YOURSAY ‘I hope to see an independent Malay Mail reporting without fear or favour. Premesh, Steven and ex-Sun's Terence - what a combination!’

Malay Mail buys content from Malaysiakini

your say pronto: Like the Arab and the camel. Sedikit sedikit lama jadi bukit. This is what going to happen to Malaysiakini .

ONG: It appears that there are Malaysiakini subscribers who don't know the difference between a Malaysiakini news subscriber and a Malaysiakini company shareholder. They don't know that both have different sets of rights. I fail to see how Malaysiakini selling content to MM infringes our rights as subscribers, even by a teeny weeny bit.

The people who should be complaining and protesting are the subscribers and readers of MM , generally people with puerile mentality. Now those pitiful pathetic souls will be given serious stuff to read and to digest, surely a task their puerile minds may not be able to cope with. If there is any justifiable grouse for us Malaysiakini subscribers, it should be the increasing amount of Bernama junk I have been seeing here at Malaysiakini .

cala: ONG. Thank you. Certainly many are aware of the difference of selling the news content and selling the shares of a company. What bothers many readers, if I may be allowed to guess, is whether it is in the chemistry of these two entities that are expected to work that closely given the current political environment of state- dominated mainstream media (with access to unlimited resources), and a financially struggling alternative media (with little resources to fall back on).

At least to me both Malaysiakini and The Malay Mail represent two different sets of readers who are not overlapping. Generally the former is politically more astute, while the latter is more fun- seeking and relaxed. The fear in us is whether through time, Malaysiakini may be internalised by The Malay Mail . By going through many of the comments, I sense the anger that is going on in them beneath the surface.

gggg: Well done Mkini ! It is you who has bought over MM. I hope to see an independent Malay Mail reporting without fear or favour. Premesh, Steven and ex- Sun 's Terence - what a combination! Make sure you don't disappoint us.

OneTrulyMalaysian: As the saying goes, "the proof of the pudding is in the eating". Hopefully the partnership works out. Best of luck.

Pemerhati: It makes good business sense to sell whatever you have to sell to as many people as possible and make money. In fact Malaysiakini should also sell its content to newspapers like Utusan , if they are interested. But the current reality is that Najib and the Umnoputras are likely to blow their top if they see the type of content that normally appears in the portal.

So what is likely to happen is that the mainstream print media that purchases Malaysiakini ’s content will only dare to print the content that would not offend the corrupt and bigoted Umnoputras. If they publish content that Najib and Umno do not like, then they would almost certainly lose their printing licence, as happened to The Star when Mahathir was the prime minister.

tkc: It is unlikely that Malaysiakini will lose its independence BUT the new Malay Mail may practise “self-censorship” with the intent of diluting and filtering the impact of Malaysiakini ’s content for the masses who do not have access to the Internet .

I cannot see how the new Malay Mail can carry Malaysiakini ’s articles verbatim without the risk of MCMC or the police carting away their servers and printing machines periodically. In short, something is not quite right in this union.

traj: This sounds good. But as usual something just doesn’t click. Why have the authorities allowed this to happen when they have disallowed MK to publish its own paper? There is a saying ‘keep your friends close and your enemies closer’. I fear MM will be allowed to distort MK news or even worse only publish news that is negative of the opposition.

jean pierre: If MK had turned their back on their original ideals, it would have been apparent by now. It hasn't.

cala: Mr Pathmawathy. I share the reservations expressed by several readers about the demerits of this content tie- up deal. The readers are naturally worried of this new dawn. Will it dilute the independence of Malaysiakini ? Can birds of different feather fly together? Are we seeing the convergence of editorial policy? If so, what a sad day it is. If not, is it as some claimed a marriage of convenience?

If there is a common ground on which to work on, I see the weakness of Malaysiakini is the strength of Malay Mail , and vice versa. As in any deal, it may work and it may not, only time will tell. In new institutional economics, while screening for any hidden trouble ex ante is a thing of the past, it pays to monitor ex post for compliance by the contracting parties.

Passing Cloud: If the "marriage" doesn't ensure M'kini 's independence in reporting, M'kini could just divorce MM . Or subscribers could just finish off M'kini , couldn't we?

AkuMelayu: Welcome aboard 'Datuk' Steven Gan. I see that you do not have to die to ink the deal. :)

.Pekan Voter.:

Now you can see Umno supporter AkuMelayu welcome Steven Gan ...

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