KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 22 — Putrajaya’s suspension of The Heat may end up giving the previously “unknown” news weekly a publicity boost, said former New Straits Times editor-in-chief Datuk A. Kadir Jasin.

Alluding to the Streisand effect in which attempts to suppress information inadvertently raise the profile of said piece of information, the veteran newsman noted how two newspapers that were previously banned later came back “with a vengeance”.

“The two papers had their publishing permits suspended in the aftermath of the Operasi Lalang in1987.

“Today, The Star is the largest paid English newspaper and the Sin Chew is the largest Chinese language newspaper,” Kadir wrote on his blog yesterday.

During the Ops Lalang crackdown, The Star and Sin Chew had their print permits revoked along with those of The Sunday Star and Malay-language newspaper Watan.

After months in limbo, the newspapers were eventually issued with new permits although Watan went under during the time.

Both The Star and Sin Chew are now the leaders in their categories and behind only Malay tabloids such as Harian Metro and Kosmo in terms of circulation, Kadir added.

“So suspending a newspaper is not always a productive thing to do, more so when strong reasons are not given or worse still when the reasons for such a tough action are frivolous.”

The Heat was suspended by the Home Ministry on Thursday, then believed to be over a report titled “All eyes on big-spending PM Najib” published for the week of November 23-29.

In a three-paragraph statement posted on its website then, the weekly said it had ceased publication in compliance with a suspension order served on it by the ministry.

The Home Ministry yesterday denied the suspension was due to The Heat’s reportage, but for other alleged violations of its print permit.

“The Heat’s publication permit states that the outlet is required to inform the Home Ministry of any change of ownership. Furthermore, the permit provides for a weekly business magazine.

“However, these provisions were violated. The Home Ministry therefore issued a show cause letter to The Heat’s publisher,” the spokesman said via a statement yesterday.

The official further explained that the suspension was imposed after the weekly allegedly failed to respond to two previous show-cause letters, and will continue to be suspended until it officially replies to the letters.

The tabloid-sized paper that started its run earlier year is published by Petaling Jaya-based HCK Media Group.

The Streisand Effect was named after the case of American performer Barbara Streisand who sought in 2003 to suppress photographs of her mansion in California, but generated such controversy in her attempts so as to unintentionally draw the attention of otherwise uninterested observers.