National Union of Journalists Peninsular Malaysia – Malaysia Trades Union Database

National Union of Journalists Peninsular Malaysia (NUJ) was established on 30 August 1962. After 60 years, today NUJ represents 1,400 media journalists in Malaysia.

NUJ’s membership is open to journalists employed by commercial firms, television, radio, film organisations, foreign governments in Peninsular Malaysia. NUJ has 8 branches at Berita Harian, Harian Metro, New Straits Times, The Sun, STAR Publications, Nanyang Siang Pau, Sin Chew Jit Poh and Kwong Wah Yit Poh.

The aim of NUJ is to promote the social, welfare and intellectual interests of its members. NUJ is the only union in journalism that can bargain collectively with employers for just remuneration, security of tenure and decent working conditions.

During the Covid-19 pandemic, NUJ launched a re-skilling fund to support journalists who were retrenched by media groups.

Consisting of professional journalists, NUJ also defends press freedom and upholds high ethical standards in the industry. NUJ has produced a code of ethics, emphasising that members of the public have the right to truth, right to fair comment and criticism.

Therefore, journalists must endeavour to produce reports based on facts and through a fair method, he or she must not suppress information or falsity documents. Plagiarism, slander, unfounded accusations and bribery are deemed serious offences.

For decades, NUJ has issued many press statements to condemn violence and harassment against journalists, and the proposed new fake news law.

In 2021, NUJ and International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) published a Malaysia Press Freedom Report titled “Locked Down : Screws Tighten on Press Freedom in Malaysia“, covering issues such as the impact of Covid-19 pandemic on press freedom, the delayed implementation of the proposed media council, gender bias against women.

Moreover, NUJ is a founding member of the Confederation of ASEAN Journalists, and an affiliate of the International Federation of Journalists.