Cross-Cultural Conversations

Observations by a Malaysian studying in Australia

The Star: The (Advertising) People’s Paper

One of the things I look forward to in my simple and uncomplicated life is to read the newspaper in all its crispiness in the mornings.

When I left Australia, one of the things I knew I was going to miss the most was the daily ritual of reading a fresh copy of The Age – Victoria’s leading newspaper. It was a beautiful paper – stunning visuals of everyday Australian life; critical analysis of the world by experts ranging from ethicists, human rights activists, lawyers, professors and occasionally, the odd politician; and the honest and diverse views of readers who are more than happy to share their thoughts through their letters.

Back home, the leading newspaper, circulation-wise, is The Star, with a readership of slightly more than a million readers, around 5 times more than its closest rival, The New Straits Times.

If there’s one thing I detest about The Star, it’s the ridiculous amount of advertising it allows to blot its papers. A quick browse will reveal that one out of every two pages is devoted to a full-page advertisement, and the other page itself is quarter or half-filled with more advertisement. Basically, this means that less than half of The Star can actually be classified as editorial content.

This deluge of promotional features is not only intrusive; it completely disrupts the paper-reading ritual. Because there’s a full-page advertisement on every one of two pages, the readable content of the newspaper is very broadly spread out so much so that one ends up spending most of the time just flipping through the newspaper since there’s actually not much to read in a given page.

To add to that, the reviews of restaurants or products lack the critical analysis needed to maintain a sense of independence and integrity. The restaurant reviews are more like promotional write-ups, with a listing of all the branches of the restaurants and the amazing array of food on offer, much like what you would expect from a promotional pamphlet. You cannot feel any passion about the food itself, or the ambience, on the part of the writer, since he or she is not writing from the soul, but really just sticking to a prescribed formula when dealing with these sort of publicity features.

If it’s not promoting food, The Star is busy promoting some community event or shopping carnival. There is nothing wrong with this in itself, but I think the newspaper would do better to exercise some care in its selectivity. Some events are more worthwhile than others, and it would do to just highlight the more important ones. The other events should just be summarised and grouped into one or two pages’ worth for us to browse through.

The Star needs to seriously consider, and decide, whether it wants to be an independent newspaper or a big thick pile of catalogues. As it is now, one would be forgiven if one thought that it was the latter.

posted by: Tembaga2 at 09:13 | link | comments (3) |

Comments:

#1  26 November 2004 - 10:32

 

1) Star is currently the most widely read papers, so the ability for the ads to reach their target mkt is there. hence so many companies advertise in the Star.

2) wat sort of passion u looking for? umay hv a point for some of the articles, but not all. it could be due to the editor's editing and bla.

Anonymous

#2  27 November 2004 - 02:06

 

1. All the same, I think the Star should balance its financial interests and its obligations to the reader..as it is i just feel there's way too many advertisements compared to read-able articles.

2. from the food review articles that i've read so far, the writers dont seem to show their knowledge on the food..they're usually just interviewing the owner and so the descriptions of the food is based on what the owner thinks..id prefer if the writers gave their own input..id prefer if the reviewer goes to the restaurant without the owner realising they're being reviewed..u know..the covert sort of system

Tembaga2

#3  29 November 2004 - 20:00

 

haha..do u know that cik yang is, if i'm not mistaken, in charge of the food & entertainment review? y dont u drop this note of urs to her? yup, they do sometimes do those secret disguise reviews but i dont know how much of that..interesting issue tho =D

Anonymous

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