Print media need better ground to flourish

• Source: Global Times
• [01:37 January 12 2010]
• Comments

Doubtless, Chinese print media need financial support, but money alone cannot make them succeed in their mission. The ultimate test is the readership won. Their growth hinges on their abiding by the rules of journalism as well as those of the market.

A good government must be one that sticks to timely truth telling and holds itself accountable to the media and the public. It can also uphold the principle of fair play by regulating monopolies in a developing media market.

Despite the doomsayers' view of the print media being destined to perish under the new media's rising power, print remains the primary news source enjoying enormous credibility.

In a society undergoing rapid transformation alongside rising unrest, the print media's watchdog role is central to social stability and the spread of progressive ideas, and at all costs, the government should safeguard it.

The past 30 years saw the Chinese print media reinvent itself in new ways at an amazing pace.

Now, at a critical juncture of further reform and media overhaul, it is hard to foresee how many of the more than 2,000 newspapers and 9,000 magazines may survive or succeed in the market.

But, without doubt, a good government should seed the ground and create the environment for healthy media to grow and be innovative for the highest public good.