ABSTRACT
Thirty media startups were interviewed. All have mixed business models, but their characteristics vary. Taiwan’s The News Lens, Indonesia’s IDN Media, Cambodia’s Sabay and Khmerload have grown on investor funding. Taiwan’s The Reporter, Hong Kong Free Press, Hong Kong Citizen News and Thailand’s Isra News Agency rely on crowdfunding and/or donations. Malaysiakini, The Malaysian Insight, Hong Kong’s The Initium, Thailand’s The Standard, Singapore’s TheSmartLocal, Tokyo-based The Diplomat and Cambodia’s DAP News survive on subscriptions and/or advertising. Malaysia’s Cilisos and China’s Ciwei Gongshe run on native advertising and sponsored content, regionwide Coconuts on licensing and production. New Naratif, also regionwide, and Frontier Myanmar are membership-driven. The Philippines’s VERA Files is funded by international donors, while Splice Media and Indonesia’s Magdalene, Katadata and Lokadata rely on consultancy and contract work. China’s Chaping does e-commerce and News Lab takes fees for online courses. The Philippines’ Bulatlat is supported by journalists. The outlets cover news, investigative journalism, niche interests, entertainment, business, tech and more for audiences that range from local to international. Three have been bought out – Lokadata and Thailand’s Blognone and Bioscope – and two have gone under – China’s Qdaily after official pressure and Bioscope of Thailand, which didn’t make it from print to digital.
