Yazhou Zhoukan

Yazhou Zhoukan , literally as "Asia Weekly", is the only international newsweekly which has been published for over 15 years. It has a broad content which includes both economic and international news.

Background

''Yazhou Zhoukan'' has been publishing since 1987. It was originally the Chinese version of Asiaweek, but it is owned by Ming Pao Group . It has been and is now the world's only international Chinese newsweekly. It analyses and reports international current issues based on Chinese people's values and perspectives. It covers both Asian news, international news and international business news.

Highly Educated Asian Readers

''Yazhou Zhoukan'' reports news happened in the political, economic and cultural fields around the world. The readers of ''Yazhou Zhoukan'' are mainly Asians in Hong Kong, Singapore, Mainland China, Malaysia, and Taiwan. According to its research, most of its readers come from the middle class who are highly-educated and receive relatively high incomes. More than 75% are working in the managerial and financial areas.

Famous and Prestigious

In 2002, ''Yazhou Zhoukan'' was elected the most popular Chinese magazine among Asian financiers and executives. ''Yazhou Zhoukan'' also holds the "Young Chinese Entrepreneur Award" annually. Its aim is to encourage young entrepreneurs to excel in their fields in order to create a good prospect for the Asian economic climate.

The winners of the award are chosen among young Chinese entrepreneurs below 40 years old and only one winner is selected from each of the following five important Asian areas: China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore and Malaysia. The winners of the 2002 Young Chinese Entrepreneur Award are mainly CEOs or Group Managing Directors of the companies with prestigious status and the names are shown as follows:

*Mr James Ding from AsiaInfo Technologies , Inc.
*Mr Wong Wai Kay, Ricky from Qian Hu Corporation Limited
*Mr Albert Liu from TimeCom Holdings Sdn. Bhd.
*Mr Kenny Yap from Gamania Digital Entertainment Co.,Ltd.
*Mr Tan Choon Boon, Alan from CityTelecom Ltd.

''Yazhou Zhoukan'' has also received several awards from various organizations. In March 2003, its photographer Kwong Wing-keung has won the ''Focus at the Frontline 2002'' organized by the Hong Kong Press Photographers Association in the Photo Essay Category for his work "Afghan- being neglected because of her peace". Three months later, the story "Exclusive Report: Liu Xiaoqing, the Movie Star of the Mainland China, was Imprisoned" has won the ''2003 SOPA'' ''Editorial Excellence Award'' for "Excellence in Reporting" in the Chinese Language Category.

Typhoon Club

Typhoon Club is a monthly children's magazine published by Cyclone Publishing Ltd in Hong Kong. It was launched in 2002 and is designed to encourage local children to enjoy their reading of English. Its target readership age is from 9 - 13. Much of the content is localised to Hong Kong and features include vocabulary boxes which contain Chinese translations of the more difficult or unusual words used in the text. ''Typhoon Club'' is used widely within classrooms in Hong Kong as an alternative teaching tool. ''Typhoon Club'' will be launched in Malaysia in 2007.

In addition to the magazine, regular events for the readers are also organised. These have included the 18 month English reading project, Reading & Me with HSBC. Launched by then former Chairman of The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation, Mr David Eldon, 10 children's stories were especially written for the project which were then read by senior HSBC executives within one of the bank's Hong Kong branches. In addition to David Eldon, other readers included HSBC's current chairman, Mr Vincent Cheng and CEO Mr Michael Smith. CNBC made a short, vignette programme about the project which was enjoyed by over 3,500 students.

In 2005, ''Typhoon Club'' launched its own Writing School where students are taught how to write their own magazine.
''Typhoon Club'' has a sister magazine, ''Hi Charlie'', for younger readers which features the adventures of Charlie and his pet crocodile in Hong Kong.

Sudden Weekly

Sudden Weekly is a magazine in Hong Kong published by Jimmy Lai's Next Media Limited.

Scoops

Lam Woon-kwong incident

Issue 493 of the magazine carried a story that included photographs of Director of the Chief Executive's Office Lam Woon-kwong with a woman outside a hotel in Tokyo and an interview with his wife of nearly 30 years. Lam resigned on the same evening, citing "in view of the media report on my private affairs, I tendered my resignation to the chief executive today".

Prestige Hong Kong

Prestige Hong Kong is a monthly luxury lifestyle and society magazine, published by 3cm Media Limited under license from CR Media Pte Ltd., Singapore. The magazine, launched in September 2005, provides extensive coverage of social events and issues, luxury lifestyle trends covering fashion, food, art, travel, interior design, collectibles and property, among others.

In its short history, the publication has reached a circulation of 30,000 copies with distribution in Hong Kong and Macau. It also publishes a luxury watch brand annual, ''Tic Talk'', the luxury lifestyle annual ''Prestige Lifestyle Hong Kong'', and the twice-annual ''Prestige Travel''.

History

The first ''Prestige'' was launched in Singapore in September 2000. Editions followed in Malaysia and Indonesia. ''Prestige Hong Kong'' and ''Prestige Thailand'' launched in September 2005. ''Prestige Hong Kong'' was launched as Hong Kong's first luxury lifestyle and society magazine.

''Prestige Hong Kong'' was founded by entrepreneur Brian Chow, associate publisher and creative director Gordon Lam, and associate publisher and managing director Anne Lim-Chaplain.

In September 2007 the magazine celebrated its second anniversary with its largest edition to date of 616 pages with actress gracing its cover. The follow-up October 2007 edition featured rising star Milo Ventimiglia; international fashion icon Karl Lagerfeld graced the March 2008 cover, while legendary fashion designer Donna Karan is featured in the June issue.

Past covers:

2005

September - Actress Michelle Yeoh

October - Singer/model Victoria Beckham

November - Jewellery designer Jade Jagger

December - Model/Actress Elizabeth Hurley


2006

January - Model Eva Herzigova

February - Actor Ken Watanabe

March - Actress Juliette Lewis

April - Actress Bailing

May - Model Heidi Klum

June - Actress/Singer/Model Paris Hilton

July - Model Yasmin Le Bon

August - Model Helena Christensen

September - Actress Yunjin Kim

October - Actress Mischa Barton

November - Model Tatjana Patitz

December - Singer/Actress Beyonce Knowles


2007

January - Actress Eva Mendes

February - Actor Hugh Jackman

March - Actress Rachel Weisz

April - Music producer Pharrell Williams

May - Model Naomi Campbell

June - Actress Ziyi Zhang

July - Model Cindy Crawford

August - Actress Claire Danes

September - Actress Heather Graham

October - Actor Milo Ventimiglia

November - Actress Nicollette Sheridan

December - Performer Dita Von Teese


2008

January - Singer/Actress Janet Jackson

February - Model Du Juan

March - Fashion designer Karl Lagerfeld

April - Fashion designer Tom Ford

May - Actress Chlo? Sevigny

June - Fashion designer Donna Karan

Masthead

? Brian Chow - Publisher

? Gordon Lam - Associate Publisher & Creative Director

? Anne Lim-Chaplain - Associate Publisher & Managing Director

? Peter Comparelli - Editor-in-Chief

? Stephen Short - Deputy Editor

? Glen Watson - Features Editor

? Vivienne Tang - Fashion Editor

? Marie Lebailly - Associate Fashion Editor

? Jon Wall - Travel Editor

? Nick Goodyer - Lifestyle Editor

? Paul Ehrlich - Special Projects Editor

? Stephen Reels - Copy Editor

? Rachel Plecas - Contributing Editor

? Mathew Scott - Contributing Editor

? Victoria Wachtel Galbraith - LA Correspondent

? Paris Libby - Fashion Editor-at-Large

? Darren Long - Group Art Director

? Locky Lai - Art Director

? Dawn Chuck - Assistant Art Director

? Joan Arroyo - Photo Editor

? Laurent Segrétier - Photographer

? Robin Barbier - Production Manager

? Sebrina Mak - General Manager, Sales

? Shalin Lam - Advertising Director

? Bonnie Tseng - Senior Sales Manager

? Astor Chan - Client Services Manager

? Horace Chan - Circulation Manager

Next Magazine

Next Magazine is a Chinese weekly magazine, published in Hong Kong and with different versions. Owned by Jimmy Lai , it is one of the most controversial magazines in both regions.

General

Having been found on March 15, 1990, Next Magazine is now one of the more popular tabloid magazines in Hong Kong. It is currently published every Thursday and costs HK$20. Next Magazine covers current affairs, political, economic, social and business issues, and entertainment news. It consists of two parts, the first focuses on news and commentary, while the second features entertainment and lifestyle information. Its motto is "Don't Put on Airs: Just Seek the Truth" .

Next Magazine Taiwan branch was established in 2001 and its first issue was published on May 31 2001. With strong TV advertisement and sensation, the first issue's 275,000 prints were sold out within only several hours. Although with the same structure, Taiwanese Next Magazine is edited by local staffs and its contents are different from Hong Kong Next Magazine. It is also published every Thursday and costs 75.

Structure of the magazine

The editorial staff at Next Magazine are split into 5 sections : News, Business, Features & Technology, Entertainment & Lifestyle and Social Pages.

Audience

Next Magazine is popular among the middle-classes in Hong Kong. The 2002 March ACNielsen Hong Kong: Media Index RARD Report showed that 51% of its readers were aged 35 or above, 69% of them had completed secondary or higher education and 62% of them had monthly household incomes of HK$20,000 or more.

Readership

In 1991, the magazine became the most popular magazine in Hong Kong with the highest pass-along readership. Its circulation was 75,000 and readership was 315,000. By 1995, its audited circulation had more than doubled to 162,521 and readership had jumped to 1.06 million. The number of pages in the magazine had also doubled, mainly due to an increase in advertising. The average circulation during the period of 1 April to 30 June 2003 was 161,919. According to the March 2003 ACNielsen RARD Report, Next Magazine had the second highest readership among weekly magazines in Hong Kong after Sudden Weekly, its sister entertainment news magazine under the same company.

Style and political position

The magazine is known for its aggressive and flamboyant reporting styles. Their gossip-cooking stories and paparazzi pictures have often been criticised by celebrities. This style has led the magazine to being involved in many court cases and its stories have given rise to many controversies. At times, their "reports" are embroidered in such a manner that readers merely regard them as semi-fabricated stories containing the names of well-known personalities rather than serious pieces of jouranlistic writing. Though the magazine has a large circulation, its credibility rating is low.

The magazine's political position is libertarian in that it supports minimum government control on economic matters. It is also known for its anti-government position.

Significant controversies

Although Next Magazine has a relatively large market, it has often been criticized. Complaints about the magazine can be categorized into two types:

* Since the Control of Obscene and Indecent Articles Ordinance was enacted in Hong Kong in 1994, Next Magazine has violated the law about 17 times and has received fines in the range $5000 -$14000 . The Taiwan version of Next Magazine has also violated the law 4 times. The public complained that the Magazine posted the death portrait of Hong Kong actress Chan Po Lin, Pauline upon her death in Aug, 2002. The Magazine was fined HK$5000 in respect of publication .

* Next Magazine has been involved in several libel cases; the most significant case being a report in which it was claimed that there was a loss of $70,000,000 by Project Hope, a charitable organization in China, in Jan,1994. The Magazine lost the case in 2000, and was fined $3,500,000 .

Online version

There is an online version available for subscription from Hong Kong, Taiwan and overseas readers. atnext.com is a web site that contains news, entertainment and information. It also provides an environment for companies to advertise. atnefdfdsxt.com is represented by Pixel Media Hong Kong Limited. Its innovative ads help many companies explore new markets and maintain existing markets.

In November 1999, when the Hong Kong online version of Next Magazine was first launched, people could read the Magazine free of charge on the internet, but a subscription fee is now charged. Hong Kong subscribers, by paying HK$388 a year, can browse the websites of Next Magazine, Apple Daily, Easy Finder, Sudden Weekly and Eat & Travel Weekly. Overseas subscribers can browse the websites by paying HK$498 per year. The website on Horse racing has to be subscribed to separately .

Next Media Network

Besides Next Magazine, Next Media Limited also owns one newspaper and several magazines: the Apple Daily , Easy Finder , Sudden Weekly and Eat & Travel Weekly . All of which are printed by Database Gateway Limited since October, 2001.

Following the success of Next Magazine and Apple Daily in Hong Kong, the Taiwan branch of Next Media Publishing Limited, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Next Media Limited, was set up in Taiwan on 31 May 2001. The emergence of Taiwan Apple Daily and Next Magazine introduced a completely different way of reporting in Taiwan. Next Media Network has confidence in being in the top three in the newspaper sector in Taiwan by using a new reporting style and its high quality of publication.

Next Media Network is a great success in Hong Kong. Between 31/3/2002 and 31/3/2003, its total sales and net profit are about $2,150,100,000 and $367,600,000 respectively. Comparing to 2002, the total sales has increased by 91.8% while the net profit has increased by 1284.4%. For Next Magazine only, it just took 3 years to move to making a profit.

Major competitor

''East Week'' has been the major competitor of ''Next Magazine'' for more than 10 years. ''East Week'' was first published by the Oriental Group in 1992, 2 years after ''Next Magazine''. ''East Magazine'' largely resembles ''Next Magazine'' in terms of reporting styles and coverage the logo of ''East Week'' is also similar to that of ''Next Magazine''. ''East Magazine'' does not have a significant effect on sales of ''Next Magazine'. It is now owned by Global China Group Holdings Limited and transfer of staff between the two magazines is common.

Awards

Besides its large readership, Next Magazine also won a lot of awards.

* 1994 HKDA Design 94 Show - Book Design Silver Award & Editorial Design Merit Awards
* 1995 Hong Kong News Awards - The Best Magazine Reporting Award
* Hong Kong Institiute of Professional Photographers Awards - Kodak Award in Editorial Category, Bronze Award in Editorial Category, Merit Award in Editorial Category & Kodak Award in Publishing Category
* 1996 HKDA Design 96 Show - Editorial Design Merit Award
* Hong Kong Institute of Professional Photographers Awards - Kodak Award in Stories Category
* 1997 "Focus 97" - Champion in Photo Essay Category & 1st Runner-up in Feature Category
* 1998 Human Rights Press Awards - Special Merit Awards
* 1999 "Focus at the Frontline 99" - 1st Runner-up in the Spot News Category

Major court cases involved

* Next Magazine Publishing Ltd & Anor v Ma Ching Fat 1 HKC 579
* Morinda International Hong Kong Ltd v Next Magazine Publishing Ltd & Ors 1 HKC 492
* Oriental Press Group Ltd & Anor v Next Magazine Publishing Ltd & Ltd 3 HKC 159
* Next Magazine Publishing Ltd & Ors v Oriental Daily Publisher Ltd 2 HKC 557
* China Youth Development Ltd v Next Magazine Publishing Ltd & Ors
* Hong Kong Polytechnic University v Next Magazine 2 HKLR 260

Articles

* How does Next Magazine affect the press and the publishing market in Taiwan:http://www.bnext.com.tw/mag/2001_05/2001_05_1490.html
* The contributions of Next Magazine: http://capm.giga-tv.com/larry/article/231816792
* Article related to the launching of Next Magazine in Taiwan: http://com.giga-tv.com/sooner/article/42581866 , http://taipeitimes.com/News/biz/archives/2001/05/31/88099
* Commentary written on the publishing of Next Magazine in Taiwan: http://www.npf.org.tw/PUBLICATION/EC/090/EC-C-090-136.htm
* The effect of Next Magazine on Taiwan press http://atj.yam.org.tw/mw2239.htm

Muse (Hong Kong Magazine)

Muse'' Magazine is a monthly publication on Hong Kong's art and cultural scene.

As of March 2008, the magazine has 1,000 paid subscriptions and several hundred copies sold on newsstands.

History

Launched in February 2007, ''Muse'' models itself after ''The New Yorker''. Although ''Muse'' is primarily an English magazine, Chinese elements are also included.

In the March 2008 issue, the magazine has exclusively published Eileen Chang's English short story, ''The Spyring'', which her Chinese story ''Lust, Caution'', and subsequently the were based on.

In the July 2008 issue, the famous Chinese-American novelist Amy Tan was invited to a tour of the Wan Chai district.

Content

The content of each issue typically includes feature stories, profile, fiction, Muse tour and reviews on concerts, cinema, books, theater etc.

Contributors

''Muse'' has been running articles and columns of writers like Lung Ying-tai , Xu Xi, Lam Joi-Shan and .

Sponsorship

''Muse'' has sponsored different arts and cultural events in Hong Kong. For example, the Hong Kong Arts Festival and Hong Kong International Film Festival.

Maxim (magazine)

Maxim is an international based in the United Kingdom and known for its revealing pictorials featuring popular actresses, singers, and female , none of which are nudes.

In the United States, ''Maxim'' is an industry leader, reporting a circulation of 2.5 million readers which they claim is enough to outsell leading competitors ''GQ'', '''', and '''' combined. The magazine is now using the brand name to market myriad other magazines and projects.

Expansion

Due to its success in its primary markets, ''Maxim'' has expanded into many other countries, including Argentina, Canada, India, Indonesia, Israel, Belgium, Romania, the Czech Republic, France , Germany, Bulgaria, Brazil, Greece, Italy, Korea, Mexico, Netherlands, Poland, Russia , Serbia, the Philippines, Singapore, Spain, Thailand, Ukraine, and Portugal . A wireless version of the magazine was launched in 2005 across cellular carriers in twenty European and Asian countries.

In 1999, was created. It contains content not included in the print version and focuses on the same general topics, along with exclusive sections such as the "Girls of ''Maxim''" galleries and the "Joke of the Day". "Maxim Video" contains video clips of interviews, music videos, photo shoots, and original content. The success of this website inspired Dennis Digital to create sites for its sister publications, such as ''''.

In January 2002, ''Dennis Publishing'' established an online and retail video division, Dennis Media Group. In 2005 this division was disbanded and restructured to focus on creating video and multimedia content for the editorial branch of Dennis Digital.

On February 5, 2005, ''Maxim'' launched their own radio channel, Maxim Radio, on Sirius Satellite Radio.

On June 5, 2006, the magazine announced plans to build a casino on the Las Vegas Strip north of , but the casino plan failed after local condominium owners complained that the proposed casino would ruin their view. The land was sold to MGM Mirage.

On June 15, 2007, private equity firm Quadrangle Group, along with long-time media executive Kent Brownridge, announced the acquisition of the parent company of Maxim, Blender, and , although Maxim will continued to be published by ''Dennis Publishing'' in the UK.

Maxim is now published under Alpha Media Group.

Criticism

''Maxim'' was protested by the gender issues department of Thunder Bay, Ontario's Lakehead University during an on-campus "''Maxim'' Coors Light Girl Search".

In 2002, the popular German football club FC St. Pauli removed Maxim magazine advertisements from the team's stadium in response to fan protests over the alleged sexist depictions of women in the ads .

In 2003, after receiving phone and email complaints from a "well-organized writing campaign", ''Maxim'' issued an apology for a cartoon depicting Mahatma Gandhi being beaten, kicked and bloodied. The apology did use the word "sorry" but was more of a defence than an apology, discussing that they had chosen Gandhi not because he was Indian or "of color", but because picking him as a target of aggression was ''"ironic and akin to picking Ted Kennedy to be your designated driver"''.

''Maxim'' was criticized by ''Sports Illustrated'' model Veronica Va?eková for using her photo, without permission, on a cover. "I’m sure many men will say, ‘what is she talking about,’ but I don’t like , personally,” Varekova said, "I don’t want to trash it, but I don’t want to be a part of it either." ''Maxim'' maintains they obtained rights to the photograph.

In January 2006, Southern Indian actress Kushboo Sundar filed a complaint with local police against the magazine for using and doctoring her image without her permission in the Indian edition of the magazine. Her picture was used as part of a running "Women You Will Never See in ''Maxim''" series featuring doctored photos of prominent celebrities.

In June 2007, Maxim began photoshoots of female Israeli models who serve in the Israeli army. The campaign drew an angry reaction from lawmaker Colette Avital, a former diplomat who served as Israel's consul-general in New York City in the 1990s.

In February 2008, Maxim was critcized by the rock band The Black Crowes for a review of their upcoming CD, , with the band claiming that the magazine reviewed the album without hearing it. According to Black Crowes manager Pete Angelus, the magazine stated in an email that "Of course, we always prefer to hearing music, but sometimes there are big albums that we don’t want to ignore that aren’t available to hear, which is what happened with the Crowes. It’s either an educated guess preview or no coverage at all, so in this case we chose the former." The magazine's editorial director James Kaminsky later apologized, stating "It is Maxim's editorial policy to assign star ratings only to those albums that have been heard in their entirety. Unfortunately, that policy was not followed in the March 2008 issue of our magazine and we apologize to our readers."Facing more criticism over rating albums without listening to them, Maxim magazine maintains it was previewing CDs in its March 2008 issue, not reviewing them, and the mistake was to include star ratings.

Celebrities

''For a full listing, please see: List of people in Maxim magazine 1997 to 2008''

Many celebrities have posed for ''Maxim'' over the years. Examples include:

Film:
*Tara Reid
*Rebecca Romijn
*Brittany Murphy
*Lucy Liu
*Jennifer Love Hewitt
*Shannon Elizabeth
*Jessica Alba
*Kristen Bell
*Sophia Bush
*Mary Elizabeth Winstead
*Lacey Chabert
*Rose McGowan
*Megan Fox
*Sarah Michelle Gellar
*Elisha Cuthbert


Music:
*Jessica Simpson
*Shania Twain
*Christina Aguilera
*Michelle Branch
*Hilary Duff
*Avril Lavigne
*Jasmin Wagner
*Hadise



Sports:

*Anna Kournikova



Television:
*Carmen Electra
*Christina Applegate
*
*Laura Prepon
*Jamie-Lynn Sigler
*Eva Longoria
*Vanessa Minnillo
*Roselyn Sanchez
*Heidi Montag