Challenges faced by local media debated at the UM

Hao Zhidong

A mass media symposium was held yesterday at the University of Macau (UM), where various scholars and organization representatives discussed the development of local media.
Organized by Professor Hao Zhidong, Director of the Social Science Research Centre on Contemporary China, the discussion featured presentations from Agnes Lam of UM; Tam Chi Keung of Macau University of Science and Technology (MUST); Che Hio Ieong, editor of InmediaHK; José Carlos Matias, a member of the board of directors of the Portuguese and English Press Association of Macau; and Yip Ching Man, a PhD candidate at MUST.
Agnes Lam highlighted the current state of Macau’s media and compared it to that of 10 years ago, using statistics collated from telephone interviews with around 1,000 respondents. “More than 90 percent of people in Macau [respondents in the survey] read at least one Hong Kong newspaper,” she said.
Lam also revealed insights into the local readership of MSAR media through stratified groupings of Macau’s population. According to her research, online readership has surpassed print circulation locally. All of the respondents under the age of 29 said that they read at least some online news.
Lam added that Apple Daily is the most popular newspaper among readers under the age of 29. Those who are more educated, she said, are more likely to obtain their news from this source.

Conversely, Macao Daily is more widely read among locals over the age of 50.
MUST’s Tam discussed the image of Macau perpetuated in Hong Kong news media and film, referring to the theory of “media imperialism.” He said that Hong Kong decides, and often romanticizes, Macau’s image by almost exclusively portraying local gaming culture.
José Carlos Matias discussed the challenges that Portuguese and English language media face in Macau, including the reliance of some on government subsidies and advertising revenue from casino operators, as well as staffing challenges. “The government provides subsidies to Chinese and Portuguese newspapers if they meet certain criteria,” he explained.
Asked whether non-Chinese media has any effect on the Chinese community, Matias replied that Portuguese and English media in Macau are probably more pervasive than first imagined. He explained that non-Chinese media is often translated for government officials and policymakers, and read by senior executives – many of whom are English-speaking expatriates – in the private sector.
A presentation by Dr Che explored media bias through a case study of Macao Daily’s coverage of animal rights activism. She shed light on some tactics allegedly employed by the newspaper, including the higher priority placed on government sources and the purposeful manner in which information is laid out. Che’s presentation led to a brief but passionate discussion of censorship and self-censorship in local media.
Professor Hao asked the panel whether they thought the local media’s reference to Taiwan’s president as “Taiwan’s leader” implied the adoption of censorship, despite the relative press freedom in both Macau and Hong Kong. The panel exchanged various views but failed to reach a consensus.
The presentations concluded with research by PhD candidate and Hong Kong reporter, Yip Ching Man, who shared her research on Macau’s traditional media. She posited that Portuguese newspapers were in decline, though this was met with some disagreement from other panel members and symposium attendees. Staff Reporter

José Carlos Matias