Lee Lin Chin still surprised after 20 years

She’s been with SBS for more than 20 years, but Lee Lin Chin still can’t believe she gets recognised in public.

While ratings for SBS World News Australia hover around 160,000, the doyenne news presenter says while she doesn’t take much notice of overnight ratings, it’s her contact with the public that hints at a wider audience.

“Based on my personal experience I think that we have a bigger audience than the figures are showing. You see I don’t drive so I am either taking public transport or I am walking around. So I do come in contact with people and just based on the recognition, it astonishes me,” she says.

“We used to have an old joke in the building, but it’s gone because that generation of people have gone. Today they wouldn’t know this joke. But we used to say, ‘Our audience is 2.5 households.’

“So we live with the fact that our audience is smaller than all the others. Therefore it constantly astonishes me that people recognise me. I’m only on two days a week and weekends when a lot of people don’t really watch us.

“Nevertheless, and I’m not trying to be modest without any reason, but given the size of our audience it surprises me every time.”

But Lee Lin Chin is perhaps overlooking the fact that, in this ever-changing landscape of TV, she is a survivor and easily one of the defining faces of SBS.

She began at SBS in subtitling, before moving to SBS World News in 1992. Despite many changes at the broadcaster, including extending the bulletin to 60 minutes, Lee Lin Chin says the content has remained steady.

“As far as the viewer is concerned the content has remained constant. We may tinker with the look and there is a certain amount of pressure to freshen up every now and then. I think the major change is going from World News to World News Australia, and that is mostly in the length. We were half an hour,” she says.

“The most dramatic changes in recent times seem to have accelerated. I am convinced that we are at the cusp of one era into another.

“News gathering is changing, audiences are changing, what they are interested in is not the same.

“I think because we are recognised as probably the only television news in this country delivering an international news that we seem to be still accepted as such. People expect that from us. So I think that’s a combination. I don’t like to put it down to luck because it’s such a fickle world now.

“We’re holding our own as far as sticking to our original brief is concerned. And I’m glad we are, because the other alternative is to localise and we would be throwing ourselves into a lot of competition. All the others localise news.”

As well as her distinct presentation style, Lee Lin Chin is also known for her bold fashion choices, with plenty of bright colours  and elegant outfits (she has even hosted Fashionista for SBS). But she juggles flamboyance with her serious side, without batting an eyelid.

“I personally am very interested in what I call contemporary history. Everything that is happening is history. We live history,” she says.

“It’s the big picture. To use the Chinese saying, ‘We’re living in very, very interesting times,’ even compared with ten years ago.

“I stop short of describing myself as a ‘news junkie’ but I like to know how Syria is developing or what the UN Security Council is doing about Syria, whether there’s been any movement. Even when I’m away from reading the news I want to know.”

During a recent holiday to Singapore, she was scouring local newspapers for news. But even in the local region the editorial for international news is shrinking.

“The Straits Times is not unlike a lot of Australian papers now, World News is reduced to two pages. Even the Sydney Morning Herald’s World News is reduced to two pages. The whole paper has shrunk to only 12 pages or something,” she says.

But while other networks are scrambling to rearrange their News services, it seems certain that Lee Lin Chin will continue to remain a constant at SBS.

“What else can I do? I have no other skills!” she smiles.