THE mainstream media have only themselves to blame for losing readers and the public’s trust, say media experts, as their pro-Barisan Nasional stance has destroyed their credibility.

The Internet has also helped this decline as Malaysians migrate online for news and views that are either ignored or suppressed by newspapers, free-to-air television and radio stations.

Although editors at mainstream outlets say their editorial stance is due to strict laws which regulate permits and licences, observers say that is only half of the story.

Many mainstream media outlets were led by editors who actually believe and support the BN cause, thus, their content was tailored to fit those convictions, said veteran journalist Wan Hamidi Hamid.

Though mainstream press have lost readers and more people are getting their news online, experts such as Dr Mustafa Kamal Anuar worry that this has led BN to regulate web content – a breach of the government’s promise made in the 1990s to not censor the Internet.

“There seems to be an inclination by the present BN government to register and control online publications, which would be a regressive move on their part.

“It is a mistaken idea of helping to arrest the decline of the MSM (mainstream media),” said Mustafa, of the think tank Penang Institute.

Plunging readership

On Friday, newspaper industry veteran Abdul Jalil Ali said the BN government was losing its ability to influence voters through the major newspapers it controls due to falling circulation figures.

A weak mainstream press with low readership was bad news for the ruling coalition with the 14th general election around the corner, said Jalil who is KarangKraf Media Group executive editorial adviser.

KarangKraf is one the biggest publishers of Bahasa Malaysia magazines and books, and owns national Malay daily Sinar Harian.

According to the Audit Bureau of Circulations Malaysia, all mainstream newspapers suffered plunging circulation numbers in 2016 when compared with 2012’s figures.

Harian Metro suffered the worst drop – at 62.5% – from 379,169 copies to 142,262.  The New Straits Times was the second worst, with circulation falling 41.6% from 93,321 copies at the end of 2012 to 54,490 copies at the end of last year.

Major Bahasa Malaysia dailies Utusan Malaysia and Berita Harian each saw their circulation figures fall by 30% in the same period.

To be fair, newspapers’ declining readership was a worldwide phenomenon, said Wan Hamidi, a veteran journalist of 20 years.

“Besides rising cost of newsprint, circulation is going down because people are relying more on the Internet.”

But what has aggravated the fall of Malaysian newspapers is the trust deficit that has widened ever since the Reformasi era, said Prof Zaharom Nain of Nottingham University Malaysia.

“The Net and Anwar (the jailing for former Deputy Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim) played crucial roles, I believe, in changing people’s perception of the MSM,” said Zaharom, who is professor of media and communications studies.

“The spread of Internet news since the mid-1990s and the blatant propaganda by much of the MSM – the former opening new avenues for information and news, and the latter insulting the intelligence of many Malaysians – precipitated this decline.”

Space increasingly closed

Wan Hamidi said former prime minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi tried to make space for the mainstream press to air dissenting views.

“There was some semblance of freedom of the press during his era, but only because it was slightly more open compared to Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s time.

“But towards the end of the Pak Lah administration, it was back to ‘government knows best’,” said Wan Hamidi who has worked in the NST, The Star, The Sun and Berita Harian.

Although some senior editors and journalists pushed for more independence in newspapers, these efforts received lukewarm support, said Wan Hamidi.

Control was tightened again under Prime Minister Najib Razak’s administration.

His administration saw printing permits for The Heat and The Edge Financial Weekly being suspended for content critical of the prime minister and his administration. – October 1, 2017.