纸媒低潮过后见生机

日期︰2017年03月02日

香港报业公会副主席 萧世和

新春团拜，遇到香港科技大学副校长(大学拓展)翁以登，他以报喜的语气说，外国有报导最近很多人重新购买或订阅报纸，大有纸媒是末日行业之说未必准确。

由于时间关系未有细问报导内容，回到报馆后看到一则消息，近日与美国总统特朗普经常打对台的《纽约时报》和《华盛顿邮报》都成功转亏为盈，《华邮》还准备增聘记者。

美国两张老牌大报突然传来喜讯，回春之力来自甚么呢？行业内有不同分析，最「贴地」的说法是美国总统特朗普不受欢迎之馀，还经常辱骂传媒，当中两张大报是重点前靶之一。特朗普还经常质疑媒体「作新闻」，他的团队创出了「后真相」(POST TRUE)的潮语，结果他骂得愈利害，媒体的收视、阅读愈上升。最新战况是《华邮》不惜花钱登广告反击，特朗普就一反总统传统，拒绝出席记者团体活动，直言不必和传媒人打交道。
贝索斯坚持出实体《华邮》

有大新闻和争议，利好报纸销量是人所共知的因素。然而，在天时地利外，报业本身的自强都同样重要，《华邮》的复苏就是个鲜活例子。曾经威尽一时的《华盛顿邮报》因为作风老旧，导致销量下跌，收入大减，不堪亏损下要放盘求售。大报衰微，使部份人仕把「纸媒会死」、「网媒才是明天」挂在口边，结果这位老报郤被网企大亨、阿马逊大股东贝索斯收购。这位在网络经济叱咤风云的大亨没有像很多看淡纸媒的经营者，全面弃守转到网上去，因为他明白报纸要有公信力，方法之一是保持发行实体版。这个做法是和众多纷纭，门槛可以很低的网媒区分的重要身份象徵，所以他表明无意放弃纸媒，反而决定网上网下一起干。

对岸的草总是比较绿，在网络多年的贝索斯看到实体媒介门槛较高的特点，珍惜和发挥了这个资产的价值，乘著美国大选的争议，《华邮》把握机会加入战团，结果赢得不少美国人的支持，网上网下版销量齐升，初步证明了这位网企大亨对实体报纸的体验正确。
资讯和公信力始终有价

把贝索斯的体验放到香港，可以看到相同的情况。现时部份人，包括部份机构主事者，会把「报纸少人看」放在嘴边;矛盾的是一有大事发生，他们就会找报纸老总解释一番，然后不忘补上一句「还是传统的报纸杂志公信力高」。这些主事者矛盾的行为其实不能深责，因为他们不是媒体专家，当个别经营者天天在唱著纸媒无明天的时候，谁又能要求其他人去深究这些说话的真伪呢？只是，当事到危急，他们的直觉和常识就跑出来，告诉自己还是一步一脚印走出来的报纸电视有公信力和可信。

美国纸媒走向衰弱的时间比香港早，现时他们的回勇，是否必定会在香港出现呢？答案大抵是有可能但不一定，因为时地不同，经营策略不同，产生效果就不一样。正如纸媒在美国不振，但在世界其他地方，其实还有不少地区纸媒依然蓬勃，又正如美国的网媒欣欣向荣，香港网媒能够做到财政健康的还是数量有限。作为媒体，资讯和公信力有价，这点还是比较可以确定的，美国同业的例子带来了启示，如何勇闯艰钜和充满挑战的明天，看来还要香港报业自身的努力。

Print media rebounds after depression

I bumped into Hong Kong University of Science and Technology Vice-president for Institutional Advancement Eden Woon Yi-teng at a Lunar New Year gathering. He told me in an elated tone about Western media reports that people are starting to invest again in the print media. This, of course, challenges the saying that newspapers are a sunset industry.

I did not have time to ask Woon for details. But after I returned to the office, I read reports that the New York Times and the Washington Post, newspapers that frequently fought with US president Donald Trump recently, have successfully returned to profits. The latter is even planning to hire more reporters.

What then are the reasons for the revival of these two old-time newspapers?

Various theories have been put forward by the industry, but the most“realistic”one was related to Trump, who is not only unpopular, but has been hitting out at the media, with the two newspapers among his key targets.

Trump also accused the media of "fabricating news”, and his team came up with the chic term“Post True”. But it seemed that the fiercer were his attacks, the higher were the media's viewership and readership.

The latest reports from the “war zone” was that Washington Post was willing to spend money on advertisements to hit back at Trump, who, in turn, refused to take part in functions of journalists' bodies, declaring that there was no need for him to deal with the media lot.

Bezos insisted on keeping Washington Post's print edition

That major news events and controversies boost newspaper circulation is a commonly acknowledged phenomenon. Yet apart from the right conditions, it is also important that the industry itself makes an effort, and the revival of the Washington Post is an immediate example.

The paper had once been great. But its obsolete mode of operation has caused circulation and revenue to fall, so much so that it had to look for a buyer.

Undaunted by talks about the "death of the print media" and "online media is the future" as old newspapers went downhill, internet tycoon, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, bought the Washington Post.

But unlike those who take a dim view of the print media, he did not give up the newspaper's print edition. Clearly, he understands that the credibility of a newspaper comes from its print presence, and the print edition is the greatest symbol of status that differentiates a respectable newspaper from low-cost online publications.

As such, Bezos stated clearly from the start that he had no intention of killing the print edition, but will continue to run it hand in hand with the online version.

The pasture on the other side is always greener. Bezos treasured the high-entrance barrier of print media, and made good use of this unique advantage. Washington Post engaged itself in the US presidential election storm, and won much support from US citizens. As a result, hit rate and circulation for its online and print editions rose simultaneously.

This proved that the online tycoon’s view on print newspaper is right on the money, at least preliminarily.

Information and credibility are valuable after all

Applying Bezos' perspective to Hong Kong, we can see that the situation is rather similar. Many heads of organizations often regurgitated the comment "few people read newspapers now."

Ironically, whenever major news event happens, they would call up chief editors of newspapers to explain the intricacies of the events to them. Afterward, they would comment that "after all, it is traditional newspapers and magazines that have higher credibility."

We can't blame these organization chiefs for being self-contradictory. After all, they aren't media experts. As many newspaper operators are, themselves, doomsayers about the print media, how can we expect those outside the industry to ascertain the validity of such a belief?

But in urgent situations, intuition and common sense took over to tell them that it is right to trust traditional newspapers and television stations, whose credibility are established brick-by-brick over a long period of time.

The downturn of US print media started earlier than their counterparts in Hong Kong. Would the rebound they are now experiencing happen in Hong Kong?

The answers is likely but not necessary. Different timing, location and operating strategy produce different results. When the US print media was down on luck, their counterparts in many regions in other parts of the world remain robust. Likewise, while the online media is burgeoning in the US, few of those in Hong Kong are financially healthy.

What is certain is that information and credibility are always assets for any media. What is happening in the US are inspiring, but we still have to rely on our own courage and efforts to face up to the stiff challenges of tomorrow.

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