Award-winning weekly iSun Affairs to suspend publication
Hong Kong-based weekly iSun Affairs announced on Thursday it would stop its weekly print edition next week, bringing an end to an attempt by millionaire investor Chen Ping to establish a Chinese-language weekly magazine for China and Southeast Asia.
Hong Kong-based weekly iSun Affairs announced on Thursday it would stop its weekly print edition next week, bringing an end to an attempt by millionaire investor Chen Ping to establish a Chinese-language weekly magazine for China and Southeast Asia.
After three months, the iSun Media Group plans to restructure the publication into an "online platform" and re-launch as a monthly magazine, the company's chairman and president Chen Ping said on Thursday. He said he was looking for a new managing editor, but could not say how many journalists would stay on his company's payroll by next month.
"We need a publication that meets the requirements of the time," Chen said. "I knew several months ago that [the weekly] could not reach the level of development I wanted."
The move signals the end of an experiment that lasted only seven months. The high-profile departure of the chief executive, Chen Yizhong, and the relegation of the editor-in-chief, Chang Ping, to chief writer over the last months left observers guessing about the magazine's future.
ISun Affairs has been awarded two Society of Publishers in Asia (SOPA) awards, the Asian equivalent of the Pulitzers, and two honourable mentions last year. This year, it has been nominated for eight SOPA awards, which will be handed out next month.
Despite its critical success, the print edition has never managed to reach a target circulation of 25,000 copies per edition, said Chen.
Chen added that the end of the print edition was not related to any political pressure from Hong Kong or the mainland. He said he was currently the only investor in the media company.
He also said the move was not related to iSun's interview with Lew Mon-hung, a former long-time supporter of Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying, in which Lew alleged that Leung had lied about his handling of illegal structures at his home on The Peak.
That January edition was iSun's best-selling. Chen said he personally had alerted his staff to Lew's story that led to the interview.
Two former employees, who left the publication recently and spoke on condition of anonymity, said iSun had been struggling to break even.
One current senior employee said he had learnt only on Monday that next week would be the last for the print edition. He also said he did not know how long he could stay in his job, adding that he was confident the new monthly magazine would take off.
Chen said he wanted to restart his venture with an online platform that would allow for more interaction with readers. He also aimed to publish a monthly print edition that would integrate online debate with in-depth reports.
