By Chan Quan Min
Tiger has noticed that the most widely read English daily has seen readership numbers shrink 20% alongside a tumble in Malaysia’s ranking in the World Press Freedom Index. In other news, The Star looks set to continue to diversify away from the traditional newspaper business for other seemingly sexier pursuits. But is that profitable? Where’s the balance?
The thirteenth general election may have been a distant memory for some but not so for Tiger. What a gripping but short-lived campaign period it was. Thanks to the nation’s many media outlets, both print and online, Tiger was definitely one of those you would call a well-informed voter.
But not everyone was as quite as lucky to have access to a wide spectrum of media outlets. Tiger laments the quality of the information coming from those suspect newspapers with biased reporting.
Tiger knows it is now a good five months down the road but is revisiting the time he got his paw marked by indelible ink for the very first time because some interesting news has made the headlines.
Recently released Nielsen print readership data saw The Star, Malaysia’s most widely read English language daily tumble in popularity along with the country’s standing in the World Press Freedom Index.
For the first six months of 2013, Nielsen reported a severe 19.8% contraction The Star’s readership. The Sunday Star fared even worse, shrinking by close to a third or 30.4%.
Similarly, Malaysia saw a precipitous fall in the World Press Freedom Index from 122nd place last year to 145th place this year, crashing some 23 places in the index compiled by Reporters Without Borders.
Considering that the index counts only 179 countries or territorial jurisdictions, Malaysia is more than a miserable three-quarters of the way down that list.
Not all media outlets fared as bad. Readership data reveals mixed fortunes among media outlets.
Online news sites such as Malaysiakini saw a stunning expansion in readership during the election period, as you would logically expect for all media outlets as a whole. Even this jungle cat knows elections are the best time to be in the news business – everyone is just ravenous for news and information of any sort.
Malaysiakini (Tiger would like to declare interests – Malaysiakini owns half of KiniBiz) clocked up 4.3 million unique visitors on election night. Typically, the site averages 250,000 unique visitors on a normal day. This old news Tiger knows, but like always print media struggles to catch up with the speed of online media.
Tiger had to stretch that last line, but it does make for a good analogy. To tell the truth, Tiger had to wait five months for Nielsen to come up with first-half print media circulation numbers in order to get a proper comparison.
Some readers may ask if it is fair to draw such hasty conclusions based on correlation of events alone, especially for The Star, which has in the past few years seen weakening readership numbers in line with other print media outlets.
Could it be due to the paper’s strong online presence? While the print version of The Star costs between RM1.20 and RM1.50 a copy, the Star Online is completely free, possibly leading to cannibalisation of sales.
Not quite. The Star’s readership drop this time was the largest among all major national dailies aside from the Nanyang Siang Pau. Curiously, the Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA) is a controlling shareholder in both The Star and the Nanyang Siang Pau. Not so surprisingly all three organisations are in decline.
This may not require reminding, but The Star was the target of a boycott just prior to the last general election over a number of allegedly distasteful advertisements demonising political parties aligned to the opposition Pakatan Rakyat. This is of course in addition to an editorial stance biased towards the ruling Barisan Nasional party.
Unfortunately, it’s possible the worst is yet to come. Recent developments at the country’s widest read English language daily seem to suggest the paper is hell-bent on exacerbating their decline even further.
This jungle cat loves a good read in the morning to go along with his kopi kau and it pains him to see The Star continue to move away from the paper’s traditional focus on hard news.
Instead The Star has been trying to join the glitzy world of lifestyle features with all the temptations of paid trips overseas and complementary merchandise.
In the past few years Star Publications, the holding company, has made a slew of acquisitions to branch out into event management, corporate training and even a TV station, Life Inspired, carried on Astro’s network.
The Star contends these are attempts to hedge its reliance on its newspaper – that is all well and good – but these ancillary assets have not proven themselves thus far to reliably generate profit for the group.
The move away from the bread and butter of hard news to lifestyle continues apace with the latest multi-million dollar move by the paper to launch a new Sunday Star pullout.
Sharing the same name as Star Publications’ struggling, and may Tiger add, unprofitable food and lifestyle TV station, Life Inspired, the new pullout will later this month spend over a million ringgit on an extravagant launch party.
Tiger will reproduce here a short blurb on the pull-out from the Star Publications website: “A weekly pull-out, Life Inspired will focus on five pillars of inspired living – wellness, travel, style, food and home.”
Sneaky Musang (civet cat of kopi luwak fame) tells Tiger Star Publications has spent frivolously on the new pullout, even as the paper contemplates a voluntary separation scheme (VSS) that could see a 10% reduction of the staff count. The ‘rightsizing’ could take place early next year, news reports suggest.
“Hear this: The Star spent up to RM4 million on a contraption to cut the new glossy pages of the magazine down to a customised size, the dimensions are very specific and unique,” Musang whispered into Tiger’s own ear.
Tiger reckons the ever so shifty Musang’s words are sure to grate the ears of many an employee.
Musang, who obviously can’t help himself – don’t trust him with your secrets – again whispering into Tiger’s own ear said, “He fancies himself the Ted Turner of Malaysia, he’s the one behind Life Inspired.”
Vincent Lee
Tiger is certain Musang is referring to Vincent Lee Fook Long, the executive deputy chairman of Star Publications.
Lee is an ad man with media mogul ambitions; he built his career in advertising and is credited with founding Naga DBB, a big player in the advertising and marketing industry.
A message to visitors to Star Publication’s website penned by Lee encapsulates his editorial direction for the group. He pointed out the importance of advertising revenue and called for a push towards new media and lifestyle news.
Under Lee, Star Publications’ editorial direction looks certain to continue to turn away from the traditional newspaper business for its other seemingly sexier lifestyle pursuits.
Just as Tiger was finishing off he realises he has inadvertently written a spot for a competitor. Never mind, he wishes the The Star every success in its new venture and hopes for The Star’s sake that he is proven wrong in the months to come.
Let not The Star forget that advertising revenue can’t increase without sustained readership, no matter which way you claw it. And sustained readership comes from good, hard news.
GRRRRR!
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