China’s earthquake online after shock: Sina goes English
Written on May 19, 2008 – 3:56 pm
Ernst-Jan Pfauth, editor in chief
China’s most popular news and sports site Sina has launched an English version to provide international readers with the latest on the earthquake that took 32.000 lives and made millions of people homeless. Sina president and CEO Charles Chao told AFP: “We have chosen to launch our English news site now as we would like to provide up-to-minute coverage of the earthquake for overseas people who are concerned about the tragedy”. Quite a digital after shock, if you’d ask me. But just a nasty little thought here, is it really an aftershock? Or does a media hype, how terrible it may be, comes in handy for China’s leading portal?
Chao: “Over the longer term, we intend to make this site a window for international communities to have an easy access to China-related information and to have better understanding about modern China.” Right, there it is. Sina is just an ordinary media giant with a healthy ambition: to conquer the world. Revenues are expected to grow with 30 percent over the next few years, thanks to the Olympics, so Chao and his executives probably aren’t afraid of investing some capital in international expansion.
You don’t here me complain though. I’m sure there are some Sina editors that genuinely want to tell the world how their fellow citizens are suffering. Yet I just don’t buy the noble words by Chao.
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