Zhang Qian

zhqcindy@163.com

A DELEGATION of 17 journalists working for media outlets from 11 countries and regions including the U.S., Japan, the Philippines and Hong Kong paid a visit to Shenzhen Press Group yesterday, to gain a more in-depth understanding of the media mechanisms in Shenzhen.

Upon arrival in Shenzhen, the delegation’s first stop in the city was Shenzhen Special Zone Press Tower on Shennan Boulevard, which is one of the iconic buildings in Shenzhen and where Shenzhen Press Group is located.

During a conference with the management of the press group yesterday evening, media practitioners gathered and discussed common problems and pressures currently faced by the media.

Chen Yin, president of Shenzhen Press Group and also president of Shenzhen Journalists Association, introduced the main media outlets in the city and answered questions posed by journalists from the overseas delegation.

One of the main issues discussed at the meeting was how to upgrade the media in the new era of Internet and technology.

“Do all of your newspapers have Internet versions and do you require your reporters to multitask and are they responsible for text as well as video, photos and posting on social media?” A senior journalist, Azim Idris, from a media company in Malaysia named Hybrid News Ltd., posed the question at the meeting.

Ding Shizhao, editor-in-chief of the Shenzhen Evening News, responded that under this challenging phase of media upgrade, all of the newspaper outlets under Shenzhen Press Group are required to cultivate and retain reporters that are capable of handling multiple tasks.

Chen later explained that to cope with the challenges of the Internet era, the press group had launched several news apps last year. “I saw a survey that young Chinese people nowadays don’t read hard-copy newspapers anymore, so we developed a few news apps for them to browse online, such as the DT News and Duchuang apps that went online last year,” said Chen.

The percentage of female employees in the press group was also a point raised by one of the journalists, Wendy Lee, a technology reporter from the San Francisco Chronicle, who said that their newspaper had just hired the first female editor-in-chief of their 150-year history.

Chen explained that the percentage of female journalists is higher than their male counterparts in the press group and that this is not unique to this organization, but is a common trait of many news groups in China as well as journalism schools and colleges.

“I don’t know the exact number, but I would say the ratio between female and male employees in our press group is around 6:4, especially among young people,” said Chen.

Apart from questions about the press group and the working environment for media practitioners, the representatives from the delegation also focused on how the city, as a young metropolis, was coping with some social problems such as high housing prices, traffic congestion and so forth.

The visit to Shenzhen is part of the delegation’s tour of four Asia-Pacific countries under the organization of the East-West Center, a U.S.-based NGO aiming to promote better relations and understanding among the peoples and nations of the United States, Asia, and the Pacific through cooperative study, research and dialogue.

Before arriving in Shenzhen, the delegation had visited Tokyo and Beijing. Their next stop will be Manila of the Philippines.

The delegation will visit several key enterprises and institutions in Shenzhen including Huawei, DJI, the Qianhai and Shekou Area of the China (Guangdong) Pilot Free Trade Zone, and China Global Philanthropy Institute today and tomorrow.