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Lemak Lemang

A walk down the Yellow Brick Road of Malaysia's Corridor of the future

by Jeff Ooi, Malaysia

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Are tech media dying?

May 29, 2006 12:34

NetValue2.0, the technology and management pullout in the Malaysian edition of The Edge, has been reduced to a four-page tabloid configuration in the last few weeks. Apart from a lead story, there are contributed articles from three guest writers, a sprinkle of small ads, and that's about it--a stark departure from previous renderings where section editor Karamjit Singh used to lead his team industry exposes, special topics and issues on the Multimedia Super Corridor (MSC) and IT trendlines. I understand Karam is having two junior writers assist him, but new recruits are nowhere in sight.

The technology pullout of Malaysian Business, named MB-e, has also been reduced to a 12-page A4. Writer Jai Shanker has since left for a government job in Matrade (the Ministry of International Trade and Industries). A replacement is being hunted for. Meanwhile, section editor V. Prathaban has to double in the magazine's special projects besides penning lead stories for MB-e.

The Star's In-Tech, a 20-year-old technology pullout, has lost some prolific writers recently, including Edwin Yapp, Charles F. Moreira and Shom Teoh. We do not know if vacancies are to be filled, but the 16-strong workforce, now decimated, is apparently doubling in duties, in between clearing accumulated leave, subbing and news gathering. Work pressure is relatively intense as the section has to dish out two editions per week on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

There has also been an editorial shift since the exit of veteran A. Asohan as the In-Tech section editor. Product writeups, a form of RGA (revenue-generating articles), now fill up the front pages with "breezy layout" that has been designed to capture the "young audience". Again, this is perceived as being done at the expense of content depth and quality. In the place of well-researched local industry news and views are syndicated articles from overseas which people read online nowadays. However, games continue to be a hot staple in the center pages.

Computimes, the Monday/Thursday technology pullout in The New Straits Times, has seen a makeover and been renamed Tech & U. Continuing the tradition of pro-business stories, it has taken over from where In-Tech has let off--RGAs are supplemented with personality writeups with a domestic focus.

Meanwhile, the recently relaunched Malay Mail has incorporated a 14-page section for the tech-savvy, named Cache. It targets, again, the "young crowd" which other papers are trying to keep up with. The "house design" for Cache goes for something short and brief, which makes the stories easy to read, with discerning readers probably crying foul for being shallow. Its regular repertoire includes a cover story on technology which could be syndicated, a geek's page on new toys, spreads of product reviews and previews, a page on games, and some photo galleries as a form of RGA, Interestingly, Cache dedicates a page to feature current issues being debated in Malaysian blogs--the only one in a Malaysian English paper to do so.

The Sun, the only free paper tailored after the Metro in Sweden and European countries, features technology in shades of digital lifestyle. There is no firm section feature. If products are highlighted, they are largely extensions to advertisements that the main paper has carried before.

Now, all these are free content coming from the mainstream publications which largely populate the same new focus in copy approach: Youthful target audience, gadgets-centric features, breezy and colorful layout, and a generous use of white space.

They have something in common: Advertising dollars do not show a strong hint in their pages, except for the back page which is predominantly taken up by hardware vendors like Dell, Acer and Toshiba.

Looking beyond the six English papers, completing the information food chain on technology are some locally produced periodicals like MobileWorld, local franchise of T3, and a couple of tech/mobile-related Web fora and Web sites, i.e. Mobile88.com, lowyat.net and mypdacafe.com, to name a few.

Are the discerning readers being left out? Is the national agenda in making Malaysia an ICT (information and communication technologies) hub being served when the English titles no longer feature industry trendlines in its prime?

Some see that as a vacuum that will be capitalized on. The latest I heard is that Kash at MobileWorld is planning to launch a new magazine called... Surf!

As usual, some see the world as half-full, while others see it as half-empty.

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About Jeff Ooi

Jeff Ooi is an Internet and e-Business consultant based in Kuala Lumpur who's spent the last four years blogging internationally on the tech scene, on anything and nothing. Which doesn't really explain why most of his own technology is about three years out of date. He doesn't even own a PDA after his Palm V crashed. He's on 3G, though... Lemak Lemang refers to coconut-flavored sticky rice stuffed in a bamboo container.