The ''Asia Sentinel'' is a web-based publication focused on Asian regional news, business, arts and culture. The site was launched in August 2006. Its "About Us" page stated that "''Asia Sentinel'' was created to provide a platform for news, analysis and opinion on national and regional issues in Asia. It is independent of all governments and major media enterprises. It is open to contributions not only from journalists but from professionals in fields such as finance, diplomacy, science and the arts. It has no ideology other than a belief in the benefits of a free media. It will not publish editorials but give free rein to diverse opinions." In 2017, the publication's parent company in Hong Kong ceased operations, and assets were transferred to a new company, registered in

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

, that owns all newly written stories.

Establishment

Headquartered originally in

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a List of cities in China, city and Special administrative regions of China, special ...

, it was founded by four senior expatriate journalists with long experience in the region. The Editor in Chief, John Berthelsen, is a former correspondent with ''

The Wall Street Journal Asia ''The Wall Street Journal Asia'', a version of ''The Wall Street Journal'', was a newspaper that provided news and analysis of global business developments for an Asian audience. Formerly known as ''The Asian Wall Street Journal'', it was founde ...

'' who was also the ''

Newsweek ''Newsweek'' is an American weekly online news magazine co-owned 50 percent each by Dev Pragad, its president and CEO, and Johnathan Davis (businessman), Johnathan Davis, who has no operational role at ''Newsweek''. Founded as a weekly print m ...

'' correspondent in Vietnam and Managing Editor of ''

Hong Kong Standard ''The Standard'' is an English-language free newspaper in Hong Kong with a daily circulation of 200,450 in 2012. It was formerly called the ''Hongkong Standard'' and changed to ''HKiMail'' during the Internet boom but partially reverted to ''T ...

''. Co-founder

Philip Bowring Philip Arthur Bowring (born 22 November 1942) is an English journalist and historian who was business editor, deputy editor and editor of the Asian news magazine the '' Far Eastern Economic Review'' for 17 years between 1973 and 1992. Early life B ...

is the former editor of the ''

Far Eastern Economic Review The ''Far Eastern Economic Review'' (''FEER'') was an Asian business magazine published between 1946 and December 2009 in the English language. Based in Hong Kong, the news magazine published weekly until December 2004, when it converted to a m ...

'' and a former columnist for the ''

International Herald Tribune The ''International Herald Tribune'' (''IHT'') was a daily English-language newspaper published in Paris, France for international English-speaking readers. It had the aim of becoming "the world's first global newspaper" and could fairly be said ...

''. Executive Editor A. Lin Neumann, a veteran reporter, is the former Executive Editor of ''The Standard'' and also represented the Committee to Protect Journalists in Asia for many years. Neumann parted ways amicably with Asia Sentinel in 2012. The fourth founder, Anthony Spaeth, is a former ''

Time Asia ''Time'' (stylized in all caps) is an American news magazine based in New York City. For nearly a century, it was published weekly, but starting in March 2020 it transitioned to every other week. It was first published in New York City on Ma ...

'' regional correspondent who left ''Asia Sentinel'' shortly after its founding to go to work for Bloomberg. The editors have lived in or covered most of the countries in Asia, including

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making ...

, Malaysia, the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

, Hong Kong,

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, slig ...

, Thailand and

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Gui ...

Response to shrinking Asia coverage

The site is a response to the shrinking coverage of Asia in regional western-owned publications, notably ''

Asiaweek ''Asiaweek'' was an English-language news magazine focusing on Asia, published weekly by Asiaweek Limited, a subsidiary of Time Inc. Based in Hong Kong, it was established in 1975, and ceased publication with its 7 December 2001 issue due to a ...

'', which was shut down by Time Inc. in 2002; and the ''Far Eastern Economic Review'', which went from being a weekly news magazine to a monthly journal when Dow Jones & Co. was cutting costs in 2004. The correspondents for the site are drawn from journalists around the region and the site says it is always looking for contributors. ''Asia Sentinel'' articles also appear in the '' Asian Correspondent''.

References

{{Reflist

External links

Asia Sentinel
official site
John Berthelsen on the Future of Asia Sentinel

Why Asia Sentinel will survive
opinion piece reviewing the Asia Sentinel 2006 establishments in Hong Kong Magazines published in Hong Kong Local interest magazines Magazines established in 2006 Online magazines News magazines published in Asia