Sinar16: How it all began for Sinar Karangkraf
Sinar Karangkraf has been one of the go-to news platforms in the country since its establishment in 2006.
Its chairman Datuk Hussamuddin Yaacub shared how it all began for the company and what he envisioned as it evolves and continues to grow to this day. Datuk Hussamuddin said his vision when he first started the company was to educate the Malay community and encourage them to read more.
Not only that, he discovered that was no independent Malay newspaper that wasn’t politically inclined to a certain political party or under the editorial control of the government. “In 2005, I discovered that there is a gap in the Malay newspaper industry.
“Most of the Malay newspapers at that time were owned by political parties and even the English or Chinese papers were owned by political parties or controlled by the government.
“Since Kumpulan Media Karangkraf was a very independent company, I saw an opportunity for an independent Malay newspaper to thrive and so I established Sinar Harian,” he told Sinar Daily for its new episode of Bang For Your Buck.
Going down memory lane, Datuk Hussamuddin even shared about Kumpulan Media Karangkraf’s long history where it started in 1978 as a book publisher and then as a magazine publisher.
From the year 1980s onwards, 34 magazines have been launched with a book division under Alaf 21, Group Buku Karangkraf, and Karya Bestari.
Datuk Hussamuddin said the company dominated the Malay reading market at the time and was also the biggest independent publishing company in the country.
So what were the early days of Sinar Karangkraf like? Datuk Hussamuddin mentioned that Kumpulan Media Karangkraf was a strongly financed company when Sinar Harian was launched, and the publishing industry was segregated as seen from the English, Malay, and Chinese newspapers.
He said Sinar Harian first started as a hyper-local newspaper in Kelantan and they shifted the playfield by utilising modern technology to deliver the news.
“I think we created a new trend where we utilise modern technology where we equipped all our journalists with a car and communication equipment where they can relay the news in real-time from where they were based.
“We created this trend in 2006 our success was even recognised by the international newspaper industry as we were invited to give talks all over the world on how we used technology to start a hyper-local newspaper.
“We were ahead of time because smartphones were not even widely used then, but we were already actively using PDAs (personal digital assistant devices). “The journalists would take pictures with a digital camera and wrote stories on the PDA devices in real time before it gets relayed to the headquarters,” he said. Talking about Sinar Karangkraf’s transition from the traditional media to fully embracing the digital space, he said the migration was seamless as the company was already utilising advanced technology from the start. However, this does not mean it is all sunshine and rainbow for the company. He said the company was faced with a multitude of challenges leading up to its success. Datuk Hussammudin said among the challenges was the cultural change in reading habits.
“The challenges that we have in promoting or pushing Sinar is the reduction in the reading habit or the cultural change.
“I think nowadays people read less because last time, whenever we published any book or novel, we used to print 200,000 to 300,000 copies for each title. But now it is very difficult even to sell 5000 copies,” he said.
He also said the new generation has stopped reading since they are more focused on social media platforms like Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter and they tend to form their quick opinion after reading about only 280 characters.
Sinar Harian is known for its slogan “Telus dan Tulus” and for the newly launched Sinar Daily, “Transparent and Truthful” - what is its significance? According to Datuk Hussamuddin, the slogan reflects the company’s neutral stand, as it prides itself in presenting news as it is with no hidden agenda. “All this while, newspapers in Malaysia were not independent since they were used to promote the agenda of their owners - political parties or government.
“Karangkraf is the only independent publishing company at that time and currently. “We would be able to present the news as it is and our intention to provide the public with news truthful and accurate news,” he said.
He added the greatest achievement for Sinar Karangkraf is their success to be the market leader for Malay newspaper readers after 16 years.
He also delivered his message for Sinar Karangkraf 16th anniversary and expressed his gratitude to everyone who has been in the company’s journey all this time.
“I would like to record my sincere thanks to the team. I think all of you have been working very hard sincerely and I think you are great.
“Also to the readers, advertisers, and all those involved in the supply chain, we would like to say thank you very much and I am proud and very happy to be the leader of this team,” he added.
