CNA brand to be introduced in the US, UK and Canada for audience interested in content about Asia
This is part of CNA's expansion strategy announced during its 25th anniversary celebration.
SINGAPORE: Mediacorp’s news and current affairs brand CNA will soon be introduced in North America and the United Kingdom.
This will be done across a combination of platforms such as television streaming services, YouTube, and a curated edition of the CNA website, with the rollout to be conducted in phases over this year.
The move will cater to people in these regions who are looking for breaking news and insightful documentaries about Asia, in particular China, Japan, and Korea, announced Mediacorp chairman Niam Chiang Meng during CNA’s 25th anniversary celebration at Capella Singapore on Tuesday (Mar 19).
Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong, who attended the event as guest-of-honour, said a challenging journey lies ahead of CNA as it builds on its foundations.
He said in his speech: “In this highly-contested and fragmented media landscape, there will be pressure to compromise somewhat, create click-bait, sensationalist content just to attract eyeballs. You have to resist that temptation and continue to maintain your high standards.
“And particularly at a time when people everywhere increasingly identify themselves in narrow ethnic terms, living in echo chambers and forming their own ‘tribes’, it is even more important for CNA to tell stories that bridges divides, that educates us of different perspectives, and ultimately keeps our society strong.”
In congratulating CNA on reaching its 25th anniversary milestone, Mr Wong described CNA's work as "tough" but "also a deeply fulfilling one".
Said Mr Wong, who is also Finance Minister: "The work you do is important and vital to our society. To fulfil your mission, you will need to continually evolve, build new capabilities, and invest in your people.
"The government will continue to support you, as you pioneer transformations in the industry, and deliver your distinctive brand of trusted, compelling, and relevant programming."
NEW TV BULLETIN, BAHASA INDONESIA WEBSITE
During the event on Tuesday, Mediacorp chairman Mr Niam also announced a new one-hour bulletin, East Asia Tonight, which will air on CNA every weekday at 6pm starting from April.
“Through a combination of ground reporting of the latest developments, original in-depth features and expert analysis, CNA will seek to help audiences around the world to better ‘Understand Asia’”, said Mediacorp in a media release.
As part of its expansion strategy and to deepen on-ground understanding and reporting of China-related news, CNA also plans to open a new bureau in Shenzhen, and potentially station more correspondents at its Beijing and Shanghai bureaus.
Additionally, in order to tap a large audience profile closer to home, CNA launched cna.id, a website in Bahasa Indonesia. It signed a research collaboration agreement with Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) to build an English-to-Bahasa Indonesia AI translation tool, Mediacorp said in its news release, adding that a team of Bahasa Indonesia editors checks the translated as well as original news reports and features before publishing them.
To continue harnessing artificial intelligence (AI), CNA has also introduced AI-generated summaries - known as FAST - for articles on its app.
Mr Niam said: “We aim to be present at every touchpoint in a person's life, engaging them through a combination of our own platforms as well as third-party platforms.
“And this multi-platform approach is anchored on the understanding of how people today consume news content, and that is across platforms, across devices, across languages, across genres.”