Media experts from Bloomberg, Coconuts and SCMP gather for panel discussion on journalism’s obstacles and opportunities in an era of disruptive technologies

The Society of Publishers in Asia (SOPA) held its latest “Media Insiders Series” instalment  at SCMP’s posh new headquarters, inviting Tara Chanapai (marketing head at Coconuts), Anjali Kapoor (Bloomberg’s APAC head of digital), and Malcolm Ong (SCMP’s own head of product), to share their insights on journalism’s evolution in today’s digital landscape. The panel discussion was moderated by Juliana Liu (senior editor at Inkstone, SCMP).

The media experts discussed their endeavors overcoming new challenges, including reaching fragmented audiences who expect free and varied content, while making the most of new ways to connect with readers across multiple channels, often with realtime feedback and shifting preferences.

Malcolm Ong pointed out the importance of the iPad as a catalyst for stimulating SCMP to explore how readers consumed digital media, and develop in-house data-driven analytics expertise to understand how, where and in what contexts audiences engage content. Through these explorations, SCMP launched its tech-focused Abacus and daily digest Inkstone, both dedicated to “translating China” for the world, and is in the process of launching a third lifestyle product.

Ong also shared insights gleaned from SCMP’s continuing experimentations in audio, Artificial Intelligence, Augmented Reality, Virtual Reality plus other technologies and formats.

Said Ong: “...at the end of the day it is just figuring out what types of stories, what formats and in what ways our readers like consuming it as well as [how] our editors and our journalists like telling it.”

Contact us today to learn how our content and analytics experts help you effectively reach and engage the audience you want, and stay tuned for more digital innovations from SCMP.