What change has surprised you the most in the nine years you've been in the industry?
I don't think there was anything that could be called a surprise. In terms of changes, I think the growing importance of advertising and distribution departments in my newspaper has been something no one would have believed 10 years ago. When I first joined the newspaper, advertising and distribution sounded more like a second-tier job because they did not contribute to the newspaper directly as reporters did. But now, without special state subsidies, newspapers have to find a way to feed themselves, and income from distribution and advertising has become the lifeblood of the newspaper. The best people moved to those departments, and editors seem to care more about how our advertising is doing than the quality of our stories.
Do you like this change?
It's not about whether I like it or not. It's a direction. You have no choice but to move forward because everyone realises that the old way of state financing does not work any more. For reporters like me, you have to go after news more aggressively because so many competitors out there are trying to break news. When I first got this job, most news came to you from state departments and it was a five-day-a-week job, but now the direction has reversed and reporters have to be vigilant seven days a week simply so they don't miss important news.
Did your salary rise along with the increased workload?
Of course, but not as fast as I hoped it would. I think our salaries are decent compared with the average industry pay, but it's still much lower than reporters working for overseas media even though we work every bit as hard.