Newspaper scores coup with readers through Anwar's release
Newspaper scores coup with readers through Anwar's release
Rita Widiadana, The Jakarta Post, Kuala Lumpur
Newspaper stands have been doing brisk business in Kuala Lumpur
as Malaysians snap up news about Anwar Ibrahim, who was freed on
Thursday when the Supreme Court acquitted him of a sodomy
conviction.
The major English-language daily The Star, which has a daily
circulation of more than 300,000, printed a special 16-page
breaking news edition, which appeared on the street at 11 p.m. on
Thursday.
It was a hit with readers by providing 20,000 complimentary
copies.
The edition contained news of Anwar's release under the
headline Anwar Freed, comments of former prime minister Dr.
Mahathir Mohamad and elaborate chronology of charges against
Anwar.
There was also a behind-the-scenes look at the verdict, and
the backgrounds of the Panel of Judges who freed him.
Readers welcomed the edition, which was circulated in some of
the city's most upmarket areas, such as Bukit Damansara, where
Anwar and his family live.
A resident of Kuala Lumpur, Min Yeoh, said she was glad she
could grab the paper at a hypermarket on her way home from the
office.
"It is such important news for us and I am happy I could read
it from the newspaper on the very same day," she said.
The Star's effort was one up on its rival New Straits Times,
although it also presented extensive coverage of Anwar's release.
Editions of two leading Malay-language newspapers, Berita
Harian and Utusan Malaysia, disappeared from almost all
newsstands as early as 6 a.m. on Friday. The combined circulation
of the newspapers reaches more than 600,000 copies.
Hassan Abdullah, owner of a newsstand in Bukit Bintang, one of
the busiest districts in the city, said that all types of
newspapers in Malay, Mandarin, English and Tamil were all sold
out early in the morning.
"It is rare ... we usually find it difficult to sell
newspapers. We still have piles of newspapers until late at
night, but today (Friday), they (the copies) were all gone," he
said.
Meanwhile, hundreds of Anwar's supporters as well as local and
international journalists converged on his residence to see him
before his departure for Munich, Germany, on Saturday afternoon
for medical treatment.