On April 29, 2009 (Wednesday), PR Newswire Asia hosted a Media Coffee in Hong Kong themed two topics “Tell a Story with Photos” and “How We Find News Source from Electronic Media?”. Held at the Regal Hongkong Hotel, the event was well-received as more than 50 clients attended. Corporate communications and public relation professionals representing some 30 companies, including Allen & Overy, Avery Dennison, Elcoteq, Hang Lung Properties, The Hongkong & Shanghai Hotels, Shui On Construction and Materials, Sony Computer Entertainment and several local PR agencies participated in the interactive session and took away some useful insights into the media trends and behaviors.      

The Media Coffee has invited two experienced journalists as guest speakers. They are: Mr. Billy Kung, former photo editor of South China Morning Post (SCMP) and Mr. Mile Cheng, Chief Executive Officer of Prime Communications Group.

Billy has substantial experience in photo editorial work. He was previously the photo editor of SCMP, one of the most influential newspapers in Hong Kong. Prior to this role, he had worked in iMail newspaper (now The Standard).

Guest speaker Mr Billy Kung (SCMP Photo Editor, former) talks on how to use photo to make a story more powerful and convincing.

Media landscape is changing rapidly but one unchanging rule is that “a photo is better than a thousand of words”. The objective of Billy’s presentation is to share some insights and ideas with audience on how to use photos in news releases.  As the start, he told the audience on the daily working routine and responsibilities of a photo editor in a newspaper environment. Then, from an editor’s perspective, Billy generally talked on what criteria he will use when choosing a picture to match a news story. Furthermore, he talked on his preference in deciding to use a PR photo from a news release. The audience was particularly interested in Billy’s recommendations on what photos are most likely to be used by media.  Some other points he covered included the factors determining the final size of a picture when it is published in a newspaper. Billy’s session concluded at an analysis of the advantages and disadvantages between digital photos and traditional film photos; he commented on the effectiveness and quality of digital photos thanks to the technology advancement.

The second half of the session was conducted by Mile. A seasoned professional in the publications industry, Mile is the founder of the Prime Magazine and Weekend Weekly Magazine. Readers of two magazines are business executives in financial industry and the general public, respectively. Mile started his presentation by sharing some thoughts on what challenges the traditional print media is currently facing. As new types of electronic media emerge, the public is increasingly relying on all kinds of electronic media to obtain their own desired information and news material. The free flow of Internet, TV and radio is one of the boosters to provide abundant information to the public. Web search engines, discussions groups, blogs and photo libraries are accustomed by people these days. As such, “How can newspapers and magazines survive under this situation” is the question asked by Mile.  He explained that detailed researches, interesting post-writing and pre-publishing editing, profound quotations and permanent record-keeping are the keys to any successful traditional publication.