【英语财经】马云收购《南华早报》引发香港热议 High stakes for Beijing, Ma and press freedom in Alibaba media deal

Why would China’s richest technology tycoon want to invest in a venerable but struggling newspaper? And why would he do so in a city buffeted by economic and political problems? Hong Kong is buzzing with such questions after Alibaba, Jack Ma’s Chinese ecommerce group, agreed to acquire the 112-year-old South China Morning Post for $266m, slightly more than Amazon’s Jeff Bezos paid to buy The Washington Post in 2013.

Like Hong Kong itself, the English-language newspaper, once owned by Rupert Murdoch, has long been regarded as a gateway to understanding a complex and secretive China. But although it was one of the world’s most profitable newspapers, today it is suffering from the industry’s twin ills of falling advertising sales and dwindling circulation; it currently sells about 100,000 copies a day and revenue fell by 8 per cent in the first half of this year compared with the same period in 2014.

The SCMP’s coverage of China and Hong Kong, while far more spicy than the gruel typically served in the mainland’s state-controlled media, has also been criticised for becoming more insipid since Robert Kuok, a Malaysian tycoon, took over from Mr Murdoch in 1993. The Alibaba acquisition could prompt change on all fronts given the ecommerce group’s war chest and mastery of the internet and Mr Ma’s close connections with China’s top leaders.

At stake are Mr Ma’s reputation, the future of press freedom in semi-autonomous Hong Kong, and China’s ambitions to build its prestige worldwide. Hong Kong reporters and editors have already been physically attacked under pressure to self-censor from proprietors with mainland business links.

There could be more of the same on the horizon: Joseph Tsai, Mr Ma’s right hand man, has called on the SCMP to show China in a more sympathetic light. While pledging in an interview with the newspaper to uphold editorial independence and “objective, balanced and fair” reporting, Mr Tsai criticised western journalists. “[They] may not agree with the system of governance in China, and that taints their view of coverage,” he said.

According to David Bandurski, an expert on the Chinese media at the University of Hong Kong, such comments echo the Communist party’s idea that “objectivity” means presenting China positively rather than ensuring that coverage is based on an unbiased assessment of the facts. He suggests Mr Ma’s lieutenant may be seeking to disabuse Beijing of fears that the purchase of the newspaper by such a businessman could undermine state control of the media.

“The leadership does not fully trust commercial interests like Alibaba to toe the party line,” Mr Bandurski notes.

Alibaba has set out what it depicts as the business rationale for the acquisition. It says it will drop the SCMP’s paywall to attract readers the world over, so promoting a better understanding of China and ultimately helping its core business. “We feel that if people understand China better, they will understand our company better,” Mr Tsai declared. He added that the media has had “too much of a focus on what is wrong with Alibaba” — a company previously criticised for allowing the sale of counterfeit goods.

Some suggest the purchase is connected with the need to buy political favour with the Chinese authorities, as is common for the nation’s large corporations. If so, it could herald a further curtailment of press freedom in Hong Kong and the increased politicisation of Alibaba itself.

Such action might backfire on the political and business fronts. If Alibaba’s SCMP hews too closely to the party view, few in the west will take it seriously. Beijing’s efforts to promote soft power via international versions of highly censored state media outlets such as CCTV and the China Daily have neither won China more acclaim nor influence. And if he is seeking to make the SCMP punchier without upsetting the powers that be, Mr Ma will be facing one of his biggest business challenges yet.

为什么中国科技业首富想要投资一家受业界敬重但经营困难的报纸，并且这家报纸还位于一座经济和政治问题层出不穷的城市？马云(Jack Ma)旗下的中国电商集团阿里巴巴(Alibaba)同意收购有112年历史的《南华早报》（South China Morning Post，以下简称“南早”）之后，香港各界对此类问题议论纷纷。阿里巴巴收购南早的价格是2.66亿美元，略高于亚马逊(Amazon)的杰夫?贝索斯(Jeff Bezos) 2013年收购《华盛顿邮报》(The Washington Post)的价格。

与香港本身一样，这家曾在鲁珀特?默多克(Rupert Murdoch)旗下的英文报纸长期被视为理解复杂且行事隐秘的中国的门户。虽然南早曾是全球最赚钱的报纸之一，但在报业广告收入下降和发行量缩减的双重问题打击下，这家报纸如今经营状况不佳。现在南早日发行量大约10万份，今年上半年营收同比下降8%。

南早对中国内地和香港的报道，尽管远比受政府控制的内地媒体寡淡无味的报道更为劲爆，但自1993年马来西亚大亨郭鹤年(Robert Kuok)从默多克手中收购该报以来，该报的报道也被批评变得平淡了。鉴于阿里巴巴资金实力雄厚、精通互联网，同时马云与中国高层领导人关系密切，南早被阿里巴巴收购可能促成各方面的改变。

如今此事关乎的是马云的声誉、香港这个半自治地区出版自由的未来以及中国在世界各地建立威望的抱负。在与内地有商业联系的老板们的自我审查压力下，香港已有记者和编辑遇袭。

将来可能还会有更多的同类情况出现：马云的得力助手蔡崇信(Joseph Tsai)呼吁南早从更正面的角度展示中国。尽管在接受该报采访时，蔡崇信誓言要维护南早的采编独立和“客观、平衡、公平”的报道原则，但他批评了西方记者。他说：“（他们）可能都不认同中国的管治体系，这影响了他们报道的取向。”

香港大学(University of Hong Kong)中国媒体问题专家班志远(David Bandurski)表示，此类言论呼应了中共的如下观点，即“客观性”意味着要正面展示中国，而不是确保让报道建立在对事实的不偏不倚评判的基础上。他认为，蔡崇信此番话可能是为了打消北京方面的这种忧虑，即这样一位商人收购南早可能会削弱政府对媒体的控制。

班志远指出：“领导层不太相信阿里巴巴这样的商业利益集团能够听党的话。”

阿里巴巴列出了它眼中收购南早的商业逻辑。它表示将彻底推倒南早的付费墙，以吸引全球读者，从而让人们更了解中国，并最终促进阿里巴巴核心业务的发展。蔡崇信宣称：“我们觉得，如果人们更了解中国，他们就会更了解我们的公司。”他还说，媒体“对阿里不好的地方的关注太多了”——人们曾批评阿里巴巴允许假货在其平台上销售。

一些人认为，此次收购与阿里巴巴有必要在政治上取悦中国当局有关——这种情况在中国大型企业中非常普遍。若果真如此，此次收购将预示着香港出版自由空间进一步缩减、阿里巴巴自身更加政治化。

一些举措可能会在政治和商业领域带来不利的后果。如果南早被阿里巴巴收入旗下后过于听中共的话，西方将没有多少人把它当回事。中国政府努力通过中央电视台(CCTV)和《中国日报》(China Daily)等受到严格审查的国有媒体的海外版来提升软实力，这种努力既没有为中国赢得赞誉，也没有赢得影响力。如果马云打算尝试在不得罪当权者的前提下让南早更加劲爆，他将会面临前所未有的商业挑战。

译者/邹策