KUALA LUMPUR (March 11): The sun is not setting on the print medium just yet, according to the Malaysian Newspaper Publisher Association (MNPA) chairman Datuk Mohammad Azlan Abdullah.

The keynote speaker for the forum titled "Print 2020: Challenges and Opportunities" here today, Mohammad Azlan said it was key for publishing companies to embrace shifting trends in the market and turn them in their favour.

“I don’t want to be speculative, but it’s not so much about growth [for the industry], but as publishers, we need to maximize our revenue and that comes from advertising and consumer revenue,” he told reporters at the sidelines of the forum.

“I think the focus is how to sustain and grow our business as a media company. We should look at how to increase total revenues from people accessing news and content across different platforms,” he added.

Mohammad Azlan said while Malaysia was ranked third in newspaper readership reach, behind Hong Kong and Singapore, there were still a number of challenges for the industry.

Total readership dropped to 8.3 million for both English and Malay publications in 2014, compared to 9.1 million in 2012. Circulation for English, Malay and Chinese dailies also posted a decline of 1% from 2009 to 2014, according to data from the Audit Bureau of Circulations.

“There is no choice but to change, diversify and grow. Advertising revenue and newspaper sales revenue are declining, while operating costs escalate and consumer behaviour and lifestyles rapidly change,” he said earlier in his presentation.

“The demand for news and content is still strong, so there is hope for publishers, print will continue to be relevant,” he added.

However, he said for publications to stay relevant, it was also important to ensure their content relate to what consumers want, and to attract readership.

The Star Media Group group managing director and CEO Datuk Seri Wong Chun Wai also said it was important for publishers to not just focus on one medium, as consumers tend to access content across different platforms.

“Online news portals are still largely fuelled by [the advertising revenue from] newspapers; there is no money in pure online news portals. The migration to other platforms and other tools must happen now,” he said at the forum.

Wong also said that social media was very relevant to consumers today, but credibility remained an issue, and this is where readers will turn to more traditional medium such as print, for news they can trust.