After years of providing free speech in an often news-unfriendly continent, the hot metal of Hong Kong's thundering printing presses is finally being cooled -- having defied censorship only to be defeated by recession.
The closure earlier this month of Asiaweek magazine, published in the former British colony for more than two decades, was the latest in a series of cost-cutting measures that have left the local media industry reeling.
Gloomy headlines, often written by journalists just before they collect their final paychecks, speak of mergers, reallocation and rebranding, while vanishing bylines and empty news stands tell the real story.
Asiaweek's parent, the mighty AOL Time Warner, has pledged to allow its 80-strong staff to explore "opportunities" within the company. Others have not been so lucky.
In September, the English-language iMail newspaper announced it was repackaging itself as a business-led daily, a move that allowed it to part company with a substantial number of expatriate editorial staff, including its original editor.
Its rival, the South China Morning Post, has also axed a number of senior editorial positions.
The Far Eastern Economic Review, another Hong Kong-based magazine, is also reporting hard times as its bureaux merge with those of the Asian Wall Street Journal at the behest of parent Dow Jones.
Often hailed for its inventive coverage of a rather dry news sector, observers say the Review's consolidation will not only cost jobs, but also diversity.
Jonathan Iu, a Hong Kong-based media analyst with SG Securities. said the closure of Asiaweek was inevitable, with newspapers and magazines offering one of the clearest barometers of the economic downturn.
"The economy is in not too good shape. The main source of revenue for these publications is display advertising and there has been a steep drop in the volume of revenues generated from these.
"The print media typically relies on classified advertising, which depends on the economy. During a period of normal economic growth a paper like the South China Morning Post would have 120 pages of advertising, at the moment it is around 40 to 50."
According to Iu, many publications failed to recover fully from the Asian financial collapse of 1997 and have been hit hard by the current recession.
Competition from other forms of media is also having a detrimental effect on traditional print publications, he said.
"As long as there is no visible end in terms of when the situation is going to recover then publications are more likely to consolidate or throw in the towel than keep hanging on.
"Print media circulations are stagnating with competition from TV and the Internet. The collapse of Asiaweek was always on the cards, circulation numbers have been dwindling for some time."
Market research figures paint a different picture, with studies showing Asiaweek as one of the region's most popular publications.
A poll by market researchers AMI in Singapore in September saw 41 percent of 260 leading decision makers claiming to read Asiaweek. Business Week magazine came second, attracting just 29 percent.
Another AMI study, commissioned by leading news organizations including CNN and BBC World, also showed Asiaweek scoring a high readership among "top decision makers" across Asia, proving that target market penetration is no safeguard against closure.
RSS