Straddling the divide between editorial and sales can be a thankless task, even at the best of times. At Malaysian publishing group Nexnews, however, group managing director and editor-in-chief Ho Kay Tat appears to be relishing the opportunity.
Since taking on the added MD responsibility in June this year, the seasoned business journalist has had to deal with his fair share of jibes from his editorial colleagues, but strongly believes that the combined approach is both necessary and welcome for the company, which publishes The Sun newspaper, along with The Edge Malaysia, Personal Money and new entrant Off The Edge.
"I've seen times when the tension between editorial and sales is so great it becomes self-defeating," admits Ho. "More important than that is the chemistry. If you are a managing director with a journalist background, you have a better shot at it."
First and foremost, Ho considers himself a journalist -- a function that he sees as being crucial to his new dual role. After working at Reuters and Business Times during the early part of his career, Ho took on the editor position at the then-fledgling Edge Malaysia in 1994, before systematically growing its presence to its current dominant segment position.
Along the way, Nexnews acquired the The Sun in 2002, turning it into a freesheet and beginning a low-level conflict with Nielsen over its Malaysian Media Index. More recently, the group signalled a departure from its core finance and news sensibilities, launching Off The Edge as a standalone arts and culture publication.
"It's not a departure, because we are a publisher and we will publish various products, but what we want to do is launch something that is not in the market," explains Ho.
For all its lifestyle leanings, furthermore, Off The Edge is very much part of the group's tradition of vocal, outspoken journalism -- recently securing Anwar Ibrahim's first and only interview with a local publication. Ho has seen the dark days of Malaysian journalism, and is hopeful that the current relaxed environment will continue. "If you push the limits responsibly and don't break the law and don't show you have any political agenda, I think you are okay,' he notes. "If, as an editor, you are not prepared to do that, then you shouldn't be there."
Ho can cut an uncompromising figure, never more so than when he discusses the Nielsen flare-up that is again polarising opinion in Malaysia (Media, September 23). According to Ho, the issue is clear-cut: media planners need to question the validity of Nielsen's Media Index numbers.
"The problem is that there is inertia and people are used to things being done in a certain way," says Ho. "If anybody bothers to dissect the Nielsen sampling, half don't even read a newspaper."
However, Ho is unsure that Synovate will receive the necessary support for its rival Media Atlas, which recently launched in the market. Ultimately, however, Ho is confident that the decision to turn The Sun into a freesheet will be vindicated. Circulation has grown to 150,000 today, from 120,000 in 2002, and Ho believes that newspaper consumption trends are on his side.
"What I see going forward is that you will still have newspapers which charge a premium, that people will pay to read," notes Ho. "The rest will be just commodities. That is why a lot of newspaper companies are launching freesheets. To me, they are buying an insurance policy."
