Revamp to reverse Malay Mail slump

The paper had until 1997 the lion's share of the advertising pie for the states of Selangor and Negri Sembilan. It lost out to The Star at the height of the Asian financial crisis the following year, when the latter came out with the Metro newspaper and Metro Classifieds. It is understood that an editor outside the group has been head-hunted to head the paper for the revamp. Media agency heads said they were adopting a wait-and-see attitude before making decisions on buying space for clients. The revamp is part of the restructuring and downsizing of the New Straits Times Press (NSTP), which is also offering a voluntary severance scheme to journalists and other staff of four newspapers under its stable. The other publications affected are the New Straits Times and two Malay-language newspapers -- the broadsheet Berita Harian and Harian Metro, an afternoon tabloid. The Malay Mail, first published in 1896, is expected to be worst hit, with its workforce halved. Staff who do not opt for the VSS will be transferred to the New Straits Times, formerly the leading English broadsheet daily, which was shrunk to a tabloid last year. That move was seen as a bid to compete with The Star for a bigger slice of the advertising pie. Officials at the NSTP declined comment.