纸媒不会死

日期︰2017年02月15日

香港报业公会主席甘焕腾

社交网络及网媒的兴起，加上一些报刋先后倒闭，令「纸媒寒冬」、「纸媒已死」在近一两年不时成为不少人口中/笔下最常见的传媒命运宣言。

要谈纸媒是不是真的已经躺进深切治疗部，随时断气之前，我倒认为要弄清楚大家口中的纸媒，是泛指传统传媒还是只限于报章和杂志等印刷传媒。有这个疑问，是因为根据调查，虽然近三四年购买收费报章的人数逐步下跌，可是通过电子报章吸收新闻资讯的人数却大幅增加。可以说，近年港人的读报习惯有所改变，他们未必再如以往般拿着一份报纸来掌握时事资讯，而是改为在网上浏览新闻资讯。然而，他们浏览的网站，主要还是收费报章的电子版。由此可见，若论新闻时事的可信度，大家仍然会较信赖传统传媒。

中大传播与民意调查中心于去年八月，随机抽样访问907名18岁或以上的市民，为整体传媒公信力及29间传媒评分。电子传媒及收费报纸的评分一般高于免费报纸及网上传媒；其中网上传媒的公信力评分均偏低，平均分更是各种传媒中最低。

香港中文大学新闻与传播学院教授、社会科学院副院长苏钥机比较了市民对传媒公信力的评分，以及Alexa发布的传媒网上流量排名作比较，发现收费报纸和电子传媒的公信力和网站流量排名有正向关系，即公信力愈高流量也愈高。但免费报纸和网媒的情况不一样，公信力和流量并无关系。读者只是即时消费免费报纸的简约消息，对网媒的免费快速资讯的可信度可能没有很高要求。

记得较早前发生一宗突发事件，社交网络迅即广传，当有人质疑事件的真伪时，有留言回应说：报纸已经报了，应是真的。看到这个留言，我不知该哭还是笑。不少活跃于社交网络的年轻一代，对传统传媒或他们口中的主流传媒往往嗤之以鼻，但在心底里却又较为信赖它们。也许正如苏钥机教授所言，大众对网媒的免费快速资讯的可信度可能没有很高要求。

另外，去年底一场纷扰不堪的美国总统选举，有说民主党候选人希拉里败选的原因之一是受到网上假新闻所累，皆因在大选期间不少在社交网络广传有关希拉里或民主党的报道或消息，其实都是未经证实甚至是纯粹虚构的假新闻。为此，今明两年将举行两场重要选举的捷克已经成立特别部门，专门打击假新闻。看来大众已经意识到假新闻泛滥带来的祸害，而重新检视传媒的可信度及传统传媒的社会角色。

无可否认，近年传统传媒面对读者阅读习惯改变及经济放缓的打击，营运方面面对不少挑战，人手亦形紧绌，未必能够做到最理想的出版内容。然而，传统传媒处理新闻及资讯仍有一套固有的严谨要求，不会道听途说，不加求证就报道。因此，不管大众如何看淡传统传媒的发展前景，若论公信力及可信度，社交网络及一些非由新闻工作者主导的网媒仍不可能取代传统传媒的位置。可以说，传统传媒/纸媒还有不少要改善的地方，但在可见的将来，纸媒不会突然寿终正寝！

Print media shall not die

The rise of social networks and online media, together with the recurrent closures of some newspapers and magazines have made "harsh winter for print media", "print media is dead" the most common manifestoes concerning the destiny of media over the past two years.

Before discussing whether print media has really entered the ICU or already at the edge of dying, I do think there is a need to clarify if the "print media" that everyone talks about refers to the traditional media or it is limited to print media like newspapers and magazines. I have this doubt because the number of people who bought paid newspaper over the past three to four years has gradually declined while the number of people who received news from electronic newspapers has increased significantly, according to a survey. It can be said that there is a change in Hongkongers’ habit of reading news in recent years. They might not have to hold the newspaper to grasp information like how they used to be in the past, but to browse the news on the Internet. However, the websites they visited are mainly the electronic version of the paid newspapers still. This shows that we still tend to trust traditional media more regarding the credibility of news and current affairs.

In August this year, the Centre for Communication and Public Opinion Survey of The Chinese University of Hong Kong conducted a survey with a random sample of 907 citizens aged 18 or above to rate for the credibility of media as a whole and 29 media organizations. Electronic media and paid newspapers received higher ratings than the free newspapers and online media in general, in which online media's ratings on credibility is low while its average score is the lowest among different media channels.

Clement Y. K. So, Professor of the School of Journalism and Communication of the Chinese University of Hong Kong and the Associate Dean of the Faculty of Social Science compared the public's ratings on the credibility of media with the traffic statistics of online media from Alexa and found there is a positive correlation between the credibility of paid newspapers and electronic media and the traffic rankings of their websites, implying that the higher the credibility, the higher the traffic. Yet the comparison between free newspapers and online media is not the same, in which credibility and traffic have no correlation. Readers only consume simple news instantly from free newspapers and they tend not to have high expectations on the creditability of free and instant information provided by online media.

I remember an incident happened earlier which had been spread rapidly over the social networks. When someone questioned about the authenticity of the incident, there was a message commenting that: this has been reported by the newspaper. It should be true. Seeing this comment, I am not sure if I should cry or laugh. Many of the young generation who seem to be active in social networks often scoff at traditional media or the mainstream media, but they had more trust on them from the bottom of their hearts. As Prof. So said, perhaps the general public might not have very high expectations on the credibility of free and instant information provided by online media.

In addition, looking back to the disturbing US presidential election at the end of last year, some believed that one of the reasons for the defeat of Hillary Clinton, candidate from the Democratic Party was the fake news online since a number of reports or news on Hillary Clinton or the Democratic Party shared all over the social networks during the election were in fact unconfirmed or even false news which were purely fictional. To this end, the Czech Republic which is going to have two key elections in the next two years has already set up a special department to crack down on fake news. It seems that the public has been aware of the scourge of the overflow of false news and reexamined the credibility of media and the social role of traditional media.

It cannot be denied that in recent years, traditional media has been facing setbacks from the change in reading habits among readers and the economic slowdown, alongside numerous challenges in operation and tight manpower, limiting its capability to get the best content published. However, the way traditional media handles news and information still follows strictly its inherent code and standard which never spreads rumors or reports without any fact checking. Therefore, no matter how negatively the general public sees the prospects for the development of traditional media, when it comes to credibility and reliability, it is still impossible for social networks or media led by non-journalists to replace the position of traditional media. It can be said that there is still room for improvement for traditional media or print media yet in the foreseeable future, print media will not come to an end all of a sudden!

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