Berita RTM

Berita RTM (lit. 'RTM News', stylised as BERITA rtm), also known as Saluran Berita RTM (lit. 'RTM News Channel'), or BES (Berita Ehwal Semasa, lit. 'Current Affairs News') is a free-to-air Malaysian television news channel owned and operated by Radio Televisyen Malaysia (RTM). With 'Yang Sahih di Berita RTM' (Trustworthy at RTM News) as its corporate slogan, the network is headquartered at the Wisma Berita RTM in Angkasapuri and was launched on 25 June 2020 alongside its television channel at 7.45 pm (MST) and broadcast via myFreeview channel 123. It broadcasts specialised news covering of current affairs and talk shows in high definition (HD). Berita RTM channel broadcast 24 hours a day covering a wide range of languages, mainly in Malay, English, Mandarin and Tamil in addition to East Malaysian languages: Iban, Kadazan, Dusun and Bajau.

The dynamic transformation of the new channel also offers a variety of features compared to other TV channels as it broadcasts its multimedia news from 12 noon to 2 pm followed by 7 pm to 9 pm. The channel is live-streamed on RTM's streaming service, RTM Klik, and on Youtube.

History
Prior to Berita RTM's launch, Malaysia has only two news channels, namely Astro Awani, owned and operated by satellite television operator, Astro and Bernama TV, owned and operated by news agency, Bernama.

The channel began its trial broadcast on 30 December 2018 and began official broadcast on 25 June 2020 and officiated by the then-Minister of Communications and Multimedia, Saifuddin Abdullah as part of government’s initiative to counter the fake news.

Beginning 1 April 2021, in conjunction with RTM's 75th anniversary, East Malaysian language news (Iban, Kadazan, Dusun and Bajau) are also available on the channel besides on sister channel TV Okey. Beginning 14 February 2023, RTM airs both the morning and evening parliamentary sessions live on the channel.

On 1 October 2023, Berita RTM underwent a major revamp on its news timeslot and programme restructuring. At the same time, a special segment called Biar Betul began to aired on the channel and its sister channel, TV1 as well as RTM's social media platforms.

Programming
Berita RTM focusing on news and news-related programs broadcast 24 hours daily in 4 languages: Malay, English, Mandarin and Tamil. It is one of the two Malaysian television news channel broadcast in multilingual. The other being Bernama TV.

The channel offers 25 daily news slots, 12 talk shows a week, five business news days and two weekly magazine programs that contribute to the empowerment of the public with a wealth of information. The channel also simulcasts news programmes originally targeted at TV1 and TV2 viewers. The network also allows viewers to watch multi-language radio news broadcasts as well as live broadcasts from RTM radio stations across the country which also discuss specific issues at the state level. One of the network’s TV programmes is Pastikan Sahih (Ensure Trustworthy), a TV program aimed to combatting viral fake news. It aired at 6.30 pm Weekdays.

Controversy
On 11 May 2021, the Mandarin news segment shown on Berita RTM broadcast a report of Israel's airstrike against Palestine, which the news presenter mistakenly labelling Hamas as a 'militants'. Following the incident, two RTM Mandarin news editors have been called to give an explanation and have been issued a show-cause letters. RTM later issued an apology in its Twitter account over the incident.

Notable people in Berita RTM
•Harjit Singh Hulton

•Fathil Hidayat Ghazali (now RTM Perlis Director)

•Azizah Ariffin

•Sharifah Shawati

•Tengku Permaisuri Norashikin (stage name Norashikin Abdul Rahman)

•Azrul Azila Amir

•Haslina Samsudin

•Jessica Ong

•Kamal Firmansyah Kamaruddin

•Tun Julia Mohd Tahir

•Hazel Desmond

•Zahira Radzi

•Nurul Zamree

•Atikah Naim