Alibaba buys the South China Morning Post

[SeijiSensei]

Alibaba Buying South China Morning Post, Aiming to Influence Media

Chinese commerce giant Alibaba announced it is purchasing the Hong Kong-based SCMP to "to improve China’s image and offer an alternative to the biased lens of Western news media outlets." Is there any reason to believe it won't just become a propaganda arm for the Chinese government?

As speculation of a deal began swirling in recent weeks, some critics in Hong Kong had already started to worry about whether Alibaba was seeking to tame the paper’s coverage in order to curry favor with the Chinese leadership.

The newspaper, which is not subject to China’s strict censorship rules, has long jumped into controversial issues on the mainland like the anniversary of 1989 pro-democracy protests in the Tiananmen Square and last year’s Occupy Central movement in Hong Kong. The newspaper has delved into scandals among China’s elite, including Ling Jihua, who served as an aide to the former Chinese president Hu Jintao.

Willy Lam, a political commentator and former editor at the South China Morning Post, said an Alibaba takeover would likely exacerbate a trend at the paper toward self-censorship on sensitive political issues.

[SaintessHeart]

Originally Posted by SeijiSensei

Alibaba Buying South China Morning Post, Aiming to Influence Media

Chinese commerce giant Alibaba announced it is purchasing the Hong Kong-based SCMP to "to improve China’s image and offer an alternative to the biased lens of Western news media outlets." Is there any reason to believe it won't just become a propaganda arm for the Chinese government?

Well if it wants to bomb its own subscription base, then by all means......

Though I think it is more the curtail the outside world's view of HK 's "oppression".