KUALA LUMPUR: A seasoned media professional has addressed the challenge of making Asean-related stories more engaging and preventing "story killer".
Zuraidah Ibrahim, the executive managing editor of Hong Kong's South China Morning Post, acknowledged the common reluctance of readers to engage with stories directly labelled "Asean".
Zuraidah said this often leads to lacklustre interest, despite the region's importance.
"My readers from Hong Kong make up less than 10 per cent of my world's readership. My readers are here and in the rest of the world. But what I can share with you is that the moment I use the word 'Asean' in the headline for story, I can almost guarantee you that you'll be a story killer. What do I mean by story killer? People won't read the story."
She said one approach is to avoid directly using "Asean" in headlines, instead focusing on individual countries involved in a story and weaving in "Asean" only later.
This style shift can draw attention without sacrificing the story's regional relevance, she said at the Asean Economic Opinion Leaders Conference here today.
"I think there's a constant battle. How do I give readers what they want versus what I think they ought to have?
"So, this simple battle about whether I put Asean in the headline, I think the simple answer is that we have to go long and put Malaysia, Vietnam, whatever, however many countries are involved in that particular story, and then weave in the word Asean somewhere in there.
"But that's just a style thing. I think more important is how you approach those stories."
She emphasised the importance of better storytelling and dedicating more focus to Asean-related topics, which are often overshadowed by what are perceived as "bigger" global stories.
Reflecting on Asean's collective efforts, such as the upcoming Asean Community Vision 2045, Zuraidah said many people are unaware of significant initiatives like the digital economic framework.
She admitted that even in the past, Asean's previous vision for 2025 remains largely forgotten, citing key terms like "inclusivity" and "integration" as having not lived up to expectations.