I REFER to the report “New head for theSun daily” (NST, Jan 29).

As a newspaper editor I understand the NST’s interest in the recent corporate developments of Nexnews Bhd and also respect the right of your reporter to talk to various sources for his or her article.

Unfortunately, there are two paragraphs in the article that are inaccurate.

The first inaccuracy is paragraph 10 which said: “Another editor said Chan would supervise the transition to separate the operations of theSun and The Edge.”

The senior staff were told at the meeting, where both Chan Kien Sing, the new managing director of Sun Media Corp Sdn Bhd, and I were present, that we will manage the transition together. Chan and I have worked together as directors of Nexnews and we therefore expect no problem managing the transition.

The second inaccuracy is more damaging.

Paragraph 8 quoted an unidentified editor as saying: “He (Ho) assured us it had nothing to do with the editorial content but it’s about economic expediency on Tong’s part (to sell his Nexnews stake to Berjaya Corp).”

The editorial content of theSun was not raised by anyone in any of the meetings with theSun staff. And neither did I refer to it.

Chan and I explained to the staff that the two principal shareholders of Nexnews Bhd had decided that after nearly six years of partnership, it was time for theSun and The Edge to have separate managements that will operate independently of each other.

It was felt that the time was right because theSun is today in a much stronger position than it was at the time the management of The Edge stepped in nearly six years ago.

The staff were told that the management team of The Edge, led by me, will no longer be involved in managing theSun.

The sale of Tong Kooi Ong’s stake in Nexnews Bhd was therefore to facilitate the separation of the management of theSun and The Edge. It was not done for economic expediency as suggested by your article.

HO KAY TAT, Managing director/editor-in-chief, The Edge Communications Sdn Bhd

Source: NST – January 30, 2008