KUALA LUMPUR: The speedy progress of on-line media publications necessitates proactive measures by the federal government to make sure that print media corporations stay related, say specialists.
Teachers consider that among the many measures that may be carried out is to require ministries, companies, and authorities departments to buy promoting area in native newspapers to create steady demand and provide.
Senior Lecturer on the Division of Political Science, Public Administration, and Improvement Research on the College of Malaya, Dr Mohammad Tawfik Yaakub, stated this step was well timed, contemplating the rising challenges confronted by print media corporations attributable to technological developments that had been driving readers in direction of digital content material.
“The federal government also needs to mandate subscriptions to printed newspapers in all authorities workplaces and implement particular initiatives for civil servants who buy newspapers, comparable to incorporating it into their annual KPI (Key Efficiency Indicator) evaluations, which might assist increase newspaper gross sales and revitalise print newspaper subscriptions within the nation,“ he informed Bernama.
Moreover, he advised that the federal government might scale back paper taxes to offset manufacturing prices and supply different tax incentives for print media corporations, comparable to transportation tax aid, to assist make sure the trade’s longevity.
Mohammad Tawfik careworn that the print media trade performed an important position for segments of society looking for data and the newest information, as not everybody was tech-savvy sufficient to make use of on-line platforms.
Safety and Political Analyst on the Centre for Media and Info Warfare Research, Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM), Dr Noor Nirwandy Mat Noordin, stated that the survival of native newspaper corporations was important to offer checks and balances to on-line information.
He additional famous that print media additionally served as a reference for readers looking for verified information in a bodily kind.
Subsequently, he advised that the federal government ought to proceed to strain on-line platform homeowners like Google, Meta, and TikTok to pay for information content material from native media corporations, which additionally publish print newspapers, to assist cowl the rising prices of printing.
He additionally urged native media corporations with print platforms to accentuate their efforts and be extra artistic in attracting extra promoting from non-public corporations, authorities companies, and non-governmental organisations.
“Steady efforts are wanted to make sure the survival of print media corporations as a result of the general public wants a type of studying materials that’s formally recognised and tangible, which might stimulate curiosity in studying.
“As well as, the position of print media is important in shaping the ideas and perceptions of the general public with extra moral and managed reporting, versus some information parts on social media which may be deceptive,“ he stated.
Journalism Lecturer on the College of Communication and Media Research, UiTM, Fadzillah Aishah Ismail, believes the federal government ought to encourage the general public to purchase or subscribe to studying supplies by rising particular person tax aid underneath the Way of life class, which is at present capped at RM2,500.
She stated this step might encourage public participation in persevering with to make use of bodily studying supplies and represented a win-win effort to foster a studying tradition among the many folks whereas additionally boosting demand for print media.
