Hong Kong
HK Economic Journal gets a website
In the era of newspaper downsizings, somebody is stepping up to launch:
For the first time in its history, the Hong Kong Economic Journal, a small but highly respected Hong Kong newspaper, today launched a website.
Welcome to 20th century, guys!
(Irony alert: Richard Li, of PCCW and telecoms fame, is a major shareholder.)
They are looking for feedback, so let them know.
Hong Kong Govt to citizens: Drink More Wine!
Today I had lunch with Hong Kong’s Financial Secretary, John Tsang, who presented the Hong Kong’s government’s plan for turning the territory into a hub for wine.
As improbable as this may sound for a city where - to the best of my knowledge - grapes don’t even grow, here the plan:
- Drop wine taxes to zero (Done in Feb. Wine tax here is now ZERO, zilch, niente!)
- Streamline customs to allow wine clearance in temperature controlled areas, not Hong Kong’s searing tropical docks.
- Encourage creation of wine schools to train sommeliers.
- Build a wine museum (How you build a wine museum without a history in wines is a bit beyond me)
- Convert more heritage sites into wine warehouses. This follows on the model of Jim Thompson’s successful Crown Wine Cellars. Using a disused munitions depot, Thompson built a club and wine cellar.
- A certification system for wine warehouses that is overseen by foreign experts.
- Beef up police to combat counterfeit wines
- From June, it will no longer be necessary to get a special license to import and store wine
- The government signed an MOU with France to develop Hong Kong’s wine industry.
Of the one million cases of wine Hong Kong residents now store overseas, Tsang expects at least 10 percent - 100,000 cases - will come to Hong Kong
Asia now accounts for 7% of world wine demand. Tsang expects Asian demand likely to double to 17 bn by 2012 and 27bn by 2017.
All these numbers sound great, but how much revenue and how many jobs will this create for Hong Kong?
Tsang explicitly denied that dropping the wine tax was a favor to Hong Kong’s rich wine drinkers.
Jobs and revenue are the purpose of this venture, Tsang said, but when I asked for his estimates of jobs and money, he said: “Let the market decide.”
Govt: No blogger accreditation in Hong Kong
Hong Kong does not recognize bloggers for accreditation to official media events, Betty Fung, the Hong Kong government’s Director of Information Services, told me today.
(Fung, the top spokesperson for the government, is seated next to Ersnt Herb, the recently elected president of the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Hong Kong.)
The lack of blogger accreditation in Hong Kong stands in contrast to India, the US and many others governments and companies that recognize bloggers as important purveyors of information.
But Fung said the issue is not about keeping bloggers out of government press conferences: She has never received a request for accreditation from a blogger.
“We are constantly reviewing our policy for access to media events and keep them as open as possible - sometimes even to students,” Fung said. “The thing is that I don’t think we have ever received a request for access from a blogger.”
Are Hong Kong bloggers apolitical or does a vibrant blogging community about politics only exist with full democracy?
Any bloggers coming to cover the equestrian olympic events in Hong Kong?
Marketing publisher trash-talks rival Media Magazine
Justin Randles, founder of Marketing Magazine, trashtalks the competition in this Marketing Magazine, trashtalks the competition in this video below, saying why you should read his recently launched publication and ignore his highly established main competitor, Media Magazine.
(With Marketing magazine fighting Media magazine it can get somewhat confusing. Can someone please tell these guys to think up more creative titles for their publications?)
Founded out of Singapore by Randles in 2002, Marketing Magazine is intended to attract marketing, advertising and media professionals in Asia. The publication has opened up market-by-market using an online first strategy. If the online audience seems to justify the investment, they launch a publication, as they recently did in Hong Kong in 2007.
Media Magazine, published by industry giant Haymarket, just doesn’t match the ambitions of Marketing Magazine, Randles said.
“Their approach is pretty much one magazine for Asia, whereas we treat each country as a separate and parochial market,” Randles said. “When we go into one market, such as Singapore, we really focus on the needs of our target audience in that particular market.”
In the second video, Matt Eaton, editor of Marketing Magazine for Hong Kong, explains his editorial approach to the market.
Update from Eaton: Marketing will soon be audited in Hong Kong. They currently claim a print run of 9500 mags for Hong Kong and added another 1116 email addresses added in China this week to make for a total of 8500 e-newsletters going out each weekday in Hong Kong and China
Anyone from Media Magazine available for comment?
More on Randles’ market-entry strategy in a previous posting Justin Randles: 4 ways the Internet has changed niche publishing.
This is a further installment of my postings on English language publishing in Asia.
Should you read The Asia Media Journal?
Today my tour of English language publishing in Asia brings us Mike Savage, editor of The Asia Media Journal, explaining why we should read his publication.
Mike has covered media for more than ten years, including six years in Britain before coming out to Hong Kong about four years ago.
His publication, which covers developments about the media in Asia, differentiates itself through depth of coverage, Mike said. The publication is closely associated with Media Partners Asia, a consultancy that specializes in analyzing Asian media markets. They put out thick publications on a range of topics. They have a sister site: Media Research Asia.
While the publication comes out about four times per year, Mike updates The Asia Media Journal blog regularly.
Not convinced? See video for more.
Asia Media Journal seeks media reporter
Mike Savage, editor of The Asia Media Journal wants to hire a business journalist interested in writing about media to join him on the magazine.
Based in Hong Kong, The Asia Media Journal is a publication put out by Media Partners Asia, an Asia-wide media consultancy. They have a sister site: Media Research Asia.
As described by Mike, the right journalist will have a good portfolio covering both features and analysis.
Interested?
Contact:
Mike Savage, Editor
The Asia Media Journal
Dir: +852 2815 8715
Tel: +852 2815 8710
Fax: +852 2815 8730
mike a t media-partners-asia dot com
Media Partners Asia Limited,
Suite 205, 2/F The Centre Mark,
287-299 Queen’s Road Central, Hong Kong
Media Partners Asia
Future of Media in Asia - blogosphere reacts
Thanks to the blogosphere, we have a full audio recording and blog reactions to last week’s sold out lunch on the Future of Media in Asia.
Audio blogger Matthew Driskill recorded a full version of the event on his blog, The View from Here
Why Newspapers can start Online TV
The event started with Felix Soh, director of the Singapore Straits Times’ Razor TV project, giving the first-ever public overview of soon-to-be-launched service.
Blogger Rebecca MacKinnon asked Felix Soh why it was that his newspaper, the Straits Times, is launching an online TV station rather than a Singapore TV station.
Mike Savage of Asia Media Journal blogged the response given by Ivy Wong, COO of tvb.com, the website of Hong Kong television giant TVB:
It’s easier for a publisher to jump into online TV, Wong explained, because there’s little danger of cannibalizing existing revenues. For a TV company, the shift is a little trickier – something that TVB for instance, as a dominant TV player, is still trying to figure out.
The challenge faced by existing media players as they adapt to the digital world was a theme that resonated throughout the lunch.
Financial Times’ “Third Way” for online charging
Angela Mackay, executive director of the Financial Times’ Asia operations who also sits on the FT board, spoke about the “third way” approach that the newspaper has taken with their website.
Instead of charging upfront, the ft.com incrementally asks for information once users start using the site regularly. If you are an FT addict, they will start to charge you.
Advertising’s Digital Divide
Any media company’s hopes for digital ad spend immediately making up for offline losses were dashed by Torie Henderson, Hong Kong Managing Director of OMD International. Torie said that while digital budgets are increasing, many advertising clients remain reluctant to commit huge portions of their budgets to online video and other innovative platforms.
Future Search Trends
Anna Chan, the head of search for Asia Pacific at Universal McCann, spoke about how search will be getting more all-encompassing, with images, text and video all mixed together. She also said that search-related advertising has been growing fast.
Many thanks to the Society of Publisher in Asia, Asia Digital Marketing Association and Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Hong Kong for co-sponsoring this event.
Update: Matt Eaton wrote in Marketing wrote about the FT.com’s “third way” between offering a free website and charging.
Chinese Internet Conference in Hong Kong June 13 and 14
Rebecca MacKinnon has organized a conference next weekend on China’s Internet with some great participants, including Jeremy Goldkorn of Danwei, Duncan Clark of BDA, bloggers Isaac Mao and Roland Soong as well as many others. Here’s the details:
6th Annual Chinese Internet Research Conference
Date/Time: June 13-14, 2008, 8:30-6:30 daily
Venue: Council Chamber, 8/F, Meng Wah Building, University of Hong Kong
Host: Journalism and Media Studies Centre
Languages: English and Putonghua (with simultaneous translation)
Website: www.circ.asia
Held at a different university each year, the annual Chinese Internet Research Conference (CIRC) brings together academic scholars, policy analysts, industry leaders, journalists and legal practitioners from around the world. This year’s conference comes to Hong Kong for the first time, hosted by the Journalism and Media Studies Centre.
This year’s conference theme, “China and the Internet: Myths and Realities,” seeks to separate fact from fiction about the Internet in China. As the attention of the world will be focused upon the upcoming 2008 Olympic Games, this timely event will explore the political, social, economic, cultural and institutional aspects of Internet development in China.
Panels of scholars will present the latest empirical research as well as qualitative and critical studies of the meaning of information technologies in the Chinese world. The programme also includes roundtable discussions and presentations by some of the people who are shaping the future of China’s internet: Chinese bloggers, internet entrepreneurs, journalists and industry experts.
With simultaneous translation in English and Putonghua, the event will be of great interest to anybody who studies Internet developments in China.
For further details about scheduled sessions and panels see:
www.circ.asia
Registration: www.circ.asia
Registration: http://jmsc.hku.hk/blogs/circ/register-2/
(Registration fee is waived for full-time HKU students and staff)
China and Hong Kong: World’s Most Dangerous Websites
McAfee, the company that makes money protecting Microsoft customers from viruses, warns that the .hk and .cn domains are the world’s most dangerous to surf.
19.2% of all Web sites ending in the “.hk” domain pose a security threat1 to Web users. China (.cn) is second this year with over 11%. By contrast, Finland (.fi) remains the safest online destination for the second year with 0.05%, followed by Japan (.jp).
The domain .info was also found to have a high level of risk. Perhaps because the .info appears to be informational.
For these findings, McAfee analyzed 9.9 million heavily trafficked Web sites in 265 different domains, including countries (those ending in country letters e.g. Brazil .br) and generics (those ending in .net or .info for example).
In a separate and highly unscientific survey, the author of this blog found that 97.3 percent of anti-virus press releases use scare tactics.
Congrats to Asian Editorial Award Winners
Congratulations to the many winners of awards at the SOPA editorial awards tonight.
SOPA honored Asia’s best journalists for their outstanding work.
(Apparently, however, the Society of Publishers in Asia did not seek proofreading help from the Society of Copy Editors in Asia.)
FEER blogged what many writers and editors in the audience must have been thinking: “There but for the grace of God go I.”
The Awards for Editorial Excellence have grown considerably in size and stature in recent years.
I have been involved in judging the awards for more than six years and remember when we had only a few entries from a several countries. Tonight’s awards were handed out at a pace of one per minute for great journalism done in countries across the region.
Keynote speaker Ching Cheong (in photo above), the Straits Times journalist jailed for 1,000 days in China, spoke about the importance of the values held in Hong Kong, particularly in relation to protest and free expression.
Earlier in the day I co-organized a lunch on the Future of Media in Asia that was packed with a very high level audience and included panelists who were wonderfully combative.
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