Time running out for Utusan, weeks away, staff warned

The management in a recent meeting said funds could run out as early as after the Hari Raya celebrations next month.

Some heads are expected to roll as the restructuring at Utusan Malaysia will be very complex, a source says.

KUALA LUMPUR: Utusan Malaysia may not last beyond this year, with staff being told that the Umno-linked paper would run out of funds as early as after the Hari Raya celebrations next month, as the daily struggles in the wake of Barisan Nasional’s recent polls defeat, FMT has learnt.

A source said the top management of Kumpulan Utusan Melayu, the company which publishes the broadsheet, met with staff on Wednesday, to inform them that major restructuring was being planned as part of a strategy to weather tough times ahead.

“The restructuring will be very complex, and could see heads roll,” the source added.

Despite a drop in readership, the Malay-language daily has for a long time been able to survive through government contracts, procured through its links with Umno.

Just last year, it was reported that the company was awarded a contract to supply more than 180,000 tablets to teachers nationwide. Weeks before the May 9 polls, it was Utusan which was tasked with printing campaign posters for BN.

“Staff were told that the longest it could survive is till the end of the year,” the source said.

The paper’s restructring is part of a major shake-up of Umno’s assets that is currently being planned, which includes media companies that have long acted as its propaganda tool, the source said.

“All will be known when the Umno general assembly convenes,” the source said, adding that this could be held sooner than later as the party faces pressure over its legality under the present government.

Sixteen former Umno members are appealing against a High Court decision dismissing a bid to declare the party illegal. They say the party violated its constitution by not holding elections within the prescribed time, an offence which the Registrar of Societies slapped a suspension on PPBM just weeks before polling day.

The source meanwhile said many from among Utusan staff were looking for jobs in other media companies, while others may just leave journalism owing to the industry’s volatile situation in the last few years.

Last week, union members met with Utusan’s top management, as pressure mounted to remove Umno stakeholders.

Other Umno-linked media companies, including New Straits Times Press, are also trying to adjust to the new political landscape which is slowly taking shape under the Pakatan Harapan administration.

NSTP, which publishes the once virulent pro-Umno New Straits Times and two other dailies, has urged staff to “adjust editorially” to the new political climate, saying they would now maintain “neutrality” in its coverage. -FMT