Asian Weeklies Rise Again

Interesting to see that the folks over at Asia Weekly are celebrating their first six months of publication by announcing they have secured a publication agreement in Singapore. The magazine, based in Beijing and helmed by veteran journalist and respected China specialist Jasper Becker, is bucking the current online trend and the fact that both the Far Eastern Economic Review and Asiaweek, for decades the two main weekly Asian news magazines, were closed years ago by giant media companies (Dow Jones and, ahem, Time Inc.) that saw them as terminally unprofitable. Circulation, the press release from the magazine says, has hit 20,000 and is expected to reach 50,000 within two years. Amidst a lemming-like clamor for more web-based material, the magazine is defiantly old school. "While many media companies in Asia are focusing resources on web-based offerings," Becker writes, "including podcasts and downloads, the founders of Asia Weekly are targeting a public that still enjoys keeping up to date on Asia by reading a well designed and informative magazine." Another magazine by the name of Review Asia, a monthly published out of Manila and featuring a number of well know names as columnists, has also thrown its hat into the ring, apparently sharing Becker's view that many of the 210,000 readers FEER and Asiaweek boasted when they folded are still out there and eager for more.

Elsewhere, a group of somewhat grizzled but equally respected journalists are behind a completely different vision: Asia Sentinel, an exclusively online magazine. Not only does it eschew an actual printed edition, Asia Sentinel also differs from Asia Weekly in content. The latter is largely a filtering service for those interested in the region but too busy to wade through the tons of information flooding at them each day, featuring clippings from other publications and roundups, Asia Sentinel in contrast has a very definite, sharp and often entertaining point of view. (I have to declare an interest here: yes, some of those grizzled guys are my friends). Anyway, the more the better when it comes to media, old new or just middle aged. I wish all three sweet breezes, fair sailing and growing readerships.