The newspaper industry remains relevant in the digital age – Editor-in-Chief
MEDAN: The Editor-in-Chief of Utusan Borneo Sabah newspaper, Lichong Angkui today expressed his confidence that the wave of digitization will not ‘bury’ the newspaper industry.
“This is based on global research and general findings that newspapers remain a reference to facts, guaranteeing truth and accuracy,” he said at the Digital Disruption and Sustainable Media Ecosystem Governance seminar, here.
This seminar is a joint recommendation of the ASEAN Journalists Association and the Indonesian Press Council in conjunction with the celebration of the National PR Day (HPN/Indonesian Journalists Day) in North Sumatra.
“Recent trends show signs of recovery in the newspaper industry, which indicates that there is still an opportunity for this industry to regain the support of many readers, perhaps within a year or two,” said Lichong.
He said the newspaper industry will grow again, albeit slowly, behind emerging new media technologies and changes in consumer behavior.
“As a trusted information delivery platform, I am confident that newspapers will remain relevant in this digital era. In fact, newspapers are also the official medium for leaders and governments to deliver new policies or policy reforms,” he added.
He was among the delegation of 23 members of the Malaysian Association of Journalists (ISWAMI) to HPN, led by the President, Datuk Mokhtar Hussain.
Lichong said, he agreed that the global newspaper industry has collapsed over the past few years following the rise of the digital wave around the world; and the ASEAN region was no exception when several newspaper companies were forced to close operations, resulting in many losing their jobs.
He said, accordingly, industry players need to be more creative and innovative in producing products, including content, to ensure that they become the choice of many readers.
According to him, industry players need to increase their efforts immediately in nurturing young people to read the print version and strengthen the e-newspaper version.
