and Moving Forward” involved a lineup of notable speakers:
- An Associate Professor from the Department of Communication, International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM), Assoc Prof. Dr. Aida Mokhtar.
- An Associate Professor of Communication and Media Studies from Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia (USIM), Assoc Prof. Dr. Nur Kareelawati Abdul Karim.
- The President of the Malaysian Advertisers Association (MAA), Claudian Navin Stanislaus.
- The General Manager at Media Prima Berhad, Shariman Zainal Abidin.
According to Assoc. Prof. Dr. Aida Mokhtar, revamping the Content Code is significant because the old code no longer has influences and endorsement compared to the current new code.
“We need to have a new content code so that we can adapt to the changing media industries and times as our motivation in revamping the Content Code,” she explained.
She also noted that more representations of people with disability through social media should be increased by content creators and advertising areas.
“There are advertisements that contain persons with a disability like Bernas and Astro. We need to educate everyone about the fact that among us, there are people who have disabilities and they also have the right to be included,” she added.
She then suggested that persons with disabilities can be encouraged to provide content creation or be a part of the content creation team.
“It’s not pity that they need the most, it’s empathy. People need to understand what they’re going through and make their life easier despite the challenges,” she underlined.
Meanwhile, Mr. Shariman shared that the code is a reflection of how humans use their social media as it shows their life and values and the Content Code should align with the soul of community and country.
“In coming up with the code, we should find something that addresses the values as much as possible. I’m sure the code and the people who create that has reached out to the widest possible number of people from various corners of communities and backgrounds,” he highlighted.
“Of course, we can’t satisfy everyone, but if we believe that what we are doing is the best for ourselves and everyone, then it is a good thing to do.” He added.
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nur Kareelawati insisted that research should be conducted to provide input to the Content Code.
“Perhaps some people don’t know about the code or misinterpret the usage of it to justify their actions, thus the best content code revamping that can be done is to come up with an explanation of the good and bad things based on empirical studies, ”she shared.
The first panel discussion was conducted live on CMCF’s Facebook page and was hosted by the Co-founder and Managing Director of Metamorfosa Sdn Bhd, Kudsia Kahar. ***