Built on such exposes, Caijing's circulation has reached about 80,000 and the magazine has even turned a profit, Hu said. It has also spawned imitators as other publications like Business Watch and Economic Observer try to emulate its hard-charging style.
"Caijing opened up a new sector for China's magazines," says Liu Weizhou, editor of the 21st Century Economic Herald, widely considered to be one of the nation's best newspapers. "Caijing has also influenced many newspapers by finding exclusive news."
But just how independent is Caijing? The magazine is owned by the Stock Exchange Executive Council, a state-owned entity loosely tied to the nation's stock market -- all of which means Caijing must watch its step so as not to run afoul of top government leaders or state censors when it investigates corruption inside and outside of the government.
"Caijing has a good reputation pushing the borders," says Perry Link, a professor of East Asian studies at Princeton. "But they have to be careful. They may have flexibility, but it's flexibility with a leash."
For Hu, running Caijing was both predestined and accidental. After her college placed her in the journalism school, she was disappointed and went to see her aging great-uncle, Hu Yuzhi.
She recalls: "I told him `I'm studying journalism, but I don't want to.' He said, `Oh, it's great. You should do it. After the Cultural Revolution is over, journalism will be very important again. You'll see.'"
RSS