‘Like it or not,
Malaysiakini
has some obligation to be close to a non- profit organisation whose mission is to provide independent news,’ points out a reader in this continuing discussion.
On Should Malaysiakini go free?
Justswee: A job well done to Malaysiakini staff! You have provided good alternative source of info to the extremely biased MSM (mainstream media).
If the objective of Malaysiakini is to provide news and views that matters to all, then the overriding challenge is to provide it free in the long run. However, in view of the costs involved in churning out fast and reliable news reports, Malaysiakini should charge a small subscription for now until revenues from advertisements and other means are able to support its outlay.
For now, I would recommend that the subscription fees be lowered to reach out to a wider readership. Students who are still dependents and retirees who do not have a high disposal income would welcome a lower subscription rate. Perhaps you can segment the profile of the readership and introduce different attractive pricing levels.
Michael Sun: I support press freedom and that's why I paid for my subscription the moment Malaysiakini turned to a subscription based revenue stream. For Malaysiakini to be successful and yet independent it cannot depend too much on advertisements and sponsorships. If that it is so, Malaysiakini will soon lose its independence as it needs to kowtow to the big advertisers and sponsors. A membership-based paid subscription is the best solution for an independent press. For 41 sen a day, it is not that expensive. A teh tarik and a packet of cigarettes cost more than that.
Tomtw Ooi: Malaysiakini and a few others are very important to Malaysians to receive current up-to-date and fair news. I had been a subscriber to Malaysiakini before but stopped due to the difficulty to travel to your office to pay my dues. Sure, it would be wonderful to have news for free, but judging from the ads in your site the amount collected would not be able to sustain your operations. Besides Malaysians should not get into the habit of wanting everything for free. A curse of our Umnoputras.
It is only fair to pay for things of value. I would however suggest that Malaysiakini find an avenue for us to pay not just by credit cards ( a habit I loath ) nor cash at your office. Could you make an arrangement with say 7-Eleven for us to pay our subscription fees for retirees like me who deals only with cash? Maybe this arrangement would increase your revenues and if it does happen then you could think of lowering the rates.
Theresa Yong: I would suggest Malaysiakini do a love offering. Those who can, please support and give generously. Those who can't, should be able to access for free. Get the money from the advertisements.
Jasper Chong: Firstly, I would like to express my thanks for the free service during the 12 th general election. However, I am totally against a pay-for news service. I do not believe access to quality news should only be available to those who can afford it - news should be free for all.
Secondly, many news websites like CNN, BBC, The Star, The Sun , etc to name a few all provide free service and have been online for so many years, so such an approach is already proven to work. Why can’t Malaysiakini adopt the same approach? Thirdly, I also have a suggestion - enable two kinds of service, one a pay-for service which is advertisement free, and the second a free service which is support by advertisement reveneue.
Tachi Yishun: I am a Singaporean and followed the recent Malaysian general election very closely with your Malaysiakini - all your results of the election were announced much earlier than the other sources and accurately too.
I will subscribe to Malaysiakini soon. Please do not go for free - I will be disappointed.
Durianwool: On the whole, I agree with your CEO that at the end of the day, Malaysiakini is a running concern that requires hard cash to run, and that by having subscribers support the the running, it keeps Malaysiakini independent - which is what Malaysiakini should always be about.
However, Malaysiakini should, of course, realise that it is the only independent news source that is run professionally and how much an impact it has on the nation's politics. Like it or not, Malaysiakini has some obligation (at least in the current state of affairs) to be close to a non- profit organisation whose mission is to provide independent news. I am happy that signs are that you do recognise that role in some form by the recent two-week free access. I hope that this will become the tradition of Malaysiakini to provide free access during elections or major events.
Like everyone else, I'd like a free lunch, but when it comes to getting a good lunch you need to pay or have one that comes with strings attached. I'd rather pay, which is exactly why I don't mind contributing the RM0.41/day annually to keep you guys going as you are providing the right value.
I do hope in due time, people will realise (and you should even market your subscription prices that way) that RM0.41/day is not a high price to pay for good quality news. In the meantime, with the increase in subscription and therefore revenue, you may even want to think about reducing the subscription price as economies of scale is being achieved. If not, then the revenue must be used to create better value for us.
For example, getting more staff to cover more stories. Getting bigger pipes and better IT solutions to make access to Malaysiakini fast and reliable. (Your current flash-based login method is incompatible with mobile devices, and it is very slow on PCs)
Getting more redundancy to defend against traffic surges and DDoS attacks. Provide more 'free' access articles. Perhaps release articles to the public domain after say 1 ~ 2 months so that some of those important news can still be read by the population. Perhaps provide discounted prices for students or senior citizens. Thank you.
Mike: I have benefitted from your 'free news' over the last two weeks and have just paid for a one- year subscription. I feel its more than fair to pay just over RM10 a month to get an alternative/open view of news that we don't see in the government-controlled media. By the way, I am paying well over RM30 monthly for lop sided news in The Star . Keep up the good work, Malaysiakini . Together we will make a difference.
Sara Wak: Just do a comparison between the advantages you get when it is free compared with having to pay for it. I can see that most of the people who read Malaysiakini are young people.
A lot of them are still studying and have limited pocket money, even though Malaysiakini costs only RM150 a year to subscribe.
I feel strongly that it should be made free to all , and that Malaysiakini can ask for donations as and when it likes. I am sure a lot of those who support Malaysiakini will be willing to donate.
Please continue to make available the news to the people so that they know what is going on. Knowledge is important to make people aware of the changes we need in Malaysia - especially those in East Malaysia!
BANZH: I also support Malaysiakini to be free for all as this is the only website from where I can get the true situation of what is happening in Malaysia
Jansen Low: The RM15 per month is insignificant if you can get corporate advertisers. You need a sales team to drive that and since the opposition already in place; Malaysiakini should have no problem achieving free alternate news for everyone. Other than providing news and comments, sites like Malaysiakini also do have some social obligation too. In the cyberworld, no one charges for news.
Sharizal Shaarani: I am appalled with the suggestions by many that they would embrace a free Malaysiakini . This remnant of the subsidy mentality must be nipped at the bud as by now they should know that there is no such a thing as a free lunch.
The rising cost of maintaining the website with servers, bandwidth links and also the adequate pay for good, non-partisan journalists are all at loggerheads with a free service. Fine, they can say to get sponsors like what some blogger do for their sites, but if that is the case they might as well go to these blogs for their election updates.
As a subscriber, I was already upset to find out that non-subscribers were jamming the connection during the elections severely affecting my experience- how could they wish for such a freebie to continue? These non-subscribers should refund a portion of my subscription if Malaysiakini was to go for free.
In a nutshell, I would like say to all these freeloaders that, yes, they are indeed cheapskates. The Malaysiakini subscription package starts at RM15 for a month’s subscription to RM150 for a whole year’s. That translates to 50 sen per day for a month’s subscription or 41 sen for the yearly subscription.Now compare that to the alternative mainstream newspapers which are three times more expensive.
For people who shout for a fair and unbiased media and wear that conviction on their sleeves, their actions for not wanting to even subscribe to Malaysiakini shows that they do not wish to be a stakeholder of such free and fair media and this warrants me to call them hypocrites. So enough with the calls for freebies. Be a stakeholder in fair and unbiased media. So subscribe already!
C Mullai: With its high speed and its instant reporting. Malaysiakini should charge a nominal fee for access to their news. As an organisation, they do have overheads and other costs to meet. Anyway, I believe their advertisement traffic should increase along the way and Malaysiakini could reduce the charges accordingly later
