Pressing Matters

It is the season for giving as far as political parties vying for votes are concerned. And the primary document of what the respective coalitions have put on the table is there in their manifestos. Our guest gives his two sen worth on the Barisan Nasional and Pakatan Harapan manifestos: BN’s is 220 pages long, Pakatan’s is 150 pages long. Both don’t have a proper and easily diges...

We had the dissolution of Parliament over the weekend. Now we await the announcement of the dates for nomination and polling day by Election Commission. Today we look at one media organisation’s strategy in getting the best stories, and taking the political temperature. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Like all businesses, generating sustainable revenue is vital to the running of media companies, whether traditional or online. Today we focus in on this, especially in light of the recent announcement by The Malaysian Insight that it plans to cease its publication, citing a “challenging financial environment” and missed goals. Is a paywall the inevitable model to adopt or is advertisin...

Collins Dictionary declared “fake news” the 2017 Word of the Year. The dictionary defines this noun as “false, often sensational, information disseminated under the guise of news reporting.” Recently Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department announced a proposed law to deal with the so-called “Fake News” phenomenon will be presented to Parliament, now in...

Until it's recent closure, Andrew Sia was the editor overseeing the environment section of The Star. Despite numerous awards to its credit as well as some positive impact on policy makers. Today we ask what brought Andrew into journalism, what made him stay and briefly what the demise of a section of the paper means for journalism focused on the planet’s environmental challenges. See omnystu...

Last week, Parliament began its sixth session scheduled for 20 days and is said to be the last session before its dissolution to make way for the 14th General Election. Notable on the parliamentary agenda for this session includes the tabling of proposed fake news laws as well as the Election Commission’s redelineation exercise. Today, we get a journalist’s perspective on parliamentary...

A prominent businessman whose rice, sugar and flour milling businesses date back to the 1950s, Robert Kuok became the subject of sharp criticism precipitated by a blog posting by controversial blogger, Raja Petra Kamaruddin. The 94 year-old tycoon was accused of seeking to overthrow Najib Razak’s Administration by splitting the Malays and supporting opposition parties, in particular the DAP....

Veteran journalist Wan Hamidi Hamid began his career with Berita Harian observing from the outside of politics. He later joined a party owned publication as its Chief Editor. We discuss with him the relevance and viability of politically led publications in an era where electronic media dominates. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Football has emerged ‘bargaining chip’ in the political competition between Barisan Nasional and Pakatan Harapan. We had the Pakatan Harapan Youth Wing proposal for the free showing of the English Premier League if Pakatan takes the Federal government at GE14, and not to forget the tussle between the Pakatan-run government of Selangor and the Football Association of Selangor. Today we...

The departure of the Islamic party PAS from the Pakatan Rakyat coalition, raised many questions about the survival of the party. Speculation was also rife about the possibility of a more formal relationship with UMNO, within the framework of “Malay Unity”. With a splinter party nipping at its heels and a seemingly paradoxical decision to remain as part of the Pakatan-run Selangor gover...

The Malaysian media landscape in the run up to the 14th General Elections is evolving: from cyber-troopers and trolls to Whatsapp. Today we ask about the trajectory of political messaging and social media since the Reformasi era, especially in the relative advantages it gave to various stakeholders. Finally we ask it is premature to say whether one side has an upper hand over the other in terms of...

Rubin Khoo, the Editor in Chief of Prestige and AugustMan magazines, shares with us his observations on the industry's challenging operating landscape that he is in today. The magazine industry is in a state of flux globally and publishers need to adapt to the shifts in consumer behaviour. Rubin shares how journalists today have to evolve and adopt the "360" approach. On top of this, so much indus...

Asian Correspondent journalist Kong Lee Lian, recently wrote an article on what she described as an “epidemic of sexual harassment in ASEAN”, based on the experiences of women journalists across the region. The piece has garnered significant attention in Malaysia, eliciting responses from the National Union of Journalists, media advocacy groups and women’s rights groups. Lee Lian...

Teoh speaks to us about the history of SJ Echo, the Subang Jaya " Kampung Spirit" and the relevance of a physical community newspapers in the digital age. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Media Selangor is the official media of the Selangor State Government, SelangorKini and TV Selangor are the authorised print and web platforms under the Media Selangor brand. Today we ask how Selangorkini differentiates itself from other media including mainstream and so-called alternative media. And why Menteri Besar Azmin Ali has been reluctant to engage fully with the media. See omnystudio.com/...

The Morning Run recounts memorable conversations with journalists on Pressing Matters in 2017. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Anil gives his insights into :- - The history of Aliran and the effectiveness of its outreach - His views on the changing landscape of media engagement - Strategies taken by Aliran to adapt its communication approach - How Aliran determines its editorial priorities See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

With a clutch of awards, the team from The Star's youth-run R.AGE team takes a position against the prevailing fashions: "No click bait, rehashed, copy-and-paste stories here. We believe good journalism shouldn’t be just about what’s trending, or what gets us more video views." Today we get an insight to what allowed this team to evolve in the way it did. See omnystudio.com/listener fo...

Forget what you think you know about ‘fake news’. Listen to the podcast to better understand the distinct types of problematic content that sit within our information ecosystem. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

 Malaysian companies are expected to have limited involvement in the MRT3, given the tender conditions stipulated for this RM40-50 billion project. Guna breaks down this 'terribly convoluted' project. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The ASEAN Post was launched online 3 months. Rohan Ramakrishnan, founder and CEO, talks about why he chose to enter the media space, what is the vision for The ASEAN Post, and who is funding this venture. We also delve into his views of the current media landscape and how this portal plans to differentiate itself from the rest. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Guna shares his insights on the Malaysian Airlines leadership revolving door, as well as Pakatan Harapan's Alternative Budget, and the proposal to abolish GST . See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Nic Newman is the lead author of the latest Digital News Report, published by the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism. The Digital News Report tracks online news access and engagement over a range of countries. This year’s report -- for the first time -- includes a look at the Malaysian media landscape. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Despite the relative robustness of the Malaysian economy, the Malaysian ringgit continues to be around its lowest level relative to the US dollar. Although it has strengthened recently, it is still around 4.2 ringgit to the US dollar, lower than the 3.8 ringgit fixed exchange rate imposed at the height of the Asian financial crisis in 1998. Now, why is that? Independent business analyst P. Gunaseg...

 If you’ve been following the story of the bank robber who walked away with RM600,000 dressed in a t-shirt, shorts and slippers, you’ll want to hear the story from the point of view of a crime reporter.  Dubbed the “smooth operator” the man was arrested last week, revealing a life of mostly petty crime, preying on the inattentiveness of most of us. See omnystudio....