Johor Collective Media or JOCOM

Some two years ago, three media friends met for coffee to chat about what can be done to improve and promote the professional and ethical standards, and best practices in the media industry.

Johor Collective Media (JOCOM) celebrated
first year anniversary in March 2020

It was Edey Suresh, editor of The Iskandarian, the official newspapers of Iskandar Malaysia with K K Lew, co-founder of MAGistrate, a bilingual print and online magazine platform, and me.

We had observed that readers were changing their habits in seeking convenient digital updates for news and information through their electronic devices rather than from conventional newspapers and print media.

As the community was moving away from mainstream media, we felt that the time was ripe for the alternative media to consolidate and meet this rising demand.

We agreed that we should take the lead to provide quality content, complete with accurate information and visuals, presented professionally, and updated regularly.

Among other issues, we also shared a deep concern about bloggers who were flooding the social media with content that was way below industry standards.

Edey Suresh [Left], K K Lew [Right]
with me at the first year anniversary of JOCOM

This coffee chat was the first of many such discussions where we met to exchange ideas and thrash out a host of issues as we identified the social media owners who formed a diverse but important collection of alternative media practitioners here.

As individual media owners, armed with our own experience and expertise, we felt strongly that together, we could work in unity to promote the highest professional and ethical standards in a club of alternative media practitioners.

We could then provide a forum for education and awareness, protect against plagiarism and unwarranted sensationalism, understand and meet consumer trends and consolidate communications between stakeholders and the club.

Through these meaningful discussions, the seeds were thus planted for the formation of an alternative media club that aims to be a collective voice for media owners here.

As a club, we would also have the benefit of sharing knowledge, weed out unscrupulous behavior and establish a professional image and reputation for the alternative media.

I remember proofreading the draft document for the constitution and then sitting down together with the guys to amend the wordings to meet with our club’s requirements before the final draft was submitted for legal review.

It was a significant day in March 2019 when Johor Collective Media or JOCOM, the first and only professional body that represents alternative media owners in Johor, was registered under the Registrar of Societies Malaysia.

With the club officially registered, JOCOM went on a recruitment drive to invite media owners to register as Members and gain the advantage of a collective voice.

Besides media owners who are involved in broadcast, print or online media, advertising and promotions, JOCOM also welcomes Associate Members from professionals involved as agents, creative agencies, education institutions, supporting media or related trade associations with a minimum of two years in business.

As more members joined JOCOM, a pro tem committee was formed and over the next few months, we worked hard to introduce JOCOM to stakeholders and potential members to share with them, the benefits of working with this club.

When JOCOM introduced the club and its benefits to the Johor chapter of the Malaysian Association of Hotels, we were encouraged by their receptive response because the hotel representatives recognised that JOCOM was a new and refreshing concept that provided a mutual benefit to the hotel industry.

Meanwhile, a Membership Kit was developed to provide JOCOM members with relevant information for their easy reference, that included membership guidelines and benefits that included legal support.

A JOCOM members' meeting in progress

This was the first step in guiding members to collectively adopt a professional attitude for JOCOM as we aim to establish an ethical and professional media club.

As the membership gradually increased, members’ meetings were held regularly to share the club’s aims and objectives while relevant feedback was invited to help fine tune the procedures and practices that were being put in place.

While the pro tem committee took the lead in this newly minted alternative media club, the seating arrangement in members’ meetings was always a circle to reflect our unity, continuity, and sustainability.

When The Iskandarian organized, Youth Truth News – Basic Citizen Journalism Course, a three-part series of public training events, provided Free-of-Charge, four JOCOM members were invited to be facilitators.

Meanwhile JOCOM members were encouraged to participate as attendees to benefit from the training events held in June, August, and October 2019.

In the following months, hotels started to communicate with club members through JOCOM and they discovered the convenience and advantage of a single touchpoint.

Because JOCOM comprises media owners who are familiar with media engagements, our collective experience was put to good use when JOCOM boldly stepped up to pitch for media engagement jobs in the hotel and property development industries.

The JOCOM team with Malaysian rock legend,
Amy Search, at Hard Rock Hotel Desaru Coast
for its Grand Opening Party

It was a truly a feather in JOCOM’s proverbial cap when Hard Rock Hotel Desaru Coast (HRHDC) appointed JOCOM as their media relations agency to look after local and international media who were invited from the region to their Grand Opening Party in October 2019.

With huge responsibilities to stage a successful Grand Opening Party, the hotel’s small team was stretched in taking care of their VVIPs and the star-studded live music entertainers that featured Malaysian rock legend, Amy, lead vocalist of his band Search, fondly known as Amy Search.

HRHDC then decided to outsource the task of professionally managing the invited media to JOCOM, who played the role as hosts on behalf of the hotel through a Peer-to-Peer approach.

This was pure genius.

Based on HRHDC’s requirements, JOCOM participated in this project in partnership with their Marketing & Communications team to manage three media groups from Indonesia, Singapore, Penang, Kuala Lumpur and Johor.

They included print and digital media, newspapers, magazines and blogs in English, Chinese, Malay and Bahasa Indonesia, with two for Japanese and Indian online magazines.

It was an unforgettable weekend for JOCOM in a mission that was well accomplished. In the post-mortem meeting after the event, the commendation, “You make us look good!” made it all worth the effort.

JOCOM members at Renaissance Johor Baru
as guests in their Customer Appreciation Week

As we continued to introduce JOCOM to stakeholders, we were delighted to discover that we had in fact, made history because JOCOM is the only alternative media club in the nation!

In March 2020, JOCOM celebrated its first anniversary, complete with a little cake-cutting ceremony.

. . .

As we move into 2021 and a new era of sales, marketing, media and communications, there is much that JOCOM can do to provide professional support to industries – both big and small – to recover and grow their businesses again in the post-pandemic years.

Send in your enquiries and JOCOM will revert to arrange an appointment for further discussions. To connect with JOCOM, send emails to: secretariat@jocom.media

For more info and to get to know JOCOM members, visit webpage: https://jocom.media