Siok Lian Pek, or Lian Pek as she’s known these days, is what many would consider a local news anchor made good. From Television Corporation of Singapore (presently MediaCorp) where as business editor, she launched and anchored the network’s first daily business news bulletin; to being the first local anchor hired by CNN International during which she was named Best Current Affairs Presenter at the 2001 Asian Television Awards; to her transition to documentary director, and an award-winning one at that; Lian has come full circle by returning to Channel NewsAsia (CNA) to helm its top editorial position after a 14-year absence.
According to Lian, CNA’s regional news feed, which is still four hours shy of a full 24-hour broadcast, will report round the clock come 2013.
“People are no longer consuming just, say, a morning broadcast or an evening primetime broadcast. They’re consuming media 24/7 whether it’s on traditional television news outlets, platforms or on the web or on mobile. So we’re covering all our bases obviously.”
Lian would like to see the editorial team move away from a more “passive and mild” reporting style to engaging the audience via technology and social media. On top of the iOS app launched a few months ago, the CNA app also began running on Windows 8 since end October.
“They’re not going to be talked to,” Lian tells me of her audiences. “People want to be engaged, so the style and the format of the presentation, the quality of the journalism, the whole raison d’etre has to be more interactive and more engaging.”
Lian describes how morning broadcasts might typically lend material to the next live broadcast, through the use of social media.
“For instance, there might be a story happening on any given day. That will then kick start the dialogue on social media and that could feedback into our stories say at 6 o’clock when it hits the newscast in the evening or at any opportune time when we’ve gathered information which makes a compelling story.”
This would also mean that the news team would increasingly use social media for work and possibly rely on it as a legitimate source of news. Lian is cautious of the associated pitfalls though.
“Obviously we have a team which is going to sift through the information for accuracy, just to make sure we don’t fall into the trap of faulty reporting and run with wrong images or photographs or comments from people who do not necessarily exist, and about things that did not necessarily happen. At the end of the day it’s also about our brand. As much as we want to involve citizens out there, we also have the duty of making sure that it’s accurate.”
Lian does not see citizen journalists as competitors. She welcomes them.
“We have no choice but to integrate (them) because if it’s making the rounds in news we’re obliged to actually put it on our air because that’s what people are talking about.” Lian also mentions plans to expand the business desk and sports desk. Business news, for one, will literally take on a brand new look; it’ll be beamed from a new satellite studio on the third floor of Asian bank DBS’ new headquarters at the Marina Bay Financial Centre – the heart of Singapore’s financial hub.
“The powerhouses of the financial centre in Singapore have shifted to Marina Bay Financial Centre so obviously we want to be reporting out of there. We want to be speaking to people in the industry from where the industry is situated; from the pulse of the industry,” says Lian.
With a 24-hour channel, Lian plans to take CNA beyond Asia. The ability to cover news across time zones is critical, she says, citing India as an important economy in Asia, being just 2.5 hours behind. With 14 correspondents in 10 bureaus, the channel’s immediate goal is to open some bureaus in Indochina, India, and also Myanmar, before taking the channel to the U.S. and Europe.
“We want to influence what people in the west are thinking about Asia because traditionally a lot of the news sources are still very much European and American,” asserts Lian. “Often that brings with it a certain perspective which may not necessarily be representative or truly representative of what takes place here in our own backyard.”
When asked whether her management role will take her away from practicing journalism, Lian tells me she has no intentions of calling it quits just yet.
“I think any broadcast journalist worth his or her salt will be broadcasting. I think it’s always been there. I guess it’s almost like riding a bike right? Because you can jump off the bike and on again and you’ll still be able to ride the bike (laughs) – some things you don’t forget.”
