The Importance of newspapers

Is there a need to publish newspapers and will digitalisation finally nudge the old print out of business?

This was a pertinent question raised by New Straits Times (NST) group editor Rashid Yusof in his recent column after assuming the important post in the Malaysia’s oldest newspaper.

As someone who has been reading newspapers since young, never in my wildest dreams did I think that one day the print will become part of history.

An avid reader, I always start my day reading the mainstream newspapers, including NST.

Flipping through the newspapers, I would immerse in a myriad stories that range from hard news to crime stories, social issues, sports and features.

One exclusive quality that print has and the digital media can never match is its tangibility . There is also the smell of ink on paper or the scent of newsprint which is a powerful stimuli that gives a tremendous boost to the reader’s taste.

Maybe some people may claim that I’m old school but time and again it has been proven that the newspapers will survive. While all the newspapers are focusing on digital and online transformation, I am confident that the hard copy will continue to exist and be preserved.

Doomsayers will say the days of print media are numbered. Many question what incentives readers get from the dailies when most, if not all, of their content is available online for free.

I believe that newspapers must focus on their target groups.

Print media is very much ingrained in the consumers’ collective memory, especially those aged 40s and above. This means that people will continue to be attracted and subscribe to print media, provided that we know who they are, what they are interested in and what their needs are.

Compared with teenagers or millenials who prefer short news reports with sensational headlines, mature readers prefer in-depth news, analyses and special reports, accompanied by compelling images and graphics.

However, we should not forget the young generation, especially the students.

Newspaper in Education (NIE) programme, for example, has encouraged students to read English newspapers and nurture their reading habit at a young age and contribute towards a reading culture.

It has been proved that students who read English newspapers, including those in the rural areas, gain better grades in their English papers.

As chairman of EcoWorld Foundation, I learn that non-governmental organisations could help the newspapers expand their reach to rural schools and assist the students excel in their studies through education pullouts and programmes such as NIE.

To create similar effects in other sectors, newspaper companies can collaborate with ministries and agencies apart from engaging the private sector.

The new government’s hands-off policy towards newsroom decisions should give the New Straits Times Press and other newspapers the opportunity to promote themselves as serious papers which practise ethical journalism. Lure them to share their policies, programmes and advertisements in the newspapers.

Other parties such as hotels and restaurants could support such initiatives by providing discount vouchers and offers to those who buy newspapers.

Newspaper companies must highlight the advantages of print advertising, which is more tangible and where readers could give their full attention on the written material. This guarantees greater engagement with the advertisement.

For older people like me, we think that the newspapers must thrive partly because the social media is full of half-truths while the online media is struggling to stay afloat due to the low advertisement rates and a lack of viable business models.

And I could not agree more with Rashid when he said that in order for the print to survive, it should take the form of daily news magazines with brilliant journalism, biting commentaries and dazzling analyses!