Media Innovation Fund recipients must avoid laying off staff arbitrarily - Fahmi

 

Media companies receiving the RM30 million Media Innovation Fund 2.0 must not lay off employees arbitrarily, even if they face financial constraints, says Communications Minister Fahmi Fadzil.

Instead, he urged media organisations experiencing operational or financial difficulties to approach him to discuss possible assistance, stressing that the government wanted to prevent media workers from losing their jobs.

“If any media company is facing any problems, please inform me. We want to ensure that media workers do not face hardship as a result of being laid off.

“If possible, I do not want a single person to lose their job. Disciplinary issues are a different matter, but if the problem is financial, please approach me. I am very approachable, and we will do our best to help.”

Fahmi said this to reporters after the launch of a health screening programme for journalists, organised in collaboration with Yayasan Cardiac Vascular Sentral Kuala Lumpur (CVSKL), in conjunction with the Malaysian Media Council's (MMC) 2026 annual general meeting today.

Also present were Bernama chief executive officer Nur-ul Afida Kamaludin, CVSKL Foundation chairperson Rashpal Singh, ECM Libra Foundation chairperson Kalimullah Masheerul Hassan and MMC chairperson Nallini Pathmanathan.

Elaborating, Fahmi said the media industry was facing mounting challenges as a significant portion of advertising expenditure had shifted from mainstream media to social media platforms.

He said the government introduced the Media Innovation Fund to help media organisations diversify their revenue streams and explore new sources of income.

“I do not want to see many journalists losing their jobs because media companies are forced to shut down,” he said, noting that several media organisations had laid off employees in recent years.

Fahmi also said he had received information that some fund recipients had decided to lay off staff, although the reasons had yet to be established.

Asked about reports that a media company had issued termination notices to employees, he said he would invite its management, editorial representatives and MMC representatives to discuss the matter further.

- Bernama