Friday, September 30, 2016

New Straits Times Becoming 'No Straits Times'?



Met a media person last nite who said that a few days ago the NST group has shutdown two of their printing plants - one in Senai and the other one in Ajil, Terengganu. A few hundred workers will not be working at those sites anymore. They will get some compensation and relocation options.

Talk is the NST's circulation is down to something like 30,000 or close.  Their ad revenues must have really shrivelled up.  Just like Utusan Meloya which is now surviving on direct cash injections to pay salaries of the staff. 

Both the NST and Utusan Meloya are facing the karma of their 'tak tahu niaga' business model. When it comes to domestic politics they have been printing untruths, propaganda and twisted versions of the news. 

The NST and Utusan Meloya shamelessly help to paper over the 1MDB scandal - the biggest financial scandal in the history of the world.

Leave the politics aside, people do not want to spend RM1.20 or whatever is the price of the papers now and read stuff that is inaccurate.  Who wants to read slanted opinions day in and day out? Say after they read the NST and then they have a conversation with their friends - they will realise that they are less informed than other people about something that may have appeared in the NST or the Utusan.  So they feel shortchanged.

So now people may use old NST and Utusan to pick up dog poo.

And if you put a picture of that witch anywhere inside your pages,  you may be cursed with seven years of suey. Really bad suey.

Plus you have so much alternative media which provides an unlimited number of options. Truths, propaganda, untruths, spin, lies, speculation is all available on the alternative media. Its almost free. Its up to the consumer to seek what he wants to read and believe.  Technology has completely levelled the information field.

In an environment like this you still want to practise the see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil and close one eye type of journalism? 

May I suggest that the NST plant in Ajil, Terengganu be reopened and the NST print an Arabic edition. Since "Arabic is the language of heaven"  the kaum bengong may appreciate an Arabic newspaper in Terengganu? Idris Jusoh can be a lifetime subscriber.  The Ministry of Education has effectively killed off the use of English in this country. Eloklah tu. Now people lose their jobs. Now you will tell them to tadah tangan and wait for BR1M. 

Folks, they will drive their cars until it runs out of gas. Then they will get down and just stand there on the road. Not knowing what to do. 

This is what is happening to the NST, Utusan Meloya and everything else under the stewardship of the Kaum Bodoh.

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