Media Prima deputy group managing editor Mohd Ashraf Abdullah agreed in the Kuala Lumpur High Court today that TV3 had made no attempt to verify a tweet by Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin of Perak PAS.
Under cross-examination, Ashraf, 45, also agreed one of the most important requirements in journalism is that of verification.
He was the first witness for the respondents in a RM50 million defamation suit by Nizar against Sistem Televisyen (M) Bhd and TV3 producer Rohani Ngah.
Ashraf had previously served with New Straits Times Sdn Bhd as a reporter and Kuantan bureau chief, as well as London correspondent.
He agreed with Nizar's lawyer Mohd Fikri Asmuni that news relating to Nizar and the Johor sultan could be considered ‘big’ because of the personalities involved.
Mohd Fikri: Do you agree there is need for verification of the news from the source?
Ashraf: Yes.
Mohd Fikri: As this case involves public figures and as this may affect any one of them (in terms of reputation), do you agree that there was a need to verify with the plaintiff (Nizar)?
Ashraf: I do not agree.
Mohd Fikri: Do you agree that TV3 as a reputable organisation had made no attempt to contact the plaintiff?
Ashraf: I agree.
Mohd Fikri: So there are no visuals or recording on getting Nizar's response?
Ashraf: Yes.
Nizar had earlier testified that TV3's Buletin Utama report had defamed him by twisting his tweet that the Johor sultan's bid for the WWW1 number-plate had ‘used public funds’, which he had never said in the tweet.
He also said that, on May 30, when the report was aired, he had been at home and that there was no attempt by TV3 to contact him.
[More to follow]
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