By Adib Zalkapli
The Malaysian Insider
January 01, 2011
KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 1 – National Union of Journalists (NUJ) president Hata Wahari blamed Utusan Malaysia editors and what he called their racial rhetoric for the daily’s declining sale.
He also called on the authorities to act against Utusan Malaysia editors for fanning racial sentiment in its reports.
“Utusan Malaysia which used to enjoy daily circulation of 350,000 has now become government’s propaganda tool in playing up racial issues and creating discord among the people of various races,” said Hata (picture) in a statement today.
“NUJ Malaysia also calls on the authorities to act against the chief editor and other editors of Utusan Malaysia for undermining racial harmony in the country,” he added.
Audit Bureau of Circulations (ABC) figures for the full year ended June 30, 2010 showed that Utusan Malaysia’s circulation dropped from 181,346 to 170,558, or a drop of 5.9 per cent.
“NUJ Malaysia hopes that the chief editor and editors of Utusan Malaysia will revert to the objectives of the newspaper during the early days of its publication,” said Hata who is also an Utusan Malaysia journalist.
The Utusan Group was founded in Singapore in 1939 by Malay intellectuals including the republic’s first president Yusof Ishak who were critical of the then colonial government.
The company is now controlled by Umno and Utusan Malaysia has been accused by Pakatan Rakyat (PR) leaders promoting racial hatred in its reporting.
It had accused Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng of being anti-Malay and recently launched an attack against DAP’s Serdang MP Teo Nie Ching for alleged failure dress appropriately in her visit to a mosque.
“Failure of the authorities to take action against Utusan Malaysia chief editor and editor would only show that they are consenting to the agenda of creating racial discord in the country by a racist and undignified newspaper,” said Hata.
He also urged editors of other mainstream dailies that have suffered declining circulation to stop from being government propaganda tools.
“The union also asks editors of mainstream media especially Utusan Malaysia, New Straits Times, Berita Harian and the The Star to play the role of disseminating information to the public and not as propaganda machinery of the government, political parties, or any individual,” said Hata.
The ABC report also showed that The Star’s circulation dropping from 295,479 to 286,409 (-3.1 per cent), the New Straits Times from 120,770 to 109,341 (-9.5 per cent), and Berita Harian from 183,187 to 160,597 (-12.3 per cent).
Sales of the three newspapers and Utusan Malaysia have been falling these past five years, with all but The Star registering drops of 20 per cent or more between 2005 and 2009.
So-called “light reading” newspapers like Malay-language Harian Metro and Kosmo, on the other hand, continue to go from strength to strength, posting higher sales numbers this past year on top of already impressive circulation numbers.
Kosmo was the biggest winner with a massive 32.9 per cent jump in circulation from 129,633 last year to 172,252 this year. Harian Metro also managed to chalk up an impressive 11.8 per cent rise in circulation to 378,354.
The weekend editions of both newspapers, Kosmo Ahad and Metro Ahad, saw similar increases of 35.1 per cent and 11.5 per cent, respectively.
All Chinese-language papers managed slight single-digit bumps in sales this past year, with the exception of Guang Ming Daily which slipped by 2.67 per cent to 95,158.
Circulation for Sin Chew Daily went up from 374,757 to 382,578 (2.1 per cent), China Press from 159,034 to 160,841 (1.1 per cent) and Oriental Daily News from 97,882 to 103,827 (6.1 per cent).
Free paper The Sun recorded a 4.38 per cent boost in circulation from 287,935 to 300,512.
#1 by monsterball on Sunday, 2 January 2011 - 12:00 am
You can presume the drop of approximately 10,000 readers means another recent addition of voters….are sick of UMNO B?
Or…spending power so tight…everyone needs to tighten their belts…and not simply spend money.
Or….the news are so low class and full of nonsense…makes educated Muslims sick of he paper.
You choose.
Anyway..the drop in sale is bad sign for Najib.
#2 by ENDANGERED HORNBILL on Sunday, 2 January 2011 - 12:13 am
Utusan is out of sync wi the times….with the people.
Utusan should be renamed “Utusan untuk Si-gila dan Si-Bodoh” (Utusan for lunatics and Idiotics”)
#3 by ENDANGERED HORNBILL on Sunday, 2 January 2011 - 12:16 am
Maybe it is more appropriate to call Utusan the Newspaper for the mentally challenged!
Sorry about not using the euphemisms earlier. It is not smart to provoke deranged demons.
#4 by tak tahan on Sunday, 2 January 2011 - 12:28 am
This moronic UM still thinks it could play racial,bias,carry its master balls political propaganda or either wishfully hopes kampong malays and the ignorant ones are yet gullible to swallow all its nonsensical news.This present day is in internet era that keep peoples and families well informed in and offshore.I will not buy star for even 1 cent.I had just registered to make sure my one vote counts to boot this corrupted asshole out in GE13.I’ll do this not out of hatred towards malays but towards the pirated ones(kerala,bugis,javanese n the celup-celup)
#5 by BoycottLocalPapers on Sunday, 2 January 2011 - 12:53 am
It looks like my username at this blog is responsible for the drop in circulation of UMNO’s newspapers.
I hope more will boycott The Stars, Utusan Meloya, NST, & Beritan Hairan
LOL
#6 by sheriff singh on Sunday, 2 January 2011 - 1:53 am
To boost sales and circulation, maybe Utusan Melayu should have a ‘Page 3 girl’ since it is obsessed with women. Just like what the the Malay Mail did.
#7 by Loh on Sunday, 2 January 2011 - 6:35 am
It is the double standards that we oppose. If Najib allows UMNO paper to print seditious material, then he should allow other papers to take up the challenge to debate the issues. For that the Sedition Act should be removed, and the requirement for annual renewal of printing license should be dispensed with. Let all the newspapers debate the issues and allow the people to know how the government performs. That is the basis of democracy when the people are informed to choose who should be elected to govern.
It is the incompetence of UMNO that it is not willing to be judged on its performance that it needs UM to influence voters through cheat, threat and lies. That is also why UMNO cannot survive without NEP to buy support among the warlords, and to keep Malays addicted to non-performance gains that they support the continued inequality in the country.
#8 by yhsiew on Sunday, 2 January 2011 - 8:02 am
The government is using newspapers as a propaganda tool in playing up racial issues to achieve its “divide and rule” purpose.
There will not be peace in this country unless the government changes its stance and stops harping on racial issues to gain political recognition.
Who would want to take Najib’s 1Malaysia seriously if government action goes against the concept of 1Malaysia?
#9 by sotong on Sunday, 2 January 2011 - 10:19 am
We are like the fundamentalist Islamic countries in the Middle East…..there is no respect for women basic rights.
You think UM cares about circulation…..they don’t need to sell to cover their costs.
#10 by k1980 on Sunday, 2 January 2011 - 10:27 am
Rice: “Damn it! This is worse than the dna in saifool’s a#se. Should had c4ed her to cover up my tracks forever….”
http://sabahkini.net/v1/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=5860:pkr-desak-rais-yatim-letak-jawatan&catid=41:jenayah&Itemid=56
#11 by loveandgratitude on Sunday, 2 January 2011 - 3:08 pm
It is clear as daylight that UTUSAN has become the MOUTHPIECE of UMNO.
They will purposely create unsubstantiated news again the PR politicians so as to undermine them. They know fully well that they can get away with it with the present authorities.
What PR should do is to collate all these nonsensical articles and WHEN PR take over Putrajaya, then make them pay for their evil transgressions.
Therefore it is imperative that PR,NGOs, MCLM,etc MUST STAND UNITED to defeat the Evil Empire come GE13 decisively.
#12 by dagen on Sunday, 2 January 2011 - 5:15 pm
Really. Despite sensationalising and politicising issues nilly willy, the paper still experience continuous drop in readership. Now that is worrying for the paper and for umno. Well, I would be. Losing 10,000 readers could just translate into 10,000 lost voters and 20,000 votes swing.
Stay on course fellas. Plough on.
#13 by Godfather on Sunday, 2 January 2011 - 7:50 pm
The only people who don’t know who controls Utusan are the BN minority parties. Or maybe they know who controls Utusan but they choose to close one eye to receive the crumbs from UMNO.
#14 by Voter get Voters campaign for PR on Sunday, 2 January 2011 - 9:31 pm
Hope all of us can make this your New Year Resolution ,
which is make sure you get at least one person to
vote for PR — the more the merrier. And if every one of us can convince
just one family member, neighbour, friend, office colleague — and again the
more the merrier too, to do the same then half the battle is won.Just
through your efforts alone we shall have A BETTER Malaysia for ALL
Malaysians*.
#15 by Winston on Monday, 3 January 2011 - 9:48 am
Voter Get Voters, you’re right!
That’s how the Filipinos got rid of their corrupt and good for nothing government.
Aquino’s majority was so hugh that no amount of chicanery can save his predecessor.