Time is money, more so in the world of business. For local dailies, their edge in delivering business news has been blunted somewhat by the proliferation of internet news sites along with renewed rivalry from television.
In Asia's two key financial and business hubs, the dailies are revamping to meet online and newer print rivals.
HONG KONG
The newspaper industry has had to weather a difficult couple of years.
The key threat comes from the surge in traffic to websites that specialise in financial news and advice. Initially, it appeared that Hong Kong broadsheets and tabloids were unaware of how to react, but recent months have seen some of the SAR's leading dailies meet the new threat by overhauling their business coverage.
As such, the South China Morning Post, Hong Kong's leading English-language newspaper, now touts its business section's improved comment and analysis capabilities, in comparison to real-time news providers. Swee Lynn Chong, the SCMP's director of corporate communications, says: "We cannot compete with real-time news providers. However, we can provide much better comment and analysis, in comparison."
Her argument is echoed by Lo Wing Hung, chief executive officer of the Sing Tao Daily, one of Hong Kong's largest middle-class dailies. "If you want real time news and stock tips you will go to a website," says Lo. "However, if you want quality analysis and perspective, readers will use a newspaper."
Both the SCMP and Sing Tao have revamped their business coverage recently, and in the SCMP's case it is the second such revamp in a relatively short period of time. After splitting its business section into two in 2001, the SCMP recently consolidated coverage into one section again. Chong argues that the overhaul was carried out purely with the customer in mind.
"We did not revamp our business coverage in response to competition from internet or TV," claims Chong. "Rather, we wanted to provide our customers with an improved product." The move certainly raised eyebrows, particularly given the drastic cost-cutting measures that have seen more than 30 journalists made redundant from the SCMP since 2001, and the general decrease in adspend in the city.
In Sing Tao's case, the newspaper has utilised the stock market downturn to increase its coverage of, as Lo terms it, 'wealth management'. This includes a greater focus on alternative investment vehicles, such as funds and bonds, along with a new finance magazine that features more in-depth reporting. In addition, the newspaper's sister publication, the Standard, which currently accounts for some 70 per cent of the financial notices market, also recently down-scaled into a pure business publication. This, claims Lo, provides financial advertisers with an ideal environment. "We can offer them a combo deal, which includes a financial notice in the Standard and an advertisement in Sing Tao," explains Lo. "However, there is still room for us to grow in this area."
SINGAPORE
The arrival of a smaller, albeit nimble rival The Edge, has given readers in the city a choice beyond the titles published by the dominant Singapore Press Holdings group.
SPH publishes The Business Times and its Straits Times newspaper has a daily business section of five to six pages called Money. "BT is a newspaper for people in business," said Tham Khai Wor, SPH's executive vice-president of marketing.
Obviously, since business readers have other leisurely interests, the paper has a lifestyle section - covering movies, wine, motoring, the arts and fine dining - on top of its coverage of financial, transport and global news. "These people have a certain lifestyle and interests; they do a lot of entertaining, they like to buy nice things and they do tend to buy branded stuff so it is part and parcel of BT('s remit) to meet expectations of these Singaporeans."
Tham insists the lifestyle content "is there to meet consumer demand" and is not merely a hook to generate additional ad revenue. "Our readers have a certain lifestyle. It is not just work, work, work. They also go out and entertain," he adds.
With its weekend arrival at newsstands following its March 2002 launch, The Edge, a weekly title, also finds that a lifestyle section makes sense.
"(Because) The Edge is read at length mostly on the weekend, we have found from experience that readers also welcome a serious lifestyle section that gives them ideas and leisurely yet critical reading on non-business matters," says Tan Boon Kean, regional managing director at The Edge.
"In fact, we started this with our Malaysian edition as early as 1995.
Today, you find many international business dailies are now following this trend, with extended weekend lifestyle sections," he adds The weekly carries about 52 pages and regular sections on Singapore companies, the stock and financial markets and coverage of property, technology, management practices and marketing and lifestyle topics. With less than a year's exposure in Singapore, observers say it's too early to say if the The Edge has succeeded in building up a loyal following. Tham at SPH dimissed The Edge's impact on the group's titles. "I don't think The Edge has had a big impact."
If anything, the bigger threat facing the two is the uncertain economic environment after export-dependent Singapore narrowly missed a double-dip recession.
"All publishers and advertisers have last year to be slow going. However, we have been happy with the advertising support even though we were a new publication and some, in fact, found new budgets for us. The Edge is here to stay and grow," says Tan. SPH's Tham adds: "The pie has shrunk and advertisers are much more selective, but I think BT has held up quite well because we reach a special audience."
Media index mid-year report 2002
Hong Kong South China Morning Sing Tao
Post (Mon-Sun)
Total readership 322,000 137,000
Professional/manager/executive 42% 7%
Trader/proprietor 3% 1%
Monthly income over HK$25,000 - 39,999 30% 4%
Monthly income HK$40,000+ 22% 2%
University/College or above 66% 12%
Singapore Business Times
Total readership 99,000
Professional/manager/executive 64.8%
Business people 14.6%
Monthly income over S$10,000 17.3%
Monthly income S$5,001-10,000 27.6%
University educated 60.3%
Source: ACNielsen 2002 Media Index
Note: There is no readership data for ST's Money section because SPH has yet to provide section readership.
The Edge also has no readership data but it is about to be audited by Singapore's Media Circulation Services (MCS) and plans to release the data in June.
It claims to have an average weekly circulation of 12,177 including subscriptions, newsstand sales and controlled circulation.