The Power News (勁晚報) evening newspaper last Thursday surprised the nation by shutting down after two-and-a-half years of circulation. Marketing analysts say the shut-down was caused by the management's inability to establish circulation channels, but former editors of the paper claim that the founder's unfamiliarity with journalism led to the closure.
The Hsiang Shan group established the Power News evening newspaper in 1999, after it invested in the Independence Evening Post (自立晚報) but failed to win the controlling rights of the newspaper.
TAIPEI TIMES FILE PHOTO
Power News founder, Chiang Tao-sheng (江道生), promised to break even within three years, but decided to shut down the newspaper after a loss of up to NT$1.6 billion. Its managing-level editors had promised to make the paper better than rivals, the United Evening News (聯合晚報) and the China Times Express (中時晚報), with a unique editing style, colorful pages and punchy writing, but most quit before the Power News closed.
Rumors indicated that the Power News had lost NT$80 million to NT$90 million every month since it started publishing, and marketing experts said that the losses were caused by a lack of circulation channels.
"The newspaper's inability to establish its circulation channels resulted in its closure," said Chai Chung-chin (翟仲勤), a senior media buyer.
The Power News had suffered many setbacks in the establishment of its circulation channels. It alleged that its two rival newspapers, the United Evening News and the China Times Express, obstructed its process of establishing circulation channels.
According to statistics from advertising agencies, circulation of the United Evening News and the China Times Express are 250,000 each. The Power News' circulation was claimed to be 200,000, and the Independence Evening Post's circulation was about 150,000.
Chen Chi-fang (
"We tried to produce a different evening newspaper, but the idea was not accepted by the newspaper's management. Senior editors from other newspapers even commented that we were qualified enough for daily newspaper printing. It just needs time and patience," Chen said.
Chen also said that Chiang rose to fame and wealth through starting a successful kindergarten chain, but that this doesn't mean that he is a qualified media operator.
"He deeply believes that effective financial and administrative management would result in good newspaper production, but something else is more important to make a new newspaper, such as style and the establishment of a good reputation," Chen said.
The Power News is not the first paper to fold in the last six months. The Independence Evening Post was shut down at the end of last year.
RESPONSE: The transit sends a message that China’s alignment with other countries would not deter the West from defending freedom of navigation, an academic said Canadian frigate the Ville de Quebec and Australian guided-missile destroyer the Brisbane transited the Taiwan Strait yesterday morning, the first time the two nations have conducted a joint freedom of navigation operation. The Canadian and Australian militaries did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The Ministry of National Defense declined to confirm the passage, saying only that Taiwan’s armed forces had deployed surveillance and reconnaissance assets, along with warships and combat aircraft, to safeguard security across the Strait. The two vessels were observed transiting northward along the eastern side of the Taiwan Strait’s median line, with Japan being their most likely destination,
‘NOT ALONE’: A Taiwan Strait war would disrupt global trade routes, and could spark a worldwide crisis, so a powerful US presence is needed as a deterrence, a US senator said US Senator Deb Fischer on Thursday urged her colleagues in the US Congress to deepen Washington’s cooperation with Taiwan and other Indo-Pacific partners to contain the global security threat from China. Fischer and other lawmakers recently returned from an official trip to the Indo-Pacific region, where they toured US military bases in Hawaii and Guam, and visited leaders, including President William Lai (賴清德). The trip underscored the reality that the world is undergoing turmoil, and maintaining a free and open Indo-Pacific region is crucial to the security interests of the US and its partners, she said. Her visit to Taiwan demonstrated ways the
GLOBAL ISSUE: If China annexes Taiwan, ‘it will not stop its expansion there, as it only becomes stronger and has more force to expand further,’ the president said China’s military and diplomatic expansion is not a sole issue for Taiwan, but one that risks world peace, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday, adding that Taiwan would stand with the alliance of democratic countries to preserve peace through deterrence. Lai made the remark in an exclusive interview with the Chinese-language Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times). “China is strategically pushing forward to change the international order,” Lai said, adding that China established the Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank, launched the Belt and Road Initiative, and pushed for yuan internationalization, because it wants to replace the democratic rules-based international
RELEASED: Ko emerged from a courthouse before about 700 supporters, describing his year in custody as a period of ‘suffering’ and vowed to ‘not surrender’ Former Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) chairman Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) was released on NT$70 million (US$2.29 million) bail yesterday, bringing an end to his year-long incommunicado detention as he awaits trial on corruption charges. Under the conditions set by the Taipei District Court on Friday, Ko must remain at a registered address, wear a GPS-enabled ankle monitor and is prohibited from leaving the country. He is also barred from contacting codefendants or witnesses. After Ko’s wife, Peggy Chen (陳佩琪), posted bail, Ko was transported from the Taipei Detention Center to the Taipei District Court at 12:20pm, where he was fitted with the tracking
RSS