A two-day forum of top editorial brass of newspapers in Asia and Europe opened yesterday in Seoul during which the participants discussed solutions to the decline of traditional news agencies in the age of internet journalism.

Held at the Millennium Seoul Hilton under the theme of "Way out of the Crisis," the opening day session of the 10th Asian-European Editors` Forum began with a keynote address by Dr. Heinz-Rudolf Othmerding, the Director of International News for the Deutsche Press-Agentur GmbH of Germany.

"We are not responsible for the media crisis. Indeed, trying to find a culprit for this crisis would be somewhat like blaming Copernicus for not inventing a spacecraft," Othmerding said at the forum organized by the Konrad Adenauer Foundation of Germany.

"Nonetheless, the traditional news agencies are - in many ways - a victim of the current crisis."

In reference to the global economic meltdown, Othmerding reminded his fellow journalists that for decades news agencies had been profiteers of worldwide cable networks, which had enabled them to deliver "millions" of news items without the internet impeding on their monopoly.



"No outsider, no customer, let alone some private individual would - at the time - have been in a position to challenge the power of these mighty and omnipresent news machines," he said.

Many in the newspaper business believe with the advent of "cyber" journalism and in the current age of internet blogging, traditional journalism has taken a huge hit and it is down for the count.

There`s a chance that traditional journalism will not be able to get back to its feet, according to many of the editorial chiefs who are taking part in this year`s forum.

"The internet has changed it all," Othmerding added.

"So-called citizen journalists are questioning our news networks. They are building up their own structures, using social networks, blogs and instant messaging systems and the response they`ve met in the digital marketplace is certainly positive."

Positive enough that news agencies around the world are fighting tooth and nail to stay afloat.

So what are some of the solutions these captains of the newspaper industry have conjured up?

"The first step certainly is to again concentrate on the very values of journalism," Othmerding said.

"Good journalism always was about research, investigation and analysis, about comparison of facts and evidence. Quantity is out, no news agency could dare or hope to meet quantity standards of the internet."

Emphasis was further made on qualified journalists always being one step ahead with better information of the broader picture.

However, in a moment of concession, he noted the importance of the digital age.

"Whoever gets the news flashed on his equipment wherever he is, has to be able to experience and perceive himself as part of a broader movement of the well-informed," he said.

"If news agencies want to survive the actual crisis, they have to become more user-friendly."

This sentiment was echoed by Felix Soh, Digital Media Editor of the Singapore Press Holdings.

"If print is to be of any value and interest to the younger digerati, then it must be integrated online," Soh said.

"These print products must include overt, in-your-face references to relayed online and mobile content and services. Go big and strong on cross-media features, integrating offline with online," and added, "Experiment. Fail. Experiment. Try lots of new things and see what looks promising. Kill the projects when it`s obvious they don`t work or can`t bring in revenue."

(kws@heraldm.com)



By Song Woong-ki