KUALA LUMPUR, May 16 — Senior Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob today said that the government will come up with standard operating procedures (SOP) for media practitioners during the Covid-19 pandemic after pictures of reporters and photographers not adhering to social distancing while covering the Friday Prayers at National Mosque yesterday was widely shared on social media.
Ismail said in the future, organisers must ensure areas are marked and there is adequate space for the media.
He also suggested limiting the coverage of certain events to only a small number of the press if space, where the event is being held, is congested.
“We will discuss with the organisers... maybe the media did not know prior to coverage that some places are too small. But I think the media practitioners know about the basic Covid-19 SOP such as social distancing and if they see a congested area, they should avoid entering.
“However, I agree that the organisers of any event must mark the areas for media to do their coverage and if the space is too congested, maybe they can limit the coverage to certain media,” he said during his daily press conference today.
Yesterday, a social media post depicting media practitioners covering the Friday prayers at the National Mosque in Kuala Lumpur went viral as social media users debated whether the media had failed in ensuring social distancing between them while doing their job.
Some online users blamed the media for failing to maintain their distance while several media practitioners explained the incident happened as there was no adequate space for them to take pictures as the area provided by the mosque staff was too small.
Ismail said he has received a report on the incident and advised media personnel to ensure social distancing is adhered to at all times.
