Alibaba founder Jack Ma said that readers deserve a fair chance to understand what is happening in China, as he bares the reason for acquiring the South China Morning Post as well as his vision for the new acquisition.
Late last year when news broke out that Alibaba Group had acquired the 113-year-old English-language newspaper, readers were confronted with the biggest questions about the acquisition.
In the second part of the SCMP series, Ma outlined for the first time since Alibaba's takeover his visions for the paper.
When Alibaba acquired the Post, some readers have raised eyebrows, apprehensive that the paper, which had been aggressively reporting on China, would change its direction, while a few believed that controversial or sensitive issues might not be touched to avoid the risk of incurring the ire of Chinese leaders.
Ma addressed these concerns in a face-to-face interview with the Post in Hangzhou, eastern Zhejiang Province, as he explained on having a new narrative on China that was different from both the state media and the mainstream Western media.
"I don't see it as an issue of [coverage] being 'positive or negative,'" the Alibaba executive chairman said. "It is about being impartial and balanced . . . We should offer a fair chance to readers [to understand what is happening in China], not just a fair chance to China."
Ma said that as a reader, obtaining unbiased information is important for a reader to draw his own conclusion from the undistorted facts presented to him.
"I believe the most important thing for the media is to be objective, fair and balanced. We should not report a story with preconceptions or prejudice," Ma added.
The Alibaba founder said that the Post can report on Asia and China more accurately since it has access to Alibaba's resources, data and all the relationships in its ecosystem, compared with other media who have no such advantage.
"Sometimes, people look at things purely from a Western or an Eastern perspective--that is one-sided. What the Post can do is to understand the big 'why' behind a story and its cultural context," Ma explained.
"I want to stress the importance of being fair to our readers. You should not impose your own view and prejudice on the readers and try to lead them to a conclusion. As a reader, I understand what a fair report is," he added.
With the help of Alibaba's technology and resources, the tech tycoon said that his vision is to transform the Post into a global media agency.
Ma added that Alibaba's management only wanted to represent the readers' interest and improve their experience, reiterating his promise that it would not take part in the Post's newsroom operations.
"As I said to Joe [Tsai], you are going to the Post as a representative of its readers. You don't have to represent shareholders. You speak for the readers," Ma said, referring to Alibaba's executive vice chairman who is now the chairman of the Post.