My prague

By Kris Wang

As the capital of the Czech Republic and ancient Bohemia, Prague, also known as the golden city, is, in outsider’ eyes, a history book recording the waxing and waning fortunes of Central Europe, as an economic, cultural and political center. For centuries, Prague is portrayed as a unperceivable myth. However, for ones who love the city, Prague’s realness will never end as it has already outlived time to stay what it is, indifferently and unyielding, being the only masterpiece in the world.

Media as watchdog

By kris Wang

What is the impact of watchdog on a public figure?

Sheila Coronel states that “publicity and openness provide the best protection from the excesses of power.” Media acting as a watchdog, a Fourth Estate, monitors those in public office, thereby enhancing transparency and inhibiting public officials’ excessively issuing of power through the supervision function.

Why is the government so difficult to communicate with the public?

By Kris Wang

As a single source, the government is expected to send homogenous messages to a large anonymous public through specialized communication media. Any loophole in the “source-message-channel-receiver” process will make the communication ineffective. For the source, credibility is always the key to maintain mutual trust but in practice it is often hard to achieve this as the public is sometimes doubtful about the government decisions and policies, especially in less-developed countries where the political system is far from democracy. For example, in countries where there is one party system, and the public is not allowed to participate in the decision-making process.

Ten years with my grandma

By Kris Wang

I had lived with my grandma for ten years. Ten years is everlasting as it leaves a deep imprint on my life; ten years is momentary since it has already been a reverie from the past.

Post-80s mainlanders’ dilemma

By Kris Wang

HONG KONG _ For outsiders, Hong Kong’s enigma lies in its diversity and dynamics, a combination of modernity and historical cultural identity; for HongKongers, the city’s future rests with its commitment to democracy and freedom, an open and vibrant market for development; for us, post-80s generation from mainland China, the love or hatred of the metropolis is a decision, a choice, a destiny, a process that is forming in interaction with Hong Kong itself.

The enigma of visual journalism

By Kris Wang

HONG KONG _ The hustle and bustle of city life is speeding up the flow of information and generating a need for simple and creative storytelling in news media. Information is less valuable as today’s busy audiences won’t stop to consume it until they find something special and fun, which paves a way for visual journalism, a new form of telling stories that catches audiences’ eyes and arouses their emotions.

‘It’s all in the pictures’

As a two-year-old naughty boy, he was impressed by a soldier painted by his father. From then on, his natural instinct developed with an enthusiasm to draw until one day cartoon was becoming part of his life. In 2008, Peter Espina, now the Head of Design of Global Times, was sitting at his office table, making a choice about the front page picture for the devastating Sichuan earthquake.

Picture by Peter Espina from Global Times

“I call myself a visual journalist, and it’s an instinct already,“ he said by adding that visual journalism is basically like simplifying the news and putting it into a visual form and the criterion for good pictures is to “make people react”.

Media to change in consumer-centric age

By Kris Wang

HONG KONG_ News media should pay more attention to their increasingly active audiences and be brave with ideas in this consumer-centric information age, media veterans said at the News World Summit in Hong Kong Monday.

Audiences are becoming more active as they reuse and even alter media content, Robert Amlung, the head of Digital strategy of ZDF TV said.

The international summit, organized by Global Editors Network, kicked off in Hong Kong and drew more than a hundred editors-in-chiefs and senior news executives from around the world. The future of journalism is a focus of summit discussions.

Photo by Kris

 

‘Emigration boom’ for China’s super-rich mainlanders

By Kris Wang

HONG KONG_Despite its soaring economic growth, China is facing with a worrying trend of “emigration boom” for its super-rich mainlanders who are eager to leave their homeland, which rings a bell on the country’s underlying social and economic problems, according to a local press report.

‘Home is where you are happy’

By Kris Wang

HONG KONG_ He was sitting behind the computer, calculating a day’s revenue. Compared to many Indians striving for a life in Hong Kong, Kamal Sukhwani, the owner of a small electronics store, is lucky to have his own business though he said he will never call the metropolis “home”.

Internet era’s quality journalism

By Kris Wong

HONG KONG_The era of internet is encouraging news agencies to develop real quality multimedia coverage and pay much more attention on credibility, according to a chief editor Friday.