KUALA LUMPUR: Thirty-three media strategists from Mindshare Group Malaysia were introduced to the New Straits Times Press' operations during a visit to Balai Berita in Bangsar here today.
During the half-day session, they were briefed on the history, production, distribution and newsroom operations of the three newspapers under the NSTP, namely New Straits Times, Berita Harian and Harian Metro.
Omnia Academy business development director Roche Chew said the main objective of the visit and briefing session was to educate media strategists by providing a comprehensive view of traditional offline media and online media.
"Mindshare Group Malaysia, one of the top media agencies in the country, is engaging with Media Prima Bhd because they feel that a lot of their team members need to have a feel of mainstream media.
"This is in order for them to better appreciate and understand how a TV station, newspaper or radio station works.
"These talents are from the digital age. They generally may not have an opportunity to get a feel of what goes on in offline media.
"In reality, offline media still plays a big part in marketing communication or news communication to audiences or readers."
Chew said more engagement and education sessions like this would be held, not just with media or advertising agencies, but also corporate companies and small- or medium-sized enterprises.
A participant, Kyte Yong, 31, said the visit to the NSTP gave her a better understanding of how a newspaper operates.
"I do not read or buy newspapers. That's more for my parents' generation. So I did not know about the importance of this platform before this trip.
"Now I have a better understanding of the workflow and business process.
"On our side, nowadays, most of our clients give priority to social media when it comes to advertising because everyone is on their phone now.
"From TikTok, YouTube to Instagram, we need to think of strategies to bring newspapers back to Gen Z.
"Let them understand the importance of newspapers and ultimately read newspapers again."