Tete-A-Tech
A walk down the Yellow Brick Road of Malaysia's Corridor of the future
by Bernice Low, Malaysia
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If you can't beat them...
Jun 15, 2009 00:58...join em. And that's what the MCA (Malaysian Chinese Association) is going to do, it would seem.
According to a news report on the Malaysianinsider.com, the MCA is going into the online news game. A friend in the media line confirmed that hiring is ongoing for the Malaysian Mirror, the name that has been chosen for the new newsportal. A search on MYNIC shows that the domain name Malaysianmirror.com.my is available. A search on WHOIS, however, shows the top-level domain (TLD) name Malaysianmirror.com to be unavailable. It was recently purchased on March 3, 2009, and is registered to a Web domain hosting firm in (ironically) Penang.
A smart first move buying the TLD--recall that our Prime Minister's personal Web site, 1 Malaysia, didn’t for some reason use a TLD. BUT, surely it would also have been smart to cover one's bases (and rears) and buy the Malaysian domain as well in this case?
The Malaysian Mirror, according to the Malaysianinsider.com, is "the brainchild of supporters of MCA president Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat" to "redress the situation" of the type of coverage the MCA has been receiving in the alternative media. This certainly seems to be a rather odd development, given that the MCA, via Huaren Holdings, owns The Star, and its online entity, thestar.com.my.
Thestar.com.my receives a large amount of online traffic from news readers in Malaysian and abroad. It was one of the earliest and oldest news Web sites in Malaysia, and easily receives the lion's share of digital media buying because of its strong online presence. By virtue of its audited circulation, the Star newspapers are one of Malaysia's most read newspapers. To me, the tantalizing question is why does the MCA (or supporters of the president of the MCA) see the need for an online newsportal, when the party already owns the local media Goliath and has a new media play?
One possible reason would be that though the Star is profitable as a newspaper business and seems to have a very commercially viable online business (an unusual situation given that the newspaper businesses seem to be in the absolute doldrums elsewhere), it is not doing its job in terms of political influence and thought-leading among the English-speaking urban population of Malaysians. This is because, in my view, the credibility of the Star (and by extension its online presence since the content is largely from the main paper) as a neutral media voice has suffered significantly since the 2008 General Election. And the paper has not really recovered back much credibility in the last year despite attempts to balance the coverage and appear less fawning toward the Government. Talk to any urban, educated Malaysian, and you'll find that they are discussing what they read on the alternative media Web sites rather than on the mainstream media publications. When a recent reference was made to an article in The Star on Facebook, it was to point out a gapingly embarrassing editorial snafu made that involved a spelling error in an article about standards of English.
Arguably, nothing less than a total change to the Star's editorial direction, tone and approach would be required for it to regain any ground with the urban readership. After all, the fish rots from the head, does it not? But this is quite difficult to do because in general, Malaysian companies don't "do" corporate purges. There is an aversion to dinosaur removal and drastic change. It's especially difficult in the case of the Star because, arguably, nothing is really "broken". The newspaper and holding company are profitable and sit on a generous cash pile. Its online Web site continues to attract the lion's share of digital advertising with strong traffic numbers. What does one do when all is well, yet not well?
The Malaysian Mirror would seem to be an "experiment" of sorts. By starting up an online news portal, the goose that lays the golden egg (The Star and thestar.com.my) remains untouched, and no change needs to be implemented at The Star itself to upset the editorial stalwarts or create chaos there. At the same time, with a brand new online entity, the MCA president is free to set a drastically different editorial tone, direction and content, while ensuring that its point of view, thoughts and opinions reach the all-important young, urban and educated voters. And should at some point the Malaysian mirror proves to be a stonking success, then the Star would simply buy it up and integrate it into its stable of publications.
Getting one's viewpoints and ideas out there in this age of Web 2.0 is pretty easy. Setting up a Web site, plugging in a Twitter account, tapping into social networks are relatively easy to do, especially when one has deep pockets. But if the purpose behind the Malaysian Mirror is thought leadership and sublime political influence, then that is going to prove to be a little bit harder. Since its backers and origins are no longer opaque because of the article in Malaysianinsider, readers will likely be on their guard for any obvious signs of bias or any indication that they are essentially reading what is, at best, a mildly more politically frisky version of The Star.
Credibility from day one is integral. The problem with credibility and trust is that it isn't just something you can get from having deep pockets and the best technology that money can buy. Achieving influence, over online audiences is tricky.
The Malaysian online public, contrary to popular misconception, is not made up of a bunch of expletive-spewing loonies, unemployed housewife bloggers and black t-shirt-wearing opposition crazies. There is a vast swath of ordinary people who read online material, and who read a variety of sources in order to form their opinions. Put it down to a generation of Malaysians who have learnt the art of reading between the lines and putting together jigsaw puzzles of information.
To earn their trust and to achieve credibility in their eyes require quality content--that means good writing, ethical and committed journalism objectivity and neutrality, and thorough, uncompromising analysis of news and current affairs. These are things that money and the best technology cannot buy.
On a more technical and observer's note, the extent to which the people behind the Malaysian Mirror measure if their objective has been achieved will also be quite an interesting exercise. Google Analytics provides useful raw data on traffic numbers and bounce rates for example, but this is at best a metric for the extent to which the people behind the Malaysian Mirror are getting their viewpoints and ideas out there. More readers means basically more people being exposed to their ideas, viewpoints and thoughts.
But lots of people reading doesn't equate with these people believing what they read, or are being influenced in the right way by what they have read. Influence is an extremely difficult metric to measure and is not easily discerned by simply looking at Google Analytics. Web site traffic is often deceptive since it provides merely the number of visitors, and little information about how the information is being perceived, or what these visitors THINK after reading the content.
But given the lengthy period of disengagement by the Government and political parties such as the MCA from the Internet and alternative media, the arrival of the Malaysian Mirror is proof positive that the alternative media is on its way to becoming a worthy adversary to the mainstream media.
Now, let the games begin.
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About Bernice Low
Bernice Low is a screenwriter and pen-for-hire. At age 11 (in the era of BB--Before Blog) Bernice started her own newspaper, the Daily Jelly. It lasted two days before she was stopped from using school newsprint supplies for frivolous activities. She loves Cartoon Network's Bill and Mandy, has a thing for TV doctors House and MacDreamy, and is the proud owner of a 32-inch flat-screen TV. She believes diamonds and iPods are a girl's best friend. Her blog is her latest guilty pleasure.
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