Documentary shows the struggle of Hong Kong online news providers
Film follows media firms having to balance business and editorial decisions
Business considerations are heavily affecting editorial decisions made in the city’s already struggling media industry, which is under pressure to chase profitability for its online news content, according to a new documentary film.
Real Time covers the work of online operations staff at three media companies over the past year.
Co-directed by Dr Kaman Lee, assistant professor in journalism at Shue Yan University, a former TVB News reporter, and Sin Ho-yin, it follows the work of staff on newspapers Apple Daily and HK01, and digital news outlet Initium Media.
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The documentary shows how journalism is modified to reflect business considerations, with investigative stories being measured against online hit rates and cost calculations.
“Though it is more at the editor or management level, what we have observed is that there are a lot of business-related considerations when they make decisions about reporting and assigning stories,” Lee said.
“The old days when we used to do news without commercial worries are gone.”
All three companies have come under financial pressure and Next Digital, the holding company for Apple Daily, recently sold its sister publication, Next magazine. The newspaper is also outsourcing and making many full-time staff part-time.
