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Strictly from the grapevine.

The electronic paper.

P'ng Hong Kwang, an ex-NST and recently the Malaysian Insider frontman for Brenden Pereira, has left the news portal. By subtly distancing itself from Fox Comm and the 4th Floor Boys of late, will Malaysian Insider sustain financial viability except to put it up for sale?

With the 4th Floor Boys' set-up crumbling by the day as Abdullah Badawi inches towards his political demise, Malaysian Insider has reached a crossroad. It was used as a "water-testing" instrument in the online media for the power-that-be. It employed the "starting a fire to dowse another fire" in its editorial strategy to a certain degree of success to beef up Abdullah's sagging approval rate.

Now that the push has come to shove, what happens next when Najib takes over? What will happen to the validity and usefulness of Malaysian Insider when Messrs. Fourth Estate Sdn Bhd boys take over during post-Abdullah days?

What is money without power? Read Che Det's latest take on the 4th Floor Boys, Feb 16.

Malaysian Reserve

The print-paper.

These days of declining advertising spending, Malaysian Reserve, a media outfit linked to the Melewar Group, may be in for turbulent year. The royal lineage in Negeri Sembilan has also shifted to a different branch of the family tree.

Can Malaysian Reserve survive except to offer its publication permit for sale?

For obvious reasons, The Edge Weekly has reduced number of pages for its OPTION feature pullout which sees fewer insertions by watches, writing instrument and automobile advertisers. Even the grammage of thge paper stock has thinned out.

One the other hand, by recruiting P. Gunasegaram as its managing director to helm the business section, The Star has edged its main business-sheet rivals with free, better-produced business news especially in the form of BizWeek distributed free with the main paper every Saturday morning, when the RM5-per-copy The Edge Weekly hits the street.

Needless to say, with the business desk revamped and Yap Leng Kuen redesignated Senior Editor (Business News), the remnant influence of Wong Sulong in The Star is effectively decimated.

With The Star and The Edge Weekly and Financial Daily pumping up the juice, will Malaysian Reserve have a chance?