Initium Media
| Industry | News |
|---|---|
| Founded | 3 August, 2015 |
| Headquarters | Unit 1907, Prosperity Millennia Plaza, 663 King's Road, Hong Kong |
Key people | Jieping Zhang（Chief Executive Editor） |
| Products |
Website iOS & Android Applications |
| Website |
theinitium |
Initium Media（Chinese: 端傳媒） is a Hong Kong–based digital media that provides news, opinions and lifestyle content to Chinese-speaking readers worldwide. It aims to stake out a neutral terrain among Chinese readers in Hong Kong, Taiwan, mainland China, and abroad, creating an inclusive virtual space for all of Greater China.[1]
Initium Media was launched in August, 2015. By April 2016, it had 2 million monthly unique visitors and over 110,000 downloads of its applications.[2]
"Initium" is a Latin word, which means "beginning", "starting point" or “source”. It is an interesting translation of its Chinese namesake "端". According to Initium Media, the concept comes from The Mencius (Chinese: 孟子) “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.” [3]
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”.
The chief executive editor of Initium Media is Ms. Jieping Zhang. Zhang previously worked for Yazhou Zhoukan, a Chinese political magazine, iSunAffairs Magazine, a current affairs magazine, and City Magazine, a lifestyle magazine.[4]
Since Initium Media launched, it has gained users from more than 200 different countries and territories. The vast majority of readers are from Hong Kong and Taiwan, with the rest coming from the U.S., Japan and elsewhere.[5]
Ownership and editorial team
Initium Media has a global editorial and development team of nearly 70 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 Ms. Jieping Zhang. Zhang previously worked for Yazhou Zhoukan, a Chinese political magazine, iSunAffairs Magazine, a current affairs publication, and City Magazine, a lifestyle magazine.[6]
Initium Media’s major shareholder is Mr. Will Cai, a Stanford-trained lawyer.[7]
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 rulers, accused Cai of having secret ties to mainland backers and Communist Party general secretary Xi Jinping.[8] Initium Media has denied the allegations and stressed that it is completely independent.
In fact, media observers tend to agree that Initium Media’s converage on all major news events since its launch has proved its indepence. One commentator wrote that Initium’s “in-depth commentaries and coverage of the Tianjin blasts, Bangkok terrorist attack and Mong Kok unrest have earned it initial recognition in the Greater China region.” [9]
Coverage
Causeway Bay Books disappearances
The Causeway Bay Books disappearances are a series of international disappearances concerning five staff members of Causeway Bay Books, located in Causeway Bay, Hong Kong. The news of the missing booksellers has dominated newspaper coverage around the world. It ignited protests in Hong Kong over freedom of expression and abduction of Hong Kong citizens by the Chinese government in Hong Kong.
Initium Media was one of the first media companies to break the news, having already written a feature on the third bookseller that went missing in November, 2015.[10] It was also one of the few media outlets to have interviewed Lee’s wife.[11]
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.[12] Initum Media also released an investigative report to trace the individuals behind this tragedy.[13]
Hong Kong LegCo Project and Data Journalism Reporting
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.[14]
It also dedicated a project in anticipation of the 2016 LegCo election.[15]
2016 Mong Kok Civil Unrest
Civil unrest occurred in Mong Kok, Hong Kong from the night of 8 February 2016 until the next morning. The incident escalated from the government's crackdown on unlicensed street hawkers during the Chinese New Year holidays. Eventual violent clashes broke out between police and protesters. Initium Media‘s reporting on this event was both comprehensive and unbiased.[16]
History
On December 2, 2015, Initium Media received a preferred share financing led by WI Harper Group, a leading global venture capital firm.[17]
On March 13, 2016, Initium Media won five awards by Hong Kong Press Photographers Association.[18]
On April 18, 2016,Initium Media won three awards in the Taiwan Press Photography Compeititon.[19]
On May 6, 2016, Initium Media received five awards in the Human Rights Press Awards 2015.[20]
References
- ↑ Initium’s Ambition: A Digital Magazine for All Chinese
- ↑ China's Media Startups Fight Censorship Crackdown
- ↑ 漩渦裏的人，有責任說出漩渦的樣子
- ↑ New Hong Kong media startup attempts to capture Chinese global market
- ↑ China's Media Startups Fight Censorship Crackdown
- ↑ New Hong Kong media startup attempts to capture Chinese global market
- ↑ [獨家專訪端傳媒神秘金主 蔡華曝光]
- ↑ 【端傳媒起底】大股東蔡華 與習近平千絲萬縷
- ↑ Why money still flows to HK’s sunset media industry
- ↑ 香港禁書書店老闆「被消失」奇案
- ↑ 專訪失蹤書商妻子：連日奔波終病倒，沒有其它辦法
- ↑ China's Media Startups Fight Censorship Crackdown
- ↑ 起底瑞海國際：幕後操盤手在香港持有同名公司
- ↑ 20萬條投票紀錄帶你解碼香港立法會
- ↑ 立法會GPS
- ↑ Hong Kong’s Mong Kok riots: Expression of popular discontent?
- ↑ 端傳媒獲得台灣美商中經合集團領投優先股投資
- ↑ 端傳媒奪得香港攝影記者協會《前線·焦點2015》五項大獎
- ↑ 台灣新聞攝影大賽 端傳媒奪三獎
- ↑ 端傳媒獲2015人權新聞獎五項大獎