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KOTA KINABALU: One of the oldest newspapers in Sabah, New Sabah Times, will close on December 20.
Letters have been known to have been sent to staff announcing the company’s decision that has been discussed since the beginning of this year.
About 180 people, including company staff and distributors across the state, will be affected by the shutdown.
The newspaper is closely related to former chief minister Tan Sri Musa Aman, whose brother Datuk Ayub Aman is the president of the company.
Sources said declining circulation and a drastic drop in advertising revenue in recent years were among the main reasons for the closure.
The Covid-19 pandemic and the growing challenge of social media also compounded the company’s problems.
When Tun Fuad Stephens (who later became Sabah’s chief prime minister in 1963) first established the newspaper as a daily newspaper in 1954, it was known as the Kinabalu Times before being renamed the Sabah Times and later the New Sabah Times.
Before the emergence of other print media, the name Sabah Times was synonymous with newspapers in Sabah.
The New Sabah Times remains one of the top choices for many older Sabah people when they want to read the newspapers.
The New Sabah Times Acting Managing Director Felix Gusti is expected to hold a briefing with company employees on Wednesday (December 9) about the shutdown.
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