日韩精品久久一区二区三区_亚洲色图p_亚洲综合在线最大成人_国产中出在线观看_日韩免费_亚洲综合在线一区

Comment
Newsweek bid premature move
2010-Jun-22 07:51:09

Southern Daily Group's bid for Newsweek magazine was a good try. It was a premature effort that was doomed to fail. An early rejection by Newsweek's owner Washington Post Co was not entirely unexpected.

The Chinese partners involved, including B-raymedia, which owns several metro papers, must have known this beforehand. But no one knows whether they made the move simply to generate a buzz that would have boosted their reputation.

The US news media, which is keenly tracking the fate of the 77-year-old Newsweek since it was put up for sale in early May, has paid much attention to domestic buyers, and almost no attention at all to bidders from abroad. Few would like to think of Newsweek falling into the hands of a foreigner.

Most eyes have been on three US bidders, namely hedge fund manager Thane Ritchie, buyout shop OpenGate Capital and publisher Newsmax Media.

OpenGate Capital, which bought TV Guide for $1 two years ago, announced last week that the publication is now profitable.

The conservative nature of some possible buyers, such as Newsmax, which owns right wing publications, has made many readers as well as Newsweek staff worry about the future of the liberal weekly. But some argue it might be better for the left-leaning magazine to tilt a bit towards the central right.

Whether Newsweek will be left, central, right or far right in future, the shock wave would have been nothing compared to the one if the magazine were to have been sold to an investor from the Chinese mainland.

You can be sure to expect a stronger reaction from the American public than the one in the late 1980s when the Japanese bought Rockefeller Center in New York and Columbia Pictures in Hollywood.

Despite the growing number of mergers and acquisitions by Chinese businesses in the US, buying a leading news magazine whose product has reflected American values and ideas for decades would have been a totally different story.

It would have been more of an uphill battle than the failed bid for Unocal by the China National Offshore Oil Corp (CNOOC) five years ago. The impact would also have been much larger than some pricey deals, such as Geely's $1.8 billion purchase of Ford's Volvo brand in March this year.

In editor Jon Meacham's words a month ago, Newsweek will remain a 'catcher in the rye' standing between democracy and the abyss of ignorance and despair. Newsweek is a business - an odd one, to be sure, and one with a significant sense of itself as a public trust - but it is still a business.

Money may not be that much of an issue for Chinese investors, regardless of the fact that Newsweek has posted an operating loss of more than $41 million in the last two years.

But any likely purchase of Newsweek by a Chinese firm would have immediately turned into a political issue in the US, given the two nations' vastly different ideological and political systems.

Would Newsweek, for example, have continued carrying biased or unbiased stories about China, or on other sensitive issues, stories that most Chinese news media would shy away from? That would have also been highly unlikely under the current press and publication regulatory regime in China.

Southern Daily Group, which owns some well-respected newspapers, may not have been able to escape this fate and to maintain the editorial integrity of Newsweek.

It would have also been highly unlikely for any Chinese investor to convince millions of current Newsweek readers to keep patronizing the publication.

If there is a so-called Chinese wall in the business world, the wall is then much higher in the news media sector due to the huge political, social and cultural differences between the two nations.

I am not a pessimist, but tearing down that wall will be a prolonged process and requires lots of patience. Until then, the conditions are not ripe for Chinese to endeavor to acquire major US news media.

E-mail: [email protected]

(China Daily 06/22/2010 page8)

[Jump to ]
Nation | Biz | Comment | World | Celebrity | Odds | Sports | Travel | Health
ChinaDaily Mobile News
m.chinadaily.com.cn
To subscribe to China Daily, call 010-64918763 or email to [email protected]
主站蜘蛛池模板: 天天摸日日碰天天看免费 | 国产免费久久 | 日本一本久草 | 青青草视频免费观看 | 国产成人黄网址在线视频 | 国产日本欧美在线观看 | 亚洲国产一区二区三区四区色欲 | 久久久中文字幕日本 | feise.av| 猫咪人成免费网站在线观看 | 在线视频一区二区 | 91一区二区三区 | 免费成人高清在线视频 | 午夜视频在线免费观看 | 精品一卡2卡三卡4卡免费视频 | 好爽~好硬~好紧~蜜芽 | 91精品啪在线观看国产91九色 | 亚洲在线视频观看 | 精品一区二区三区免费看 | 亚洲欧美日韩精品一区 | av在线网站观看 | 国内精品一区二区三区最新 | av毛片免费看 | 双性精h调教灌尿打屁股的文案 | 欧美精品在线一区 | 精品久久久中文字幕一区 | 欧美a∨一区二区三区久久黄 | 99久热国产精品视频尤物不卡 | 国产一区二区三区久久 | 91精品观看91久久久久久 | 青青青青久久久久国产的 | 久久久久久免费免费 | 精品久久久久久亚洲综合网 | 日本99热 | 日韩精选在线 | 欧美激烈精交gif动态图18p | 久久久久久久久久爱 | 国产成人免费永久播放视频平台 | 日韩免费视频 | 日韩午夜伦y4480私人影院 | 天天爱夜夜操 |