Initium Media

Initium Media (Chinese: 端傳媒; Sidney Lau: Duen1Chuen4Mooi4) is a Hong Kong-based digital media outlet launched in August, 2015. It mainly provides in-depths news, opinions and lifestyle content to Chinese-speaking readers worldwide with the aim of staking out neutral terrain among Chinese readers in Hong Kong, Taiwan, mainland China, and abroad.[1]

Initium Media
IndustryNews
Founded3 August 2015
HeadquartersUnit 1001, Prosperity Millennia Plaza, 663 King's Road, Hong Kong
Key people
Jing Wu （Chief Executive Editor）
ProductsWebsite
iOS & Android Applications
Websitetheinitium.com

Initium Media has explained that its naming concept was sourced from a passage from the writings of Mencius (Chinese: 孟子; Sidney Lau: Maang6Ji2) in which the word "端" (Sidney Lau: Duen1) ("beginning", or "initium" in Latin) is significant: “The sense of concern for others is the starting point of humaneness. The feeling of shame and disgust is the starting point of fairness. The sense of humility and deference is the starting point of Propriety and the sense of right and wrong is the starting point of Wisdom.” [2][3]

By 2019, it was receiving 33,000 paid members of the company's online subscription for the in-depth articles which was started on July 2017.[4] It has users from more than 200 different countries and territories, the vast majority being in Hong Kong and Taiwan, with the rest coming from the U.S., Japan and elsewhere.[4]

Initium Media currently has 10 channels, which are Daily News, Opinions, International News, Hong Kong News, China News, Taiwan News, Culture, City, Parenting and Photos.

Ownership and editorial team

Initium Media’s major shareholder is Will Cai, a Stanford-trained lawyer operating the company as a sideline to his duties at Skadden Arps, an investment he considered "better than buying a sports car."[5][6]

Initium Media has a global editorial and development team of nearly 40 people in Hong Kong and Taiwan who are producing daily news reports, analysis, infographics, investigative stories and video pieces from around the world.

Its Chief Executive Editor is Zhang Jieping, who previously worked for Yazhou Zhoukan, a Chinese political magazine, iSun Affairs Magazine, a current affairs publication, and City Magazine, a lifestyle magazine.[7]

April 2018，Taiwan Senior media professional Lee Chih-Te took over the Chief Executive Editor of The Initium[8], and left in 2020.

Jing Wu is the present Chief Executive Editor in The Initium. [9]

Coverage

Since its launch, Initium Media has been criticized both for being too antagonistic of the Chinese Communist Party and too supportive. Apple Daily, a Hong Kong newspaper owned by Jimmy Lai and critical of China's Communist Party rulers, accused Cai of having secret ties to mainland backers and Communist Party general secretary Xi Jinping.[10]

In fact, some media observers tend to agree that the independency of The Initium has been proved by those in-depth reports in these days. 'the in-depth reports and editorials about the Tianjin explosion, Bangkok terrorist attack and the chaos in MongKok have already obtained the initial acceptance and reputation in the great china area,' a commentator said on April 2016. [11]

2020 raid

On 10 August 2020, the Hong Kong offices of Apple Daily were searched by over 200 national security officers in a large-scale police raid, following Lai's arrest for alleged violations of the recently implemented national security law.[12]

Journalists interviewed 7 reporters from AppleDaily that night and concluded up an article for restoring the experiences and thoughts of the reporters that day when they saw the company was searched by great number of polices and alleging violations of the national security law. [13]

Tianjin explosion

On August 12, 2015, a series of major explosions swept across the Binhai New Area, a busy port just 40 kilometres east of the northern Chinese city of Tianjin. The explosions occurred less than one kilometre from several high-density residential areas, and damage extended as far as two kilometres from the blast site.

Initium Media was one of the very few Hong Kong media that dispatched journalists to the scene, where toxic chemicals stored in a warehouse had erupted in a fireball that spewed debris and poisons over nearby apartments. The reporters slipped past security cordons to write about the disaster that claimed more than 150 lives and then reported on the connections of the warehouse owner.[5] Initium Media also released an investigative report to trace the individuals behind this tragedy.[14]

Application development

Initium Media has an in-house data journalist team. One of its works is the Legco matrix project, through which they analyze over 200,000 voting records of Hong Kong legislative council and visualize the recent movement and voting trends of lawmakers.[15]

It also dedicated a project in anticipation of the 2016 LegCo election.[16]

Funding

On December 2, 2015, Initium Media received a preferred share financing led by WI Harper Group, a leading global venture capital firm.[17]

On April 6, 2017, the company announced it would be restructuring due to cash flow difficulties and staff would be laid off.[18]

On July 2017, Initium Media kicked off a subscription model to charge readers for in-depth contents. The subscription divided into two memberships which are the normal membership and the premium one.[19]

References
  1. Speelman, Tabitha. "Initium's Ambition: A Digital Magazine for All Chinese". Retrieved Aug 16, 2020.
  2. Muller, A Charles (2 December 2014). "Mencius (Selections)". Retrieved 6 April 2017.
  3. 漩渦裏的人，有責任說出漩渦的樣子
  5. Oster, Shai (27 April 2016). "China's Media Startups Fight Censorship Crackdown". Bloomberg. Retrieved 6 April 2017.
  6. "[獨家專訪]端傳媒神秘金主 蔡華曝光". AM730 香港免費派發的報紙 (Online Edition of am730). Retrieved Aug 16, 2020.
  7. "New Hong Kong media startup attempts to capture Chinese global market - World News Publishing Focus by WAN-IFRA". blog.wan-ifra.org. Retrieved Aug 16, 2020.
  8. "【訂閱新趨勢】靠收費絕境翻身 端傳媒總編：深度分析鮮被抄稿". Apple Daily 蘋果日報. Retrieved Aug 16, 2020.
  10. "【短片】【端傳媒起底】大股東蔡華與習近平千絲萬縷". Apple Daily 蘋果日報. Retrieved Aug 16, 2020.
  11. Why money still flows to HK's sunset media industry
  12. Ramzy, Austin; May, Tiffany (9 August 2020). "Hong Kong Arrests Jimmy Lai, Media Mogul, Under National Security Law". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 12 August 2020.
  14. 起底瑞海國際：幕後操盤手在香港持有同名公司
  15. 20萬條投票紀錄帶你解碼香港立法會
  16. "立法會GPS". theinitium.com. Retrieved Aug 16, 2020.
  17. 端傳媒獲得台灣美商中經合集團領投優先股投資
  18. Tong, Elson (6 April 2017). "Digital Hong Kong news outlet Initium Media to lay off 'substantial' no. of staff amid funding fears". Hong Kong Free Press. Retrieved 6 April 2017.
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