Umno should ensure that Utusan Malaysia is a credible newspaper before demanding for advertisements from government-linked companies (GLCs), said PKR.

In a press release today, PKR communications chief Fahmi Fadzil said that the newspaper's circulation is dropping because of its allegedly skewed content.

"The reality is, which is hard for Ahmad Maslan and Umno to accept, is that readers are tired of the propaganda and slander. They want to read news from all angles from all parties.

"The 60 percent spike in traffic for political websites during the GE13 campaign proves that Malaysians are hungry for balanced reporting.

"Thus the country's main GLCs will not advertise in Utusan and Berita Harian because they don't want to waste money. PKR supports any move to stop wasting public funds," he said.

Fahmi was responding to Umno information chief and deputy finance minister Ahmad Maslan's press conference yesterday, in which he revealed that he had wrote to 35 GLCs, urging them to advertise in Utusan.

He claimed that only 3.7 percent of the the combined advertising budget of the top 35 GLCs went to Utusan, adding that the GLCs should not "overspend" on English and Chinese newspapers.

Fahmi urged Maslan and Prime Minsiter Najib Abdul Razak to take heed of Utusan's dropping circulation figures and conduct reforms before demanding for GLCs to advertise.