KUCHING, Five journalists from Sarawak will be recognised with the Sarawak Premier Special Awards during the National Journalists’ Day (HAWANA) 2024, to be held here from May 25 to 27.
Without elaborating on the criteria for the award recipients, Deputy Minister in the Sarawak Premier’s Office (Corporate Affairs, Information and Sarawak Public Communications Unit (UKAS)), Datuk Abdullah Saidol said the recipients will be announced during the presentation ceremony for the Tokoh HAWANA Award.
“The good news is that five Sarawak media practitioners have been chosen for the Sarawak Premier Special Awards… we also seek support from the Premier (Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg) to continue funding the Kenyalang Journalism Awards,” he said.
He told this to reporters after the Sarawak Media Conference 2024 and HAWANA 2024 Steering Committee Meeting here today.
Commenting on the HAWANA programme’s activities, Abdullah said that media practitioners, especially those from outside Sarawak, will be taken to visit sev
eral iconic locations around Kuching city, such as the State Legislative Assembly building, the Borneo Cultural Museum and Dataran Ibu Pertiwi, as a token of appreciation for visiting Sarawak.
“We want to ensure that HAWANA held in Sarawak is the best and that over 300 media representatives from Peninsular Malaysia and abroad are involved in the tour programme to showcase the highest level of hospitality for journalists.
“We want to expose journalists who have never worked in Sarawak to the developments, not only in terms of infrastructure but also the current situation in Sarawak, which is quite different from before,” he said, adding that a total of 20 booths and exhibitions will be set up during HAWANA.
With the theme “Ethics at the Core of Sustainable Journalism,” more than 1,000 media practitioners, representatives from local journalist associations, and media representatives from ASEAN member countries are invited to attend HAWANA 2024, which serves as an important platform for the professional media
fraternity and industry experts to exchange ideas and form strategic relationships.
Malaysia’s largest gathering of journalists is organised by the Ministry of Communications in collaboration with the Sarawak State Government, while the Malaysian National News Agency (Bernama) is the implementing agency for the annual event.
Also present at today’s meeting were Ministry of Communications Deputy Secretary-General (Strategic Communications and Creative Industry) Nik Kamaruzaman Nik Husin and Bernama Editor-in-Chief, D. Arul Rajoo.
Source: BERNAMA News Agency