JOHOR BAHRU (Dec 20): A digital portal is to be set up under a joint venture among the Malaysian National News Agency (Bernama), Radio Televisyen Malaysia (RTM) and the Information Department (JAPEN) to tackle the challenges of the digital media.

Announcing this today, Communications and Multimedia Minister Gobind Singh Deo said Bernama, RTM and JAPEN had the manpower and infrastructure which can be upgraded with new technology, enabling the three agencies to compete with existing digital media.

“We are looking at how to set up a joint-venture project among the Information Department, Bernama and RTM so that we can provide digital services. I want to make sure that we can compete with other media, especially social media.

“As we can see, there are now many new portals which draw much interest because they bring breaking news to the public fast.

“This is something we are looking at and studying. Perhaps by the first quarter of next year, we will make an announcement. This is among the plans we will implement next year,” he told reporters at the Johor Broadcasting Department office here.