SCMP changes hint at revamp

The personnel changes coincided with the arrival of Thaddeus Thomas Beczak as publisher. Thomas Abraham departed as editor and was replaced by a committee of senior editors - three executive editors and a managing editor - who will be responsible for the content, look and feel of the daily.

Media agencies see this as a precursor to a redesign of the SCMP to take into account the changes in the way people consume media, especially with the availability of news on the internet.

"They could beef-up the content a lot more ... Right now, it's not informative enough. It's more about reporting than being analytical, which is important because there are so many ways to get the news these days, said CIA Hong Kong creative media director, S.T. Ang.

Industry sources speculate that editorial changes at the SCMP were likely sparked by the relaunch of a rival title.

Hong Kong's only other English-language daily, the Hong Kong i-Mail, rebranded back into the Standard while beefing-up its coverage of Greater China finance and economic news.

Beczak hinted at upcoming changes in a message from the publisher in the paper's August 7 issue. "Our goal is to produce a newspaper that will compete with the best in the world, whether it be in London, New York or Tokyo."

According to Nielsen Media Research, advertising expenditure on the SCMP dropped to HK$253.9 million (US$32.5 million) from January to June this year over $263.8 million during the same period last year.