Mainstream meets New Media?

Unspun‘s traveling so a topline news item right now, details to follow.

The Star’s Group Chief Editor Datuk Wong Chun Wai is set to join the bloggerati on World Press Freedom Day, at least that’s what he’ll be announcing. His blog is called New Malaysia.

His blog will be aimed at trying to aim at a space where mainstream and new media meet.

He’s expected to call for more freedom of the media, doing away with the KDN but otherwise try to position himself as the voice of moderation.

The blog’s supposed to be reflecting only his own view although it’s usually a bit hard to divorce the top guy’s personal opinion from that of the organization he leads.

More later. the reflexologist is here..

The reflexology in Seminyak was good…ah yes, Chun Wai, Unspun knows, has been meaning to blog for about a year or so now. Back in Feb 2007, when Wong was still #2 man in The Star, he almost became a blogger (Unspun was, mea culpa, premature in prognosis) and even started a website to archive all his articles.

But it never came about until earlier this month.

Chun Wai’s decision to blog opens up some interesting questions by virtue of his position as the Group Chief Editor of the largest circulating newspaper in Malaysia. Will his move, like what Rocky hinted at, spawn a rush of journalists into the blogosphere? What are the implications of this move for the mainstream media in Malaysia? Can Chun Wai, who’s carved out a name for himself in a newsprint and ink medium with limited talkbacks thrive in the blogosphere, that thrives on instant replies, commentaries and occasional flamings? Also interesting for a thought experiment is whether Chun Wai may, like Jeff Ooi, blog his way into Parliament as well.

So many questions. Who’s got the answers?