Rent a Newspaper
Rising prices, tight economy attract HK readers to new service
‘At a time when money is difficult to come by, and prices of newspapers and magazines have risen, I don’t mind.’
— Newspaper seller Wong Pak.
AFP
HONGKONG — Hongkong readers are renting their daily newspapers as a sign of a sharp decline in the fortunes of the territory’s once lucrative publishing industry.
Mr Cheng Liang paid half the cover price of his Chinese newspaper from a stand in the Wanchai district and returned it within an hour.
"I have more people renting than buying," said Mr Wong Pak, who sells the papers.
"At a time when money is difficult to come by, and prices of newspapers and magazines have risen, I don’t mind," he added.
Mr Cheng, a telecommunications technician, said:
"Every cent counts a lot to me."
He highlighted a government forecast that the cost of living would rise by an average 9 per cent this year, 0.5 per cent more than expected.
Inflation simply added to the problems faced by publishers in Hongkong, whose six million population was once one of the most most avid newspaper consumers in Asia.
Many of the 45 Chinese daily newspapers and magazines now face closure because readers are drifting away.
Operating costs, especially for newsprint, are rising, and advertising income is falling.
A recent study by Vickers Ballas Investment confirmed the grim trend, showing that "one or more" newspapers would fold in the coming months.
It highlighted that "advertising revenues rather than circulation revenues have been the main source of income", and said there was little likelihood of increased readership bringing any relief.
Government statistics showed that about one-third of the population used to read more than one pa-per in the early 80s.
The figure plunged to 1.3 per cent by 1990 as higher cover prices turned readers away.
The rising price of newsprint has pushed up the prices of Chinese newspapers which have soared by 25 per cent in the last year.
Ms Helena Coles, Asian media analyst for Kleinwort Benson, said: "News-print is the common theme and the most Important concern."
Publishers worldwide have been scrambling to cut costs amid the rocketing price of newsprint, which rose 69 per cent from US$400 (S$560) per tonne early this year to US$675 last month.
The price of pulp and paper were not expected to level off in the next few months because of increased international demand, the Vickers Ballas report said.
And the problem which looks set to strike the British territory again is that newsprint supplies are reportedly dwindling after a panic bout of stockpiling last year.
The Vickers Ballas report also showed that advertising revenues were falling, particularly in the classified section.
It attributed the fall to diminishing consumer power and stiff competition from other media, particularly satellite television.
As a result of the onslaught, publishers of some of Hongkong’s 696 publications, which comprise 77 newspapers — including 45 Chinese-language dailies and seven English dailies — admitted that price hikes featured regularly on the agenda at Hongkong Newspaper Society meetings. — AFP.
Source : The Straits Times, 21st June 1995
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