Over 500 NSTP staff axed as Media Prima downsizes operations

An ongoing retrenchment exercise by media conglomerate Media Prima Bhd will see 543 staff from the New Straits Times Press (NSTP) group leaving their positions in March next year.

National Union of Journalists NSTP branch chairperson Farah Marshita Abdul Patah said the downsizing effort will affect all three publications - the New Straits Times, Berita Harian and Harian Metro - and the last day for those affected has been set for March 12.

"Everyone across the board is affected including sub-editors," she told Malaysiakini when contacted.

"Earlier, there were also plans to shut down the entire photo department. But we (NUJ-NSTP) disagreed to it.

"Therefore a small number of photographers will remain," she said, adding that NUJ-NSTP will have a total of 143 members from the initial count of 336.

Apart from NSTP's headquarters in Jalan Riong, Bangsar, Farah said its bureaus nationwide would be trimmed to six from the previous 14 through a merger process.

She said departments in the east coast (Pahang, Kelantan and Terengganu); north (Penang, Kedah, Ipoh and Perlis) and south (Johor, Negeri Sembilan and Melaka) will be merged into three bureaus.

Shah Alam and Putrajaya bureaus will also be combined into one, while Sabah and Sarawak will have a bureau each, she added.

Despite the much-reduced scale of operations, Farah revealed that all three dailies will continue to maintain individual newsrooms, instead of resorting back to what was previously known as a convergence system where stories are shared and cross-translated.

"NUJ-NSTP hopes the exercise goes smoothly and the compensation given is paid out following legal obligations. It is crucial that our members' plight is upheld throughout the process.

"We further hope this is the final of such exercise conducted by the company and there will no longer be any more NUJ-NSTP members to undergo such distress over their rice bowl," she said in a later statement. - Mkini