MEDAN, Feb 7 — The newspaper industry will not be buried by the wave of digitization, said the Editor-in-Chief of Utusan Borneo Sabah, Lichong Angkui.

The newspaper industry would grow again, albeit slowly, he said.

"This is based on general findings and a global survey that newspapers remain a reference to facts, truth and accuracy,” he said at the Programme International Seminar CAJ & Press Councils Delegation Digital Distruption and Sustainable Media Exosystem Governance here today.

Lichong who joined the delegation of the Malaysian-Indonesian Association of Friends of Journalists (Iswami) at the National Press Day (HPN) gathering, said that in addition to that, newspapers were also the official medium for leaders and the government to communicate new policies or policy reforms.

"As a trusted information delivery platform, I am confident that newspapers will continue to remain relevant in this digital age,” he said.

The Iswami Malaysia delegation of 23 people was led by the President, Datuk Mokhtar Hussain.

Lichong acquiesced that the global newspaper industry started to collapse over the past few years due to the crash of the digital wave around the world.

He said the Asean region was no exception when a number of newspapers were forced to close, causing many to lose their jobs.

"But recent trends show sign of recovery in the newspaper industry, and I believe the results can be seen within a year or two,” he said.

In that regard, he said it was necessary for the newspaper industry players to be more creative and innovative in producing products, including contents, to ensure that it is returned to being the choice of readers again.

According to him, efforts must be made to interest the younger generation in reading the print version and at the same time, industry players strengthen the epaper version. — Borneo Post