Honey, I shrunk the NST

Reading today’s front page of the New Straits Times is like glancing through a history book. Two write-ups cover the whole page; they are written by no less than – in order of appearance from top to bottom – NST boss Kalimullah Hassan (along with a colour pix of him) and Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi himself (with a pix of him when he was a baby seated on his grandfather’s lap).

Headlined “159 years… a small revolution”, Kalimullah’s piece essentially said that his newspaper, which he claims has been around for the last 159 years, is breaking with its tradition by publishing two versions simultaneously from today: a current broadsheet version and a new compact-size version (similar to a tabloid in size). It would have been nice had he introduced and justified this “compact concept” to the readers in a short-and-sweet fashion.

It seems rather odd that Kalimullah, like most journalists trained to write concisely and to the point, chose to beat around the bush before delivering his real message. He took the readers from the time the colonialist Portuguese came to this country, through to the Dutch era, and then to British rule, and, finally, to Merdeka with all its splendour. Sure, we are all in a Merdeka mood, but Kalimullah’s approach may well give some readers the strange feeling that the NST chief appears to be almost apologetic for having literally shrunk the paper.

Shrinking sales, shrinking paper

To give this “small revolution” its larger context – especially for those of us who have stopped buying or reading the NST or other mainstream newspapers - the NST is embroiled in fierce competition with the other mainstream dailies. For the NST, the compact version of the paper may well be the solution to its decreasing sales over the last few years – even though this may just be a case of form over substance.

As we all know, readership and advertising are the bread-and-butter issue for all profit-driven or corporate-based newspapers. They all need to increase, if not maintain, their respective readerships in order to attract a bigger pool of advertisers. In other words, these newspapers “offer” their readership to the advertisers in return for piles of advertising ringgit. This is why market research outfit ACNielsen Malaysia’s recently published readership figures have become a bone of contention for the NST and other dailies. The NST, for one, argues that the figures - especially those pertaining to its own readership - do not reflect the reality in the media industry.

The PM and his grandfather's story

The Prime Minister’s piece, “My Grandpa, Merdeka and I”, as the headline suggests, is about his own personal experience of celebrating Independence Day since 31 August 1957 when he was then a Form Five student. He brought the readers along the historical journey that this country went through. While celebrating the meaning of Merdeka, he, at the end of the piece, also cautioned readers and citizens not to “squander” our important heritage, i.e. independence and freedom.

The insertion of the prime ministerial piece only confirms, if at all confirmation is required, the close relationship that exists between the state and the media, in particular the NST. Of course, readers may be interested to know the experience and thoughts of the prime minister about Merdeka, but does it really merit front-page treatment? Besides, after 47 years of independence, pray tell us: who among us really has the “freedom” to gain access to the front pages of the mainstream press? And even if others, those outside of the corridors of power, did manage to get into the front page, in what manner were they presented by the dailies?

Kalimullah, in another piece about the controversial ACNielsen media ratings, “ACNielsen’s puzzling stand” on page 5 of the “Prime News” section, claimed that “Today, we (i.e. Malaysians) have the liberty to choose what we want to read, see, eat, and experience.” Oh yeah? Tell us another one. Since when do we have the freedom to read, see and experience what we want in the mainstream media?

Given the control over the media industry, the pattern of media ownership, and the curbs on freedom of expression, one is left wondering whether the only freedom Malaysians are left with is the freedom to eat what we want! Unfortunately, that’s not going to end our hunger for other freedoms – like the freedom of the press and freedom of expression.