Nanyang Siang Pau 's circulation has plunged up to 20 percent since it was taken over by MCA nearly two months ago, according to a source familiar with the distribution of Chinese dailies.
"The decline in Nanyang Siang Pau is serious. The 20 percent figure is a conservative estimation," the source explained.
"The daily's circulation was affected especially in northern Malaysia where there is another Chinese daily, Kwong Wah Yit Poh ," he added.
The source also told malaysiakini that another national Chinese daily, China Press which is published by the same company - Nanyang Press Holdings - had also suffered a drop in circulation somewhere between 12-13 percent.
On May 30, MCA acquired Nanyang Press Holdings from Hume Industries and Hume Plastics, owned by tycoon Quek Leng Chan, in a controversial RM230 million deal despite strong public objection.
According to latest Audit Bureau of Circulations' figures, China Press had a daily circulation of over 202,000 while Nanyang Siang Pau 's was at 187,500.
Meanwhile rival newspaper, Sin Chew Jit Poh reigned supreme with a daily circulation of 299,000 copies.
When malaysiakini contacted Nanyang Siang Pau , its marketing manager Robert Kok maintained that the circulation of the paper was "stable".
Relinquish ownership
Meanwhile, the Chinese Organisations Against the Takeover of Nanyang Press (Coat) and five other organisations issued a joint press statement today blaming MCA for the falling numbers in circulation and advertisement income of both Nanyang Siang Pau and
China Press ."Ever since the Huaren (MCA's investment arm) appointed staff hastily took over Nanyang Press, the independence of both the dailies has become doubtful in the eyes of the public, said Coat.
The statement reiterated that MCA must relinquish its entire stake in Nanyang Press Holdings and restore the independence of the dailies in the group.
"This should be done immediately before it is too late. History has proven that Chinese readers always reject media that is controlled by political parties," said the statement.
Five other organisations which jointly endorsed the press statement were Malaysia Newspaper Vendor Associations, Committee to Safeguard Press Freedom of Nanyang Siang Pau, Committee to Safeguard Press Freedom of China Press, Writers' Actions for Media Independence and the Students' Alliance for Media Independence.
