KUALA LUMPUR (July 26): The sun is not setting on news organisations yet. In fact, they are thriving and transforming to cope with the challenges faced in the media and publishing sector, according to Malaysian Premium Publishers Marketplace (MPPM).

"I would not say that news organisations are heading into the doom and gloom. It is transforming," MPPM council member Syamil Fahim Mohamed Fahim told an audience of over 300 today at the launch of Advances, a proprietary online marketplace designed to gain and preserve the confidence in the country's media and advertising industry.

Syamil added that only news organisations that are "compartmentalising" themselves to become a pure print player and facing challenges such as high printing cost, declining circulation and a changing operating environment will be heading towards oblivion.

"If news companies are organising themselves as proper media firms and looking beyond print, then they would be the ones surviving in challenging waters," he added.

To expand content and subsequently capture a wider audience, Syamil said news organisations should capitalise on social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

As for the current trend, Syamil said many news outlets have been establishing paywall schemes, which will only allow subscribers access to content.

"Many news and content players are eyeing and contemplating to migrate their platform into the paywall mode," he said.

According to Syamil, this remains a dicey move, as it could reduce online traffic and subsequently lower audiences.

"Out of 100% online traffic, several [researches] have shown that it could severely decline to 20% or 10% when the paywall system is implemented," he said.

"Right now, the only players embarking on this move are Malaysiakini and The Malaysian Insight. The bigger question would be: are Malaysian consumers ready to embrace this scheme?" he added. "That remains to be seen."

Established since November 2017, MPPM is a platform to address brand safety, transparency and view-ability concerns.

Supported by the government-owned Malaysia Productivity Corp and backed by Innity Sdn Bhd, MPPM comprises nine media organisations, whose audience makes up more than 60% of the country's digital population.

The Edge Media Group is among the nine news organisations within the MPPM consortium.

The remaining eight news outlets in MPPM are the Star Media Group, Sin Chew, China Press, Nanyang Siang Pau, Sinar Harian, Guang Ming, Utusan Malaysia and Kosmo!.