UMNO-controlled Utusan Malaysia and Media Prima Bhd are repositioning themselves after the devastating defeat of Barisan Nasional in the 14th general election.

Utusan will be restructured and revamped to meet the new challenges brought about by a change in government, said its group chairman Mohamad Fatmi Che Salleh.

He said board members will most likely be replaced and its Malay language daily be given a new direction.

“The board can only give direction and formulate policy. The implementation can be carried out by management,” he said after a closed door meeting with the Kota Baru Umno division yesterday.

However, he did not want to give more details on the proposed changes.

The Media Prima management in a circular sent out to staff by its group corporate communications department, sighted by Malaysia Decides, told staff it will have to “adapt to changes and address new challenges”

It said in the past it had successfully done this before and is confident it would be able to face new challenges brought about by the change of government.

“As a new Malaysia unfolds business will continue as usual for us. We will work hard to seek more opportunities for growth and to overcome any challenges that may come our way. We seek and look forward to your continued cooperation and support as we strive together in embracing the future,” it told staff.

Media Prima is the largest media group in the country, spanning TV and radio stations, newspapers and outdoor advertising. Its news reports on all its channels tends to favour Umno.

The Malay-language Utusan daily, Umno’s mouthpiece since independence, has always be harsh in it criticism of the opposition, particularly the DAP.

Several DAP leaders, including Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng, Tony Pua and Teresa Kok, had taken the paper to court and won huge settlements over a slew of slanderous reports it had published against them.

But the court loses did not deter the paper from attacking DAP. 

In the run-up to the 14th general election, Utusan Malaysia published an uncredited infographics warning of a purported “DAP virus” and the problems that would allegedly arise under a Pakatan Harapan (PH) federal government.

In the image tagged as “InfoPRU” (Election Info) and printed on the 10th page of an election pullout, the Malay-language daily featured a heading saying, “Awas virus DAP” (Beware the DAP virus).

Under this heading, it placed a list of labels with the “check” sign next to them.

The labels include secular; lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT); chauvinistic; ethnic divider; perkuda Melayu (using the Malays); wants to change the Federal Constitution; questions the rights of Malays, Islam; anti-Islam. – May 13, 2018.