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A tech takeover: Alibaba and the transforming work culture of South China Morning Post
Author(s)
Date Issued
2020
Citation
Shum, H. K. H. (2020 Dec 10). A tech takeover: Alibaba and the transforming work culture of South China Morning Post. 2019-2020 Hong Kong Studies Annual Conference, online.
Type
Conference Paper
Abstract
In the first ten years after the handover of Hong Kong, the Chinese authorities’ control over Hong Kong media
was indirect, largely relying on close connections with local businessmen who owned local media outlets.
Before and after the handover, several important local newspapers that were originally operated as a family
business were acquired by businessmen who had political and business interests in the mainland. While the
changes of media ownership have been shaping the ecology of Hong Kong media industry, the rapid
development of digital technology such as the internet and social media was another critical factor in the
industry’s transformation. Alibaba, the powerful e-commerce conglomerate, has sought to leverage its
technological expertise to advance its development in the media industry through acquiring the century-old
Hong Kong English-language newspaper, South China Morning Post (SCMP) in 2016. This paper, by using
SCMP as a case study, focuses on the workers and their use of technologies at the media work process, from
which offers a lens to investigate the ecology of Hong Kong media industry within the transitional period from
print to digital news production. The study illustrates that even with strong and advanced technological
investment as the case of SCMP, the phenomenon of print-tech hybrid work culture exists amongst the media
outlet. This case study also shows that the implementation of Alibaba work culture at SCMP through
technological application keeps insignificant over the four years following the Chinese acquisition.
Availability at HKSYU Library
