HONG KONG, Dec. 23, 2020
Co-organized by China Daily, University of
International Business and Economics, Shanghai
International Studies University and Asia
News Network, a panel discussion session themed “COVID-19 and Impacts on the Media” was held virtually on
Wednesday, December 23, 2020. Media leaders and experts joined the event online
and discussed how reporting strategies and operations of the media have changed
amid the COVID19 pandemic.
Mr.
Zhou Shuchun, Standing Committee member of the CPPCC National Committee and Publisher
and Editor-in-Chief of China Daily, delivered the welcoming remarks. He said Chinese
media colleagues have braved hardship and danger to record heart-warming
battles to tell the story of China’s fight against the pandemic, which boosted
the morale of frontline warriors. Later, Dr.
John Gong, Professor of Economics, University of International Business and
Economics; and Dr. Debao Xiang, Professor of School of Journalism and
Communication, Shanghai International Studies University; shared their insights
on the topic.
John
Gong pointed out that the model of the media is changing. “Now people are more and more receiving
messages through relays of information. What this difference makes is that, in
order for the message to be relayed, there is a tendency for the message to go
extreme. You’re moving into a world where you have those short snackable video
clips kinds of product that people tend to use or like to watch. There’s no
difference between fact and opinion-editorial. It is now even more difficult
for readers to get information that is objective, fact-based. Traditional media
need to tighten their seatbelt and stick to what they are doing. If you have to
sacrifice your journalistic standard for traffic volume, this is deplorable.
The government needs to take actions. I think we have quite a strong government
here in China that looks after this disinformation and misinformation,” he
said.
Debao Xiang pointed out that the pandemic’s impact on the industry is both negative and positive. “There is a decrease in the average media
budget due to the coronavirus. Around 35,000 journalists in the US have been
laid off and faced pay cuts amid the pandemic. This is not only influenced by
COVID-19 but also the impact of the new technologies. But audience trust for
journalists has increased …this is a good phenomenon for the journalism
industry,” he said.
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| Dr. DJ Clark and Pana Janviroj moderate the panel discussion. |
Insight Spotlight was followed by a panel discussion which was moderated by Mr. Pana Janviroj, Executive Director, Asia News Network; and Dr. DJ Clark, Multimedia Director, China Daily Asia Pacific. Prominent leaders from media companies and experts joined the panel discussion. They were: Mr. Zhiming Chen, Deputy Director of International News Department, China Daily; Mr. Choo Joon Kian, Deputy Editor in Chief, Sin Chew Daily; Mr. Philip Golingai, News Editor, The Star; Mr. Ziaul Hoque, News Editor, The Daily Star; Ms. Vivian Hsiao, Reporter, China Post; Mr. Min Thaw Htut, Executive Director, Eleven Media Group; Mr. Nitish Kapoor, ANN Editorial Coordinator, The Statesman; Ms. Juliet Labog-Javellana, Associate Publisher, Philippine Daily Inquirer; and Mr. Ly Tayseng, CEO, Phnom Penh Post, Cambodia. They examined the implications of COVID-19 on the media industry. They discussed the future development of the media industry.
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Speakers share their insights on the implications of COVID-19 on the media industry. |
Pana Janviroj pointed out that many Asian media appear to be weathering the storms better than expected. But more importantly there is a consensus from bottom to top of the newsrooms, despite the dwindling resources and advertising revenue plunges, the relentless determination to do their jobs. “Those are to bring accurate reportings to readers and keep them well informed. The reporters are determined to do their jobs because readers and public at large appreciate their works. The Covid-19 era has endowed long awaited public appreciation of mainstream national media and journalism,” he said.
Zhiming
Chen
highlighted that technology has played a key role to contain the 2020 virus. “As a news organization with global reach,
China Daily is fortunate to have offices and reporters worldwide. This means,
during critical moments in COVID-19 coverage, we have nose, eyes, ears on spot.
This kind of local presence was invaluable for us,” he said.
Choo
Joon Kian said Sin Chew Daily has not laid off or had pay cuts
for anyone. The company has officially launched a membership scheme. He said
that the number of members has increased to 240,000 and their e-papers have
increased by 5 percent. The company plans to set up a paywall on Apple next
year.
Philip
Golingai said, “For me,
with the retrenchment in most of the media organizations in Malaysia and also
downsizing and some closures, having at least three to five news organizations
is very promising for us. Roughly, that’s the situation for us.”
Ziaul
Hoque said the COVID-19’s impact has been unsettling. “Our revenue went down twothirds. There have
been job cuts but they are not related to the pandemic. For workload, we have
to adapt to these situations because it is the demand of the time. I think it’s
a positive thing, in a sense that what we had to do, it expedited the process
(to digitalization). We had to remodel business models,” he said.
Vivian
Hsiao said she saw a bump in the number of readers in the
beginning. “When covering the COVID-19
pandemic, our readers really needed to know what’s going on. I think the
responsibility of the media increased greatly this year, but we have to be
careful in covering the pandemic and provide accurate information because we
wanted to give our readers the current information. But we also wanted to avoid
creating unnecessary panic among them as well,” she said.
Min
Thaw Htut said revenues from print advertising have declined.
But that decline has been covered by digital investments. “Even though our core content is news, we have also diversified our
content. The main lesson I have learnt is that we have to remain trustworthy,
reliable and independent to do our main core functions. The other thing that we
have to be mindful about is that the attention for eyeballs is very
competitive. How do we survive this? It’s by creating good quality news,”
he said.
Nitish
Kapoor said revenue was going down at the start of the
pandemic. “But with an increase in
internet users, we have gained revenue. Eventually, we’ll get long-term
benefits for sure. It will surely come back to us,” she said.
Juliet
Labog-Javellana pointed out that one of the positive
impacts of COVID-19 for the media is it
provided the impetus to accelerate digital transformation and innovation. “So what the Inquirer did was to move
quickly to different platforms like we hosted more than a dozen webinars; print
journalists went into podcast….we published newsletters. Because most of our
staff are working from home so maybe the big challenge during this pandemic is
that media’s access to government officials has been limited because there are
no face-to-face press conferences. Officials can mute you online. There’s no
opportunity to grill officials. The Inquirer had to leverage our credibility to
counter the ‘disinfodemic’ about COVID-19 which posed a danger to people’s
lives,” she said.
Ly
Tayseng said, “This
year, we didn’t have to retrench staff. This year, our advertising for printed
media was reduced by 30 percent, but our subscription number has remained the
same. Our digital revenue is increasing, but it is not significant. If the
advertising revenue keeps dropping, I think there may be an impact for next
year.”
About
China Daily
Founded in 1981, China Daily covers 33 million readers
and users worldwide through diversified platforms, including newspapers,
websites, and mobiles and social media. The number of China Daily’s followers
has now reached 55 million on Weibo, 9.5 million on the WeChat Blog platform,
99 million on Facebook and another 4.39 million on Twitter.
About
China Daily Asia Leadership Roundtable
The China Daily Asia Leadership Roundtable is a
by-invitation network of movers and shakers in Asia, providing platforms for
focused dialogue, issue investigation and possible collective action on
strategic issues relating to Asia’s economic, business and social development.
Our aim is to enhance communication and increase mutual understanding between
China, Asian and Western countries. Roundtable events are held in major cities
across Asia.
Media
Contact:
Ms.
Wing Li Tel: (852) 3465 5451
Email:
wingli@chinadailyhk.com
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