JOURNALISTS' UNION URGES PRINT MEDIA OWNERS TO RE-EVALUATE OPERATIONS

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 8 (Bernama) -- The National Union of Journalists Peninsular Malaysia (NUJM) has urged print media owners to re-evaluate their operations in view of declining circulation.

In a statement here Thursday, the union said owners need to make a reality
check on the reasons for the drop in circulation and readership.

It said this was important to ensure the newspaper industry remained
relevant to serve the needs of its readers, advertisers and other stakeholders.

"This is because newspapers are facing challenges from news portals and
blogs serving the public national news including that not published by the main
stream media," said NUJM.

The union said media owners must take stock of the current environment and
make an honest reevaluation to rectify the situation and if this was not done it
would affect the livelihood of journalists, editors, photographers and other
support staff.

"We fear advertisers, too, will abandon newspapers in favour of alernative
media to maximise better returns.

"NUJM members will also be affected as media owners would no longer be in a
position to provide fair wages and better working conditions to their
employees," said NUJM.
-- BERNAMA