Free newspapers are a common feature in Hong Kong – as soon as I debark from the ferry, I bump into middle-aged women handing out the Standard (English), Metro (Chinese), 7.30am (Chinese), The Epoch Times (English) – and since a couple of weeks also China Daily’s Asia Weekly.
I was surprised to read that China Daily is aiming to become an Asia-wide publication. It’s a 24-page tabloid that is supposed to be distributed as an insert in regional papers, starting with The Nation in Bangkok.
According to the launch story, similar arrangements are planned with The Star in Malaysia, Indonesia’s Jakarta Post, Singapore’s Straits Times, India’s Statesman, the Korean Herald and Japan’s Daily Yomiuri. The paper hopes to reach a circulation of 120,000 copies a week by the middle of this year.
Today’s edition offers such delights as ‘It’s a dog’s life (Sad tales of animals in Japan disaster)’ and the front page tells us that ‘from an economic perspective rich nations are much better placed to cope with a natural disaster’. Hm, not sure if this is going to become a regular read of mine. I do prefer the Wall Street Journal Asia if I am honest!
Time to listen to some good music: here is ‘Yesterday’s paper‘ by the Rolling Stones.
