Society

Panel looks at media's role

By Li Xing (China Daily)
Updated: 2011-04-16 07:44

BOAO, Hainan - Traditional news media, along with the burgeoning social media on the Internet, have had a field day with each successive crisis from the 2008 global financial crunch to the triple disasters whose effects still linger in Japan.

The news media's role in crisis management came under scrutiny in a panel discussion between media bosses from China and the United States at the Boao Forum for Asia on Friday.

Speaking from the Chinese government's perspective, Wang Guoqing, vice-minister of the State Council Information Office, said government and the media have different responsibilities during crises.

The media plays a "big role", according to him. "If the media plays a positive role, it will create a better environment for us to deal with the crisis."

In his job, Wang frequently encounters journalists from Western media.

While the Chinese government must be more transparent and provide more information, Wang said, Western media should also balance their coverage of China. "Incomplete reporting may mislead the public," he said.

The media bosses agreed with Wang on the media's importance in crises, and they did a lot of soul-searching.

Zhou Xisheng, vice-president of Xinhua News Agency, said almost no news media foresaw the financial crisis developing before it hit, slowing the world economy.

Timeliness, transparency, accuracy and objectivity are essential in the news media's coverage of crises, said Liu Changle, chairman and CEO of Hong Kong-based Phoenix TV.

Robert Thomson, editor-in-chief of Dow Jones and managing editor of The Wall Street Journal, pointed out that the traditional media are facing their own crisis. Their resources are shrinking as they trail behind the thriving social media.

There is a lot of pressure on journalists to find something new. But that pressure gives them less time, and they have to produce too much information about subjects they have less expertise with.

"In the end, the media have a tendency to underestimate the readers," Thomson said.

Hong Seok-hyun, chairman and CEO of a leading South Korean newspaper, JoongAng Ilbo, said he was surprised by the amount of sympathy social media have generated for Japan during its crisis. He said, however, it is the responsibility of the established traditional media, along with the government, to provide "sound analysis and reasoning". This has been especially important during the ongoing crisis at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, he said, to prevent the "constant spread of rumors".