Britain’s Guardian newspaper yesterday launched a new online edition in Australia, where print media are struggling, pledging an independent perspective and a multimedia approach.
The Guardian, the world’s third-most-read newspaper Web site, unveiled the new site with an exclusive interview with Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard and a pledge it will operate without a paywall.
This is in contrast to Fairfax and News Ltd, which dominate the Australian media landscape and are increasingly asking readers to pay for digital content.
“Australians are looking for an alternative that is truly independent, both global and local, which offers serious reporting and lively commentary,” Australian editor-in-chief Katharine Viner said. “Starting today, we’ll be reporting and blogging, providing commentary, debate and community interaction, as well as using cutting edge data visualization and interactive technology to engage readers in new ways.”
The Guardian says 1.1 million Australians regularly view the newspaper’s global Web site, making it the fourth-biggest market of digital readers after Britain, the US and Canada.
THIRD WORLDWIDE
According to data service Comscore, the Guardian is the world’s third-most-viewed newspaper Web site, with 38.9 million readers as of December last year, behind the Daily Mail, with 50 million, and the New York Times at 48.6 million.
Viner, also the Guardian’s deputy editor, who has relocated to Sydney, has recruited a host of respected names in Australian journalism, primarily from News Limited and Fairfax, which have been making staff redundant.
Last year, Fairfax, which boasts esteemed mastheads the Sydney Morning Herald and the Age, announced the firing of 1,900 staff in a radical cost-saving move as it adapts to the digital age.
In common with media companies worldwide, both News and Fairfax are facing sliding print advertising and circulation revenues and a need to adapt their business models.
PHILANTHROPIST
Guardian Australia is backed by Internet entrepreneur and philanthropist Graeme Wood, who launched the travel Web site wotif.com and is also the investor behind the not-for-profit Australian online news Web site the Global Mail.
The scale of his investment has not been revealed.
Stephen Garrett, a 27-year-old graduate student, always thought he would study in China, but first the country’s restrictive COVID-19 policies made it nearly impossible and now he has other concerns. The cost is one deterrent, but Garrett is more worried about restrictions on academic freedom and the personal risk of being stranded in China. He is not alone. Only about 700 American students are studying at Chinese universities, down from a peak of nearly 25,000 a decade ago, while there are nearly 300,000 Chinese students at US schools. Some young Americans are discouraged from investing their time in China by what they see
MAJOR DROP: CEO Tim Cook, who is visiting Hanoi, pledged the firm was committed to Vietnam after its smartphone shipments declined 9.6% annually in the first quarter Apple Inc yesterday said it would increase spending on suppliers in Vietnam, a key production hub, as CEO Tim Cook arrived in the country for a two-day visit. The iPhone maker announced the news in a statement on its Web site, but gave no details of how much it would spend or where the money would go. Cook is expected to meet programmers, content creators and students during his visit, online newspaper VnExpress reported. The visit comes as US President Joe Biden’s administration seeks to ramp up Vietnam’s role in the global tech supply chain to reduce the US’ dependence on China. Images on
New apartments in Taiwan’s major cities are getting smaller, while old apartments are increasingly occupied by older people, many of whom live alone, government data showed. The phenomenon has to do with sharpening unaffordable property prices and an aging population, property brokers said. Apartments with one bedroom that are two years old or older have gained a noticeable presence in the nation’s six special municipalities as well as Hsinchu county and city in the past five years, Evertrust Rehouse Co (永慶房產集團) found, citing data from the government’s real-price transaction platform. In Taipei, apartments with one bedroom accounted for 19 percent of deals last
US CONSCULTANT: The US Department of Commerce’s Ursula Burns is a rarely seen US government consultant to be put forward to sit on the board, nominated as an independent director Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, yesterday nominated 10 candidates for its new board of directors, including Ursula Burns from the US Department of Commerce. It is rare that TSMC has nominated a US government consultant to sit on its board. Burns was nominated as one of seven independent directors. She is vice chair of the department’s Advisory Council on Supply Chain Competitiveness. Burns is to stand for election at TSMC’s annual shareholders’ meeting on June 4 along with the rest of the candidates. TSMC chairman Mark Liu (劉德音) was not on the list after in December last