KUALA LUMPUR: The global trend of ‘Print as the new Digital’, when it relates to delivering the news, is based on the public's shift towards the source or medium they find more trustworthy.
The New Straits Times tends to subscibe to this new outlook, and is optimistic that traditional mainstream print media would reclaim readership following the incessant deluge of fake news online.
NST Group Editor Rashid Yusof said there was a pressing need to restore order by reinstating the role of editors who curate and fact check content; a practice accomplished by newspapers to maintain journalistic integrity.
“We will rather integrate print with our online platforms,” he said, adding that NST is doing this by putting up in-depth stories that appear in print, online the next day, while offering the same content available in print through its digital (Epaper) edition.
The NST Epaper is a high definition (HD) digital version of the print edition, available for download on desktops, tablets, and smartphones as early as 1am.
“Collectively this means print is the new digital. It is the agenda setter and problem solver (in terms of accuracy and big picture reports). And 45 minutes of reading our paper will give you lots,” Rashid said during a Telum Media talk with senior editors from the New Straits Times here yesterday.
Rashid said that 50 per cent of NST’s content are exclusives, revolving around high impact, big picture and people-oriented reports.
Executive editor Lokman Mansor, meanwhile, said in the past, the arrival of digital media was expected to disrupt the business of traditional media, in the same way that people thought television meant the end of radio.
“But today (the tables are turned) because of the problems faced from the sheer volume of information available online. Some are not true and some are purposely fake news that are meant to disrupt and cause havoc.
“There is a visible shift of readers going back to print and mainstream media because they realise this is where they can get reliable, trustworthy and accurate news. So that is the essence of why we say print is the new digital.” said the senior editor of the Business, Op-Ed & Digital sections of the paper on the sidelines of the talk.
However, this does not mean that digital content was being sidelined.
“We have a lot of programs that we are planning to do on the digital space that make use of our various assets. It’s not just about reporting differently on various platforms.
"For instance, NST is now 174 years old and we have a huge archive of news, pictures and more recently videos. We plan to take advantage of this to present content for users in a fresh and entertaining way.”
The Telum Talks to NST session was attended by more than 200 public relations and corporate communications practitioners.
It enlightened the practitioners on how the paper operates on a day-to-day basis and also highlighted steps taken by NST to stay ahead of the curve and its plans beyond, in terms content focus and the direction of the paper.
Also present at the talk were Executive Editor News Sofea Chok Suat Ling, Business News Editor Zuraimi Abdullah, and editors of the various NST Life and Times pullouts.
Organiser Telum Media is a database for PR professionals covering the media scene in Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Hong Kong and Australia.