KUALA LUMPUR: The nation’s oldest Malay daily, Utusan Malaysia, needs a white knight and the Umno leadership to treat it as a business enterprise if it is to survive.
Former Utusan Group editor-in-chief Tan Sri Johan Jaaffar said it saddened him to hear that his former colleagues were facing difficulties, especially due to the company’s poor cash flow.
He said the Malay daily needed a reboot in its news-gathering process and business structure if it wished to return to its former glory.
“It needs more than just revamping,” he told the New Straits Times.
“It needs a reboot and not only in the business model, but also in the discipline of news gathering.
“The Umno leadership must accept Utusan as a business enterprise for it to survive because it is not just a newspaper but also an institution.
“I still think it is difficult to salvage and that is the reality. It needs a white knight and a miracle.”
Utusan Malaysia celebrated its 80th anniversary today. While it has seen numerous journalistic achievements since its inception, its financial problems continue to be the prime focus among Malaysians.
It was reported last year that the newspaper might be de-listed from the Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange if it failed to produce a regularisation plan within the next 12 months.
On Monday, it was reported that the Malay daily had slid further into the red in its first quarter ended March 31, 2019 as its quarterly revenue had halved.
Many believe that the crisis in the daily began in 1961 when Umno took over its ownership, causing fear that the daily would no longer be free and fair.
Former Utusan Group assistant editor-in-chief Datuk Zaini Hassan said, despite the negative perception, the newspaper should be recognised for its efforts and achievements in educating and changing the mindset of the Malays to accept development in the country.
“Its role started in 1939. Utusan struggled against the Malayan Union, gaining the country’s independence, the 1961 strike, the formation of the Malaysian Federation and so on.
“Sometimes we forget, but it was Utusan that formed the generation of Malaysians who were able to accept development and progress.
“Utusan was also responsible in uniting the people many years ago through the Malay language because, at the time, even the non-Malays read the paper,” he said.
Journalism lecturer Amirul Akhbar said, although Utusan continued to focus on the Malay agenda, that should not be seen negatively as it helped the race in terms of nation-building.
However, he said, Utusan needed to distance itself from being labeled as a paper that only championed a political party.
“Being a newspaper that champions one particular race is not wrong because we have newspapers in other languages too since this is a multiracial country.
“But, Utusan needs to distance itself from negative labels such as; it’s only for old people or it only acts as a voice for one political party.
“Many said Utusan would be buried because of all these but I don’t think so.
“It has its own pillars and all it needs to do is move forward according to the time and technology,” he said.
Utusan Malaysia was established in 1939 as Utusan Melayu, a Jawi script newspaper in Singapore.
It was established by Yusof Ishak, who later went on to become the first president of Singapore and Abdul Rahim Kajai, credited to be the father of Malay journalism.
In the post-war years, Utusan Melayu relocated to Kuala Lumpur in 1959 and on Sept 1, 1967, the romanised version of Utusan Melayu — Utusan Malaysia — was born.
In 1997, it became Malaysia’s first online newspaper in full text and visuals with the launch of Utusan Malaysia online.
In 2006, Utusan Melayu, the Jawi edition which by this time only published the weekly edition of Utusan Melayu Mingguan ceased its publication due to declining advertising revenue and operational losses.
Last year, it abandoned its broadsheet format and went tabloid.