Media Start-up: New Naratif in Malaysia  

Launched in 2017, New Naratif is a digital platform that describes itself as a movement for democracy, freedom of speech and freedom of information in Southeast Asia. 

Managing DirectorP.J .Thumhails from Singapore and is a historian at Oxford University. Now in his late 30s, he launched New Naratifmore than two years ago and is passionate about its development. 

His platform uses three approaches to achieve their goals.

"We research things that are important for the people of Southeast Asia. Second, we publish the information in accessible formats. [In addition] to research articles and long-form journalism we have videos, podcasts, comics and photo essays in the languages of Southeast Asia," Thum said. 

The languages include Bahasa Indonesia, Bahasa Malaysia, Vietnamese, Chinese and English, and New Naratif is planning to include additional languages.

"The third thing we do is to bring people together to discuss these issues and empower them to create change," Thum added.

'The key is to overshare'

Thum now employs about a dozen freelancers in countries such as Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand. Most of them have regular jobs and volunteer their time at New Naratif. The digital magazine publishes stories that would normally not appear in other media. Thum described them as stories that the government does not want told.

"[This] includes the impact of capitalism, corruption, neo-liberalism – especially when it comes to development in Southeast Asia," he points out. "There are many instances in Southeast Asia where governments say 'we're developing, there's waterfront, there are malls, there's beautiful housing [that] will have a certain proportion of affordable housing' but they never talk about the fishermen who are displaced and move 30 kilometers away," Thum said. 

Two additional focuses are stories concerning religious minorities and the LGBTQI community. The New Naratif team is spread across Southeast Asia, as well as Oxford, and tries to bridge cultural challenges, as well. 

"The key is to overshare, to always speak out about how you feel, what you are thinking, your opinions on everything. We encourage people to overshare," said Thum. "This is especially difficult in many Asian cultures [where people] don't like to express themselves or share their emotions."

Thum admitted that he finds this difficult himself. "We don't like to say 'no' to things. These are all huge cultural barriers." 

Advertising not an option

New Naratif'sbusiness model is based on endowments, donations and membership fees. Advertising is out of the question – the start-up wants to retain maximum independence. Another aspect distinguishes it from other media organizations: it sees itself primarily as a political movement. The platform regularly motivates its supporters to actively join the movement and help bring about positive change in Southeast Asia. 

The monthly budget is about $10,000, an amount that probably seems minuscule compared to other newsrooms.

"We manage to survive on a very small amount of money by being very focused on the things that are important, and by trying to keep our costs down. We don't have a physical infrastructure. We don't rent spaces. We all work out of our bedrooms," Thum said.

Viewed as an 'enemy'

The project began in Singapore but is registered in Oxford in the United Kingdom and the Malaysian capital, Kuala Lumpur. Singapore refused to register it because the government sees the platform as an "enemy of the system” due to its critical reporting. Its reporters have repeatedly been arrested and imprisoned.  

"Without a lot of funds, we can't afford lawyers, but what we can do is to take a very strong stance," Thum stressed. "We condemn the behavior of the governments, we campaign, we put out a lot of tweets, a lot of Facebook posts, we reach out to our members. We try to raise awareness as much as we can."

Singapore is one of the richest countries in Asia but the government has tight control over the media. Although the economy is flourishing, freedom of expression and freedom of the press are even more restricted than in Russia. According to the Reporters Without Borders 2020 WorldPressFreedomIndex, Singapore comes in 158, nine places behind Russia.

'We have a mission'

Thumsaid the biggest challenge is attracting more people to give more financial support.The start-up currently has around 600 members but would need about 2,200 members to give it financial sustainability. 

Part of New Naratif's success comes from the fact that making money is not their main priority.

"New Naratif succeeds because we don't care about money and, more importantly, our members don't care about money. When media companies think about their work they think about revenue and business models," Thum said.

"Of course, those are important but the reason people support New Naratif is because we have a mission, we have values and we have a purpose: democracy, freedom of information, freedom of speech. People support that, believe in that and are passionate about that."