The senior journalist, also president of the National Union of Journalists (NUJ), who was hauled before a domestic inquiry (DI) today, announced his new project, Utusan Rakyat.
Hata said today he had presented plans for the new newspaper to both PKR and Umno, adding that the newspaper would be non-partisan.
Hata, a journalist employed by Utusan Malaysia, has been accused of insulting Utusan’s management and tarnishing Utusan’s image through statements he issued to various news portals between September 21 and October 14 last year.
The NUJ president had also caused a stir when he urged the authorities to act againstUtusan’s editors for stoking racial sentiment in its reports.
He also blamed the drop in the national daily’s sales on the editors for pushing what he called racial rhetoric.
The newspaper had suspended Hata on January 11 pending a domestic inquiry.
It had initially scheduled a domestic inquiry on January 17, but postponed it until today.
“So that’s why I need to do something for press freedom. The only way is that I show to the people that this is how a newspaper should look,” Hata, who is also president of the Confederation of Asean Journalists, told reporters before the domestic inquiry here.
“That is part of my job as the president of NUJ,” he said.
Contrary to the report published by Utusan Malaysia yesterday, he presented the idea of theUtusan Rakyat to both PKR and Umno leaders, but had only received feedback from the opposition party.
The Utusan article claimed that PKR admitted that it has not voiced out Malay issues and now wants to publish a newspaper called Utusan Rakyat to cater to the Malay community.
The article claimed that the objective of the newspaper was to fight the influence of Utusan Malaysia among the Malays.
“Actually not just to PKR, I presented to a lot of investors about the paper concept regarding press freedom, ethical journalism.
“This is how newspapers should be in Malaysia. They should not be biased, we should be fair to all the parties,” he said.
Hata declined to disclose who his investors were but said that they were not politicians, but supporters of press freedom.
He said he has RM1.2 million to start off with after selling his five-hectare land, admitting that it was not a large sum, but a good starting point.
“The concept is already there, the design is already there, and the licence, we’ve already applied from KDN (Home Ministry).
“Once KDN approves the newspaper, then it can be published,” he said.
In the meantime, he said by the end of March the electronic version of Utusan Rakyat will be launched and made available to the public.
“See how the people react to the concept of the newspaper. So basically it’s non-biased, it’s not partisan,” he stressed.
Hata explained that Utusan Rakyat was a compilation of ideas from his colleagues who are supportive of him and the idea.
“I just want to give the true meaning to press freedom in Malaysia and I want to give something to the people, that we should fight for you, not for the party or anything else.
“I wanted to announce this after the DI. I didn’t know that Utusan will come out with a story. What Utusan came out with is wrong,” he said.
Utusan’s actions are reminiscent of its dismissal of a branch head of NUJ, Amran Ahmad, also an Utusan journalist, in September 2009.
Umno took over ownership of the Malay-language broadsheet in 1961 before which, Hata said, it was still credible and objective. - Malaysian Insider
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