KUCHING, A veteran newsman hopes that the 2024 National Journalists' Day (HAWANA 2024) celebration slated for May 25 to 27 here will leave an everlasting impact on the journalism landscape in the country. Utusan Sarawak Editorial Executive Advisor Kadir Dikoh said the awareness of the important role of journalists in nation-building should not only be confined during the celebration period but should also leave a permanent mark on the profession. 'I hope this HAWANA can do something to reform journalism overall, not only here (in Sarawak) but also throughout (the country). There should be follow-up programmes, maybe like a session between journalists with all government departments,' he said. Speaking to Bernama here, the former Berita Harian Associate Editor also said investigative journalism would be one of the aspects that need to be improved in reforming the profession in order for media practitioners to contribute effectively. 'At the same time, they (journalists) can send some sort of signals for t he authorities not to be too shy or too secretive when journalists ask for information. Give a leeway a bit and not to be too confidential,' he said. Having been in the journalism industry since the early 1980s, Kadir said present journalists were also facing the challenge of keeping up with the rapidly changing technology, which demanded them to continuously update and upgrade their knowledge. He said the advancement of artificial intelligence (AI) would just be one of the many challenges which journalists had to face which would become a tool they could benefit from should they have sufficient knowledge to master it. 'I learnt that AI would be one of the issues to be highlighted in this HAWANA but, at the same time, I do hope media or communication faculties at universities would take another step further to introduce AI as one of their core subjects,' he added. With the theme 'Etika Teras Kewartawanan Mapan', more than 1,000 media practitioners, representatives from local journalist associations, and m edia representatives from ASEAN member countries are invited to attend HAWANA 2024, which serves as an important platform for the professional media fraternity and industry experts to exchange ideas and form strategic relationships. The Malaysia's largest annual gathering of journalists is organised by the Ministry of Communications in collaboration with the Sarawak State Government, while the Malaysian National News Agency (Bernama) is the implementing agency. Source: BERNAMA News Agency