Song Hong
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- Jan 4, 2020
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Absolutely spot on. It is time to act on Jack Ma and all his backers.
BATTLE FOR SCMP: MY LETTER TO JACK MA
Since its founding in 1903, the South China Morning Post has been Hong Kong’s dominant English-language newspaper. It was the authoritative “paper of record” during colonial times, as it reflected the thinking of the ruling Brits. Post-1997 reunification with China, SCMP become the mouthpiece of neocolonialism, especially after Alibaba’s purchase of a controlling stake in 2016.
Outsiders often say: Just ignore the paper. In the real world, that’s just not possible. For SCMP, particularly after Alibaba’s new investments in human and material resources, remains the Anglophone media outlet with the most extensive coverage of China (and Hong Kong). For people worldwide with an interest in the world’s most populous and dynamic nation, it is a must-read.
And for Anglophones who follow China, Hong Kong and Asia, SCMP’s editors generally identify the right stories to cover. Problem is, they cover them from the wrong angles -- neocolonialist, Western-oriented perspectives, instead of Chinese and Asian-centered ones. Even in terms of pure business logic, that’s anachronistic and backward-looking, notably in the 21st century as China and Asia get set to move to the forefront of world affairs.
Hong Kong itself is embarking on a major political and economic reset, with Beijing at the reins. The time is right for a similar overhaul at the SAR’s English voice to the world… one that could also be China’s.
In fact, the idea has been germinating a little while. Let’s rewind to November 2019, when the Black Terror in Hong Kong was approaching a climax. A small group of local friends with high-level ties in the mainland approached me with an idea.
The Black Terror was morphing into a full-scale color revolution, they said, and it was important to tell the world the story of what was really going on in Hong Kong. And in most respects, it was the opposite of what Western MSM were saying. SCMP, they noted, was doing a disgraceful job, basically echoing the biased, agenda-driven Western narratives.
So my friends suggested we appeal to Alibaba mastermind Jack Ma -- during whose helmsmanship the company bought control of the paper -- to do something. I drafted a letter. My friends went through it, then passed it to their mainland contacts for delivery to Jack Ma. Before long, word came back that it was done, and Ma apparently read it. Here’s what it said:
The South China Morning Post is one of Asia's oldest and most venerable English-language newspapers. While Hong Kong was under British rule, the paper served as a leading voice of Western colonialism and its interests in the region.
When your esteemed company took a controlling stake in the paper nearly four years ago, many in Hong Kong and Asia hoped for an update in SCMP’s editorial orientation that would reflect the spirit and reality of the changing times. After all, Hong Kong’s return to China in 1997 had ended the age of Western colonialism in the region.
Many readers, including myself, had high hopes. Would SCMP, under Chinese ownership, be able to break with its outdated tradition of projecting biased and blinkered Western, colonialist perspectives? Could it carve for itself a historic new role -- by becoming the world’s leading English-language news publication on China (and Hong Kong)? Would a revamped, revitalized SCMP be able to project authentic and balanced Chinese views, in English, to the world? That would help fill a growing need for foreigners to understand the fast-rising country -- on its own terms, not Western ones. Also, could the paper even help Hong Kong reconnect with its motherland during the SAR’s post-colonial transition?
An SCMP that could do all that would deliver invaluable content. It would surely be required reading, among both sophisticated Chinese AND the increasing number of foreigners worldwide, especially those in investment, commerce and even politics. They need to understand China -- without distortion, much less demonization -- and interact with it.
Alas, those hopes have been dashed. SCMP has indeed changed under Alibaba's ownership -- but in the opposite direction. Since 2016, the publication has become distinctly more Sinophobic. Sadly, perhaps even shockingly, SCMP today seems even more (neo)colonialist than during colonial times.
This unhappy retrogression can be seen both in the reporting and in the opinion-writing. And it has been especially pronounced during the past five months of political turmoil in Hong Kong.
Overall, there are far more articles negative to China than positive. In reported stories, Sinophobic sources and interviewees get more space and emphasis than those who are objective or sympathetic to China. Slants unfavorable to Beijing can easily be seen. They are often manifested in headlines, and the choice of angle with which to frame a story. On any given news event, standard Western interpretations are highlighted in SCMP far more often than any Chinese ones.
The opinion pieces seem even more lopsided. Over the past couple of years, the paper’s stable of columnists has seen a steady expansion of Sino-skeptics and outright Sinophobes. They include both Western and Asian writers. Many of them have outsiders’ views of events in China, Hong Kong and Asia. Much of what they write is hardly distinguishable from the infamously China-hostile stuff in Western mainstream media. They share the ignorance and biases of those writers.
By today, anyone who does not see these problems is either 1) not paying close enough attention to SCMP’s daily contents, or 2) not sufficiently fluent in English to grasp the nuances. The links at the end of this letter provide many examples from online discussions of the aforementioned problems.
Day-to-day coverage aside, SCMP is in danger of leaving a more nefarious legacy: training a generation of young Chinese journalists (both Hong Kongers and mainlanders) in the worst English-journalism traditions of biased, condescending and hostile writing about China.
Many readers are asking: Why is all this happening under Alibaba’s ownership? Does the management not care that its flagship English platform -- the only one on Chinese soil -- is taking an approach to China and Hong Kong coverage similar to that of the US and its allies, at a time Washington is doing its best to demonize and beat down China?
Hopefully, you will take these issues to heart. I have cited them for your reference (list below), hoping that Alibaba and SCMP will do well by Hong Kong and by China at this historic juncture … and long into the future. Changing times call for changed thinking and products, in journalism as much as anything else.
With best wishes,
Thomas Hon Wing Polin
BATTLE FOR SCMP: MY LETTER TO JACK MA
Since its founding in 1903, the South China Morning Post has been Hong Kong’s dominant English-language newspaper. It was the authoritative “paper of record” during colonial times, as it reflected the thinking of the ruling Brits. Post-1997 reunification with China, SCMP become the mouthpiece of neocolonialism, especially after Alibaba’s purchase of a controlling stake in 2016.
Outsiders often say: Just ignore the paper. In the real world, that’s just not possible. For SCMP, particularly after Alibaba’s new investments in human and material resources, remains the Anglophone media outlet with the most extensive coverage of China (and Hong Kong). For people worldwide with an interest in the world’s most populous and dynamic nation, it is a must-read.
And for Anglophones who follow China, Hong Kong and Asia, SCMP’s editors generally identify the right stories to cover. Problem is, they cover them from the wrong angles -- neocolonialist, Western-oriented perspectives, instead of Chinese and Asian-centered ones. Even in terms of pure business logic, that’s anachronistic and backward-looking, notably in the 21st century as China and Asia get set to move to the forefront of world affairs.
Hong Kong itself is embarking on a major political and economic reset, with Beijing at the reins. The time is right for a similar overhaul at the SAR’s English voice to the world… one that could also be China’s.
In fact, the idea has been germinating a little while. Let’s rewind to November 2019, when the Black Terror in Hong Kong was approaching a climax. A small group of local friends with high-level ties in the mainland approached me with an idea.
The Black Terror was morphing into a full-scale color revolution, they said, and it was important to tell the world the story of what was really going on in Hong Kong. And in most respects, it was the opposite of what Western MSM were saying. SCMP, they noted, was doing a disgraceful job, basically echoing the biased, agenda-driven Western narratives.
So my friends suggested we appeal to Alibaba mastermind Jack Ma -- during whose helmsmanship the company bought control of the paper -- to do something. I drafted a letter. My friends went through it, then passed it to their mainland contacts for delivery to Jack Ma. Before long, word came back that it was done, and Ma apparently read it. Here’s what it said:
The South China Morning Post is one of Asia's oldest and most venerable English-language newspapers. While Hong Kong was under British rule, the paper served as a leading voice of Western colonialism and its interests in the region.
When your esteemed company took a controlling stake in the paper nearly four years ago, many in Hong Kong and Asia hoped for an update in SCMP’s editorial orientation that would reflect the spirit and reality of the changing times. After all, Hong Kong’s return to China in 1997 had ended the age of Western colonialism in the region.
Many readers, including myself, had high hopes. Would SCMP, under Chinese ownership, be able to break with its outdated tradition of projecting biased and blinkered Western, colonialist perspectives? Could it carve for itself a historic new role -- by becoming the world’s leading English-language news publication on China (and Hong Kong)? Would a revamped, revitalized SCMP be able to project authentic and balanced Chinese views, in English, to the world? That would help fill a growing need for foreigners to understand the fast-rising country -- on its own terms, not Western ones. Also, could the paper even help Hong Kong reconnect with its motherland during the SAR’s post-colonial transition?
An SCMP that could do all that would deliver invaluable content. It would surely be required reading, among both sophisticated Chinese AND the increasing number of foreigners worldwide, especially those in investment, commerce and even politics. They need to understand China -- without distortion, much less demonization -- and interact with it.
Alas, those hopes have been dashed. SCMP has indeed changed under Alibaba's ownership -- but in the opposite direction. Since 2016, the publication has become distinctly more Sinophobic. Sadly, perhaps even shockingly, SCMP today seems even more (neo)colonialist than during colonial times.
This unhappy retrogression can be seen both in the reporting and in the opinion-writing. And it has been especially pronounced during the past five months of political turmoil in Hong Kong.
Overall, there are far more articles negative to China than positive. In reported stories, Sinophobic sources and interviewees get more space and emphasis than those who are objective or sympathetic to China. Slants unfavorable to Beijing can easily be seen. They are often manifested in headlines, and the choice of angle with which to frame a story. On any given news event, standard Western interpretations are highlighted in SCMP far more often than any Chinese ones.
The opinion pieces seem even more lopsided. Over the past couple of years, the paper’s stable of columnists has seen a steady expansion of Sino-skeptics and outright Sinophobes. They include both Western and Asian writers. Many of them have outsiders’ views of events in China, Hong Kong and Asia. Much of what they write is hardly distinguishable from the infamously China-hostile stuff in Western mainstream media. They share the ignorance and biases of those writers.
By today, anyone who does not see these problems is either 1) not paying close enough attention to SCMP’s daily contents, or 2) not sufficiently fluent in English to grasp the nuances. The links at the end of this letter provide many examples from online discussions of the aforementioned problems.
Day-to-day coverage aside, SCMP is in danger of leaving a more nefarious legacy: training a generation of young Chinese journalists (both Hong Kongers and mainlanders) in the worst English-journalism traditions of biased, condescending and hostile writing about China.
Many readers are asking: Why is all this happening under Alibaba’s ownership? Does the management not care that its flagship English platform -- the only one on Chinese soil -- is taking an approach to China and Hong Kong coverage similar to that of the US and its allies, at a time Washington is doing its best to demonize and beat down China?
Hopefully, you will take these issues to heart. I have cited them for your reference (list below), hoping that Alibaba and SCMP will do well by Hong Kong and by China at this historic juncture … and long into the future. Changing times call for changed thinking and products, in journalism as much as anything else.
With best wishes,
Thomas Hon Wing Polin
