Dialogue a success

29/06/2003

THE Olympic Council of Malaysia (OCM) held a seminar on `The Media and
National Sports Associations - Bridging The Gap' at the Astro headquarters
in Kuala Lumpur yesterday and it received overwhelming response in the
number of participants and suggestions on how to foster a better working
relationship.
The minor National Sports Associations (NSAs) highlighted their
difficulty in getting news published in the print media or broadcasted
over the electronic media, but were told to do their homework first.
Malaysian Tenpin Bowling Congress (MTBC) secretary Sidney Tung, who was
the first speaker, spoke on how from a parlour sport, MTBC took bowling up
the ladder of success.
"When I took over as MTBC secretary in 1980, there was very little news
on bowling in the media because we were not even considered a minor sport.
We were categorised as a parlour sport and people spent their free
weekends bowling at a handful of alleys in the country.
"I tried to get the attention of the media by sending in results of our
tournaments but for a few years, nothing was printed by newspapers.
"I remember clearly that the first major news on bowling was reported
when P.S. Nathan (now Datuk) went to a tournament in the United States and
a few paragraphs came out in the New Straits Times.
"That short story ignited my sagging morale and I started to send more
articles to the Press and after more than 20 years of developing our
athletes and working closely with the media, bowling is now a major sport
in the country and we have produced numerous role models with the latest
being Shalin Zulkifli," said Tung.
In short, the minor NSAs must first have a sound development programme
and develop medallists in regional games, at least, before they have the
right to ask for publicity.
OCM secretary Datuk Sieh Kok Chi, in his opening address, cautioned NSAs
not to expect too much from the media.
"Of course the media is a very important tool to influence people for
their support. So important that many people feel the media can make or
break an organisation.
"While we are fully aware of the benefits the media can provide for
sports, at the same time, I must emphasise that it is not one-way traffic.
"Sports is equally important to the media because it provides news or
contents, thereby increasing their circulation and revenue from
advertising, and providing job opportunity to a large number of people.
"To me, the media is neither friend nor foe, but a partner. Whatever
differences we think we have are merely temporary and are mostly due to
the misunderstanding of our roles and high expectations the sports people
expect of the media," said Sieh.
The second speaker was Nestle sports marketing manager Datuk Dina Rizal
who spoke on how sponsors can benefit if they have a good working
relationship with the NSAs and the media.
Then it was Malaysian Hockey Federation (women's section) secretary Dr
S. Shamala's turn and she highlighted the importance of the World Wide Web
and the free service provided by the OCM to its affiliates who want to
have a homepage.
The media panel was made up of Timesport acting sports editor Lazarus
Rokk, Malay Mail sports editor Johnson Fernandez and former sports
journalist George Das.
(END)