The oldest newspaper in Malaysia, The Malay Mail, will print its last edition on Dec 1 and go fully digital on Dec 2. The newspaper turns 122 this year. It was first published on December 14, 1896.
Editor-in-chief Wong Sai Wan told The Straits Times that the company, which employs about 165 people, announced to staff on Thursday (Oct 25) afternoon that it was undergoing "a change of business direction" which would see it cut a third of its wage bill.
"I have also offered the staff one week to tell me what they want to do - retrain, join a bigger organisation, get us to help them look for a job or retire or go into business - tell me," he said as cited from straitstimes.com.
Staff affected by Malay Mail's digital pivot this December have been given one week to decide whether they want to leave or stay on and retrain for new roles in the revamped organisation.
Mr Wong said Malay Mail would expand from being just a news outlet to offering a full range of digital products such as "managing and marketing" online presence for others.
The circulation of newspapers in Malaysia has dwindled in recent years, with Malay Mail's print sales currently at 10,000 daily from a peak of over 60,000 decades ago.
The Malay Mail was part of the New Straits Times Press' stable of newspapers until it was relaunched by Media Prima in 2008 as a free afternoon paper. It then changed hands from the Blue Inc publishing firm to a consortium led by Mr Siew in 2012.
Sources: straitstimes.com, thestar.com.my
