Financial newspaper Hong Kong Economic Journal will finally launch its online version tomorrow, establishing a public opinion platform for its readers around the world. The city's only major newspaper that has not had a website will unveil its HKEJ.com portal tomorrow on its 35th anniversary. The portal will include not only the newspaper's published content but is also trying to become a leading site for commentary on local issues. Media Eye visited the trial version of the website last week and discovered it includes forums or discussion boards and information such as stock quotes and real-time news from other content providers. 'In this generation, online comments are getting more important and are driving the development of news and public affairs on a daily basis,' a source said. The forum is the centre of the Journal's website, and the newspaper wants it to be an interactive platform for both net surfers and newspaper readers. So far, the forum has more than 400 registered trial users and has more than 66 pages of topics under discussion. 'The forum is the core part of the website, and we hope our credibility among journalists could help build a solid platform for discussing current affairs that include more critical views,' the source said, adding that traditional media and the government should no longer ignore the opinion of net surfers. Media watchers said public opinion had successfully driven the government to respond to issues quickly, thanks to radio commentary shows. Now internet forums are emerging as another important channel for the public to express their views, such as on the government's handling of the controversy over the nationality of undersecretaries. While the forum will be a free service, the Journal plans to charge website users HK$598 per year for unlimited access to the paper's online edition, which will be updated daily. Other information such as delayed stock quotes, real-time news, an archive of Journal editions and video clips of seminars will be provided on the website. 'We will not produce our own real-time news due to a lack of resources,' the source said. The Journal's rival, the Hong Kong Economic Times, launched its HKET.com site last year, putting all its content online. It charges local subscribers HK$699 per year and overseas subscribers HK$1,500 per year. Hutchison taps 3G advertising Hutchison Telecom Hong Kong, the city's biggest 3G mobile operator, will explore advertising opportunities on its mobile platform by launching the first mobile channel for television commercials in the near future. Chief operating officer Amy Lung Pui-ying told Media Eye the company would launch a dedicated mobile television channel to air the latest TV commercials for its 1.1 million 3G mobile users. 'We do not charge advertisers as we want to test the market response for this idea,' Ms Lung said. Hutchison Telecom's 3G mobile portal boasts more than 60 million page views. The firm has established a sales team to tap the growth potential of mobile advertising. 'We want to bring the most up-to-date trend and product information to our subscribers as they might not have spare time to watch television at home,' Ms Lung said. 'Advertisers even knocked on our door for partnership.' Ms Lung said the operator would not sell advertising airtime for its mobile TV service but she did not rule out the opportunity in the future. 'We need to initially establish the user base to convince advertisers to place budgets on our platform,' she said.
