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October 15 2007
Publications hope for more demand
By Rina Chandran
Reuters News
(c) 2007 Reuters Limited
HONG KONG -- Asia, with its economy roaring, has seen a flurry of new publications arrive on the scene.
The emergence within the past year of three - Asia Sentinel, Review Asia, and Asia Weekly - comes at a time when many longstanding magazines and newspapers in the United States and Europe are struggling for survival as advertisers and readers look elsewhere.
The arrival of the new publications also marks a turnaround from a dramatic retrenchment of English-language publications in Asia just a few years ago.
In 2004, Dow Jones turned its weekly Far Eastern Economic Review into a monthly opinion magazine. Time Warner ended Asiaweek in 2001.
In their heydays, these were authoritative must-reads. Their demise suggested the market had died off or been taken over by the Internet. These three new publications were started by journalists concerned by a lack of in-depth reporting on Asia and instances of censorship.
"There is demand for regional news in Asia," said Vivek Couto, executive director of Media Partners Asia, an independent media analysis group in Hong Kong. "Economies are in full swing and while the huge exponential growth has been in advertising budgets for regional satellite channels, the ad pie for print media has recovered, too."
MPA research shows that annual advertising money for regional print media was about $400 million in the year 2000. It shrank to $260 million in 2003 but recovered to about $380 million at the end of 2006. He expected it to exceed $400 million by end of this year.
Despite strong economic growth in Asia, these publications are up against many of the hardships facing print journalism worldwide. The assumptions are now familiar - that newspapers are dying as advertising moves to the Internet, that Web profits are hard to make, that magazines are too expensive and increasingly old-fashioned.
The success of these three new publications will depend on whether they can draw readers, advertisers and investors - three big, open questions.
Their focus is Asia, but their format varies widely: Asia Sentinel is a news and analysis Web site, with no print edition; Review Asia is a glossy monthly magazine; and Asia Weekly is a print magazine, with a limited Internet presence, a workmanlike design and few banner headlines.
Asia Weekly provides a weekly overview, condensing content from the region's papers, Web sites and magazines for those who want one easily digestible package. Its publisher, Jasper Becker, a journalist and author covering China, realized "the crisis in regional media was actually an opportunity because there was a niche that had been left open.
"There is more demand and interest in this part of the world than there has been for a while," he said. "There are big investment flows, economies are doing well," he added, saying some big media groups were overlooking the region.
Becker's largely self-financed venture was first published in March, when it had an editorial staff of 10 and was reaching 12 countries. He lives in Beijing, but the magazine is based in Hong Kong, to give it a regional feel.
"My feeling is that there are many advantages to publishing on the Net, but people are more comfortable reading a magazine on the sofa or on a plane," Becker said. "And we've learned there's a lot of doubt among advertisers about whether ads on the net are really effective. If you're reading a magazine you enjoy, people pay more attention to ads."
Becker estimated that circulation was about 20,000, with subscriptions accelerating. International publications sold regionally were providing less original coverage of, and for, the region, he said.
An almost opposite approach characterizes www.asiasentinel.com - entirely Internet-based, it produces only original journalism. The Internet, by definition, solves many problems of distribution, but the publication lacks advertising. [Earlier this month, the International Herald Tribune entered a publishing agreement with the Asia Sentinal to have the option of printing its articles in the paper and online.]
The crucial similarity is the goal of giving an in-depth look at Asia and, like Becker, the people behind Sentinel are "old Asia hands."
John Berthelsen, who edits the site, first came to Asia in 1966 for Newsweek. Philip Bowring, a co-founder, once edited the Far Eastern Economic Review and now writes opinion for the International Herald Tribune. Another founding editor is Lin Neumann, now editing the JoongAng Daily in Seoul, with which the Tribune also has an agreement.
They produce pieces from freelance correspondents around the region, as well as an opinion section. Stories have included features about an extradition treaty between Singapore and Indonesia, and how HIV-positive Indians can find marriage partners.
Over the past month, the Asia Sentinel's work on the business interests blocking effective sanctions against the military regime in Myanmar helped it reach about 7,000 viewers per day. The site averages 4,000 a day, up from about 3,000 before the crisis.
The Review Asia office in Hong Kong is another world. Paintings and objets d'art, Buddhas, candles and plants suggest that the magazine is about lifestyle as much as politics and business.
Rex Aguado, its editor, combines a journalism background with experience in investment banking and equity research. His friends complained there was nothing to read as they traveled, made money and built homes.
"Our scenario is of people reading this on a plane, but also through the Internet," Aguado said. "We give an overview of events, but especially of personalities. We can't compete on news but we can tackle big themes like homelessness in Asia, or the environment, or social responsibility."
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