Aquino seeks fair coverage
Media urged to disseminate information, instead of speculation
President Aquino yesterday gave local media another lecture on how to do their job. Recognizing the important role of the media to nation-building, President Aquino appealed for fair and comprehensive coverage of the election period.
In his speech before the Publish Asia 2016 conference at the Manila Hotel, the President lamented what he described as bias of print media for “sensational candidates” and “clickbait” headlines, remind-
ing them about the responsibility for truthful and fair reporting this elections season.
“Media, and perhaps especially print media, has a special role to play before, during, and after our elections – as it does at any critical time in even your own countries. We Filipinos will need a just, comprehensive accounting of this historic time, and you are in the best position to do that,” Aquino said.
Information, speculation “By far and large, you – the press – already has our people’s trust. This alone reflects the magnitude of your responsibility to wider society: To disseminate information, instead of speculation; to foster higher levels of discourse, instead of becoming a rumor mill; to empower citizenries and nations, instead of tearing them down,” he added.
The President made the appeal to the media as he observed candidates battle to win votes through various ways, from making promises, engaging in smear campaign against rivals, presenting records of service to making “curses and strong language.”
“All of this appears in your pages – some more sensational candidates featured more prominently than others, I have to point out. Everything you publish is indeed devoured by millions,” Aquino said.
The President said he hopes the media would not forget that they “live and work accordingly with the greater good of the public in mind.”
Publish Asia, an annual meeting of newspaper publishers, executives and editors across the region, kicked off its two-day conference at the Manila Hotel on Wednesday. More than 300 representatives of the WAN-IFRA have gathered to discuss new tools and techniques in the newsroom.
Media executives from Asian newspaper and news publishing industry from over 30 countries are attending the 2016 Publish Asia Conference to address the management and business issues facing news media.
With the advent of new media and technology, the President acknowledged there has been a great shift away from the primacy of print media to a 24/7 news cycle.
Integrity, truth
Integrity and truth, however, remain the core values of the profession even in light of new media trends, Aquino emphasized.
While the job of traditional print media has become more complicated since it must expand operations to new media forms, Aquino said they still bear the responsibility to deliver “information that the people can trust, can lead to fruitful discussions on issues of national and global importance that can even lead to positive transformation.”
He maintained that print media’s greatest advantage is the ability to tell the “complete story” and keep a “stillstrong readership.”
In the same speech, Aquino recalled that when he recently attended a forum live-streamed on the Internet, news articles the next day mostly had “clickbait” headlines just to attract readers.
“I am also told that the majority of, if not all, outlets have demonstrated a tendency to sensationalize titles, or post only provocative portions of articles online purportedly to encourage people to go through the whole piece – a tactic which I understand the generation younger than mine calls ‘ clickbait.’ Never mind if the reader chooses only to view that particular snippet and assume that they have been presented with the complete story,” he said. Bias assailed Aquino said the situation was complicated further by newspaper stories that did not seem to adhere to any set standard. “More often than not, the art of crafting headlines seems to favor embellishment and innuendo, as opposed to the facts. Some articles seem to be written with blatant bias, while others fail to adequately represent the situation accurately,” he said.
Aquino, however, warned that the local press might lose readers if they continue to highlight sensational stories based on rumors. He noted that media profession is endangered if the line between opinion and straightforward newstelling is blurred.
“Sensational headlines and articles composed of controversial rumors, for example, might increase your circulation marginally today. What happens, however, when the people notice your tendency toward such, when they realize that your articles are entertaining, perhaps, but cannot be verified and consequently trusted?” Aquino asked.
“In the long run, will they not seek out alternative sources of information – sources that they know will tell them the truth?” he added.
To the Publish Asia delegates, the President highlighted their important role in painting a complete picture of events happening in the region. He said many nations view Asia as “wellsprings of opportunity for collective growth.”
Citing an example, Aquino said media could impair the transition in Myanmar if it would highlight fears and unfounded speculations.
“The opposite path, what we are glad to be seeing, is that they have led their support to this transition by highlighting the good news, by telling the truth about the people’s sentiments, their dreams, and their efforts to realize that through democratic means,” he said.
President Aquino, the guest speaker at Publish Asia conference, was 30 minutes late for the 10 a.m. event. He later apologized for his tardiness, saying he was not happy with his original speech and had to revise it.
In October last year, the President slammed some media entities for its penchant to sensationalize and highlight failures and tragedy, especially during the onslaught of typhoon “Lando” in the country. Aquino said he was not asking the media to refrain from reporting negative news but merely seek a “reasonable balance.”
Optimizing content
Meanwhile, Publish Asia 2016 will tackle today optimizing content discovery, diversifying revenue streams, investigative journalism in Asia, advertising performance and market expectations, and strategies for a multi-screen media world.
Wednesday morning, seven delegates from Asia-Pacific (APAC) countries discussed the major media trends in the APAC. While in the afternoon, delegates from Germany, Australia, and India discussed the resilience of print and investing in costly printing equipment. The seven delegates were Barbie Atienza, President of the United Print Media Group (UPMG) from the Philippines; John Nery, Inquirer.net Editorin- Chief from the Philippines; Azrul Ananda, CEO of the Jawa Pos Group in Indonesia; Datuk Mohd. Noordin Abas, Group Managing Director of Utusan Melayu from Malaysia; David Lu, Director of International Relations of Guangzhou Daily from China; Park Chang Hee, COO of JoongAng Ilbo from South Korea; and Pichai Chuensuksawadi, Group Editor-in-Chief of Post Publishing from Thailand.
In the afternoon, the delegates were WAN-IFRA’s Manfred Werfel, Deputy CEO and Executive Director of Global Events; Geoff Booth, Nation Director Production and Logistics, News Corp., Australia; and Sanat Hazra, Technical Director of The Times of India.
Mobile first to mobile only
Google’s Head of Strategic Partnerships Parin Mehta said the Internet users of Asia are global trendsetters who reinvent the Internet through their mobile phones or smartphones.
He encouraged news publishers to innovate their content and other business strategies through mobile platforms, including messaging applications, social media, and even YouTube.
Separating publishing from printing
Werfel elaborated on different business models for newspaper printers, following the idea to separate the publishing from the printing business.
He said having the printer at the same building as the editorial reduces cost and risks for the publisher, however having it separated also allows for both the printer and the publisher to develop.
He also suggested having the publisher enter a joint venture with a separate publishing company to ensure transparency.
He said that newspaper printers are innovating and that the focus of printers nowadays is on the cost of printing. Investing in print in the digital era
Booth said News Corp Australia chose to invest on high quality printers during this digital era because there is money in print.
He said that aside from their old equipment becoming obsolete and needed replacement, their other considerations in investing millions into new high quality printers include business protection since News Corp Australia still sells more than 8 million copies a week across the country.
Another reason for the investment, according to Booth, is their employees.
He said that as they have gone through a lot of changes, they lost around 400 people in the production the past four years and went to companies with lean and competitive manufacturing.
These employees also wanted to find better ways in how they do they work.
Printing: Center of profit and innovation
Hazra said print media industry in India is still important in since Internet penetration in the country is still low at 20 percent.
He added that people also tend to treat the news coming from the radio and TV as an appetizer since they still tend to validate the details in the newspapers the following morning.
The Times of India has a small flap at the right side of its front page. This flap creates an interaction with their customers since they can’t open the newspaper if they don’t open the flap. They also have other kinds of flaps, including the butterfly flap, which they use for advertising.
Hazra underscored that it is also important for any company to stay close to their customers; invest on growth, quality, brand, and opportunity; focus on people; managing cost without hurting the growth of the company and their employees. (With a report from Argyll Cyrus B. Geducos)