Asia defies global newspaper meltdown
Asian newspapers are defying the global print media meltdown while
their counterparts in the West spill red ink and lay off staff in droves
as readers flock to online news.
Print advertising - the lifeblood of a newspaper's revenue base - has
plunged 47 percent in the hard-hit North American market since 2005,
while the outlook for Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) remains
tepid, says a new study by global consultancy Pricewaterhouse Coopers.
However, Asia's newspaper advertising is expected to rise 3.1 percent
annually through 2014 to 27.3 billion US dollars, according to PwC's
"Global Entertainment and Media Outlook 2010-2014." The trend toward
online news has been slower in Asia where newspapers remain popular,
including Japan which has the world's highest newspaper readership.
"In Asia Pacific and Latin America...newspaper readership has held up
and is increasing, which accounts for their stronger performance in
recent years and faster growth rates compared with North America and
EMEA in the next five years," the report said.
Spending in Asia's newspaper sector will rise at 2.3 percent annually
through 2014, it added.
In Hong Kong, the city's myriad Chinese and English-language
newspapers wage a daily battle for readers in one of the world's most
saturated newspaper markets.
Leading tabloid Apple Daily boosts its coverage with fanciful
animated depictions of gruesome and violent news stories, and employs an
army of young reporters who will stop at little to get the story.
"It is cut-throat competition," says Cheng Ming-yan, Apple's chief
editor, adding, "We're not conservative - we have very aggressive
reporting."
Number-one selling Oriental Daily News (ODN) once sued its bitter
rival Apple over claims that its reporters tricked ODN colleagues into
divulging exclusive stories.
"It is pretty intense - Hong Kong has always been a newspaper town,"
said Steve Shellum, executive editor of the English-language daily The
Standard.
Newspapers reach almost 80 percent of adults in Hong Kong, a city of
seven million, and its two biggest-selling papers each claim a daily
readership above 1.2 million, according to "World Press Trends 2010"
produced by newspaper association WAN-IFRA.
"Chinese people are eager to get information from newspapers because,
traditionally, that was the way their mother and father spent their
leisure time," said Cheng at Apple Daily.
But circulation at Hong Kong's paid dailies has still been dropping
as free newspapers muscle in on their turf.
Apple not only plans to continue using cartoon animations in its
print edition, it is also moving to video with sometimes questionable
depictions of news - all in a bid to attract the next generation. "It's
very important and will become more important. Young people have grown
up with cartoons - they want the image," Cheng said. Apple's
computer-generated video of Tiger Woods' now ex-wife running after his
car swinging a golf club - after hearing of the golf legend's
infidelities - was an Internet sensation, and seems unlikely to be a
one-hit wonder. "Our new business is to focus on live animation news,"
Cheng said.
That swing to online and video news will ultimately spell doom for
newspapers even in the Asian market, said Chan Yuen-ying, director of
the University of Hong Kong's journalism school. "(The decline) is
hitting Asia slower and media owners still have some time, but the door
is closing," Chan said.
AFP
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