Understanding sustainable journalism in Malaysia: Lesson learned from Tokyo 2020
List of Authors
  • Awan Ismail , Hafezdzullah Mohd Hassan

Keyword
  • Sustainable journalism, Malaysian journalist, SDGs, convergence theory, Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games

Abstract
  • Sustainable journalism can be considered as a new genre that has been recently adapted in journalism practice. This genre is merely to challenge journalists’ ability to fortify the function of media in society as well as promoting the SDGs, which have been adopted by all United Nations Member States since 2015. Sustainable journalism is expected to equip all nations, especially future generations, with the knowledge and actions needed to live in peace and prosperity to remain sustainable. However, how many journalists in Malaysia really understand what SDGs are all about? Hence, this research was conducted to see the extent of Malaysian journalists’ understanding about SDGs and sustainable journalism. A qualitative study using in-depth interviews was conducted with prominent journalists and specialist from different news organizations in Malaysia. Convergence theory was used to guide this study, and both thematic and textual analysis were employed to analyze the rich qualitative data from the interviews. Findings revealed that Malaysian journalists and specialist understood the genre. However, their knowledge about the concept was very much on the surface because most of the news organizations in Malaysia did not fully understand the concept of sustainable development. Therefore, they might not know how to adopt and adapt sustainable journalism in their practice. Nonetheless, this study also found that Malaysian journalists were moving towards applying the genre as a practice for their news organizations. In fact, they were committed to maintain its integrity and present the truth to overcome the journalism crisis.

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