Asian Boss is a

YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second most ...

channel, founded in 2013, which discusses various issues related to

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an ...

History

Asian Boss was founded in 2013 by Stephen Park, a former

corporate lawyer A corporate lawyer or corporate counsel is a type of lawyer who specializes in corporate law. Corporate lawyers working inside and for corporations are called in-house counsel. Roles and responsibilities The role of a corporate lawyer is to ...

, and Kei Ibaraki, a former

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

, after they witnessed the "growing divide" in society. Neither of them had video editing experience at the time and they studied by watching tutorials on YouTube. According to Park, many of the videos were demonetized by YouTube for being politically sensitive, and they relied on investors to fund their operations. In a 2019 interview, Ibaraki noted that since there was significant bias in the media on certain topics, the channel would stay as neutral as possible to allow the subjects to speak freely, and would go to great lengths to find respondents with opposing opinions. The channel is targeted to an English-speaking global audience interested in Asia, and 30 percent of the its views came from the United States. In 2020, ''

The Japan Times ''The Japan Times'' is Japan's largest and oldest English-language daily newspaper. It is published by , a subsidiary of News2u Holdings, Inc.. It is headquartered in the in Kioicho, Chiyoda, Tokyo. History ''The Japan Times'' was launched b ...

'' named Asian Boss as an example of overseas-based YouTube channels which attempt to gain real insight into the lives and opinions of Japanese people. In January 2021, Park revealed in a video that the channel was close to shutting down, as many of their investors have gone out of business, and announced the channel's

GoFundMe GoFundMe is an American for-profit crowdfunding platform that allows people to raise money for events ranging from life events such as celebrations and graduations to challenging circumstances like accidents and illnesses. From 2010 to the ...

page, which has a funding goal of $700,000. As of February 4, 2021 more than $745,000 in donations has been received.

Controversies

In 2019, the channel released a video interviewing the people of

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

on whether actor

Simu Liu Simu Liu ( ; ; born 19 April 1989) is a Canadian actor. He is known for portraying Shang-Chi in the 2021 Marvel Cinematic Universe film '' Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings''. He also played Jung Kim in the CBC Television sitcom '' Kim ...

was "too ugly" to portray superhero

Shang-Chi Zheng Shang-Chi ( ), also known as the Master of Kung Fu and Brother Hand, is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was created by writer Steve Englehart and artist Jim Starlin, debuting in ...

in ''

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings ''Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings'' is a 2021 American superhero film based on Marvel Comics featuring the character Shang-Chi. Produced by Marvel Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, it is the 25th film ...

'', which would be released in 2021. Liu responded to the video by calling it a "very teachable moment" about facing rejection and doubt of others, and suggested that the channel should tackle topics with "more journalistic and creative integrity" in the future. The video has since been removed from YouTube. In January 2021 a Filipino actor of the Korean TV series ''

Squid Game ''Squid Game'' () is a South Korean survival drama television series created by Hwang Dong-hyuk for Netflix. Its cast includes Lee Jung-jae, Park Hae-soo, Wi Ha-joon, HoYeon Jung, O Yeong-su, Heo Sung-tae, Anupam Tripathi, and Kim Jo ...

'' complained in a video of Asian Boss about discrimination in Korea. In 2022, the channel was accused by news outlet ''

Taiwan News ''Taiwan News'' (formerly ''China News'') is an English-language online newspaper in Taiwan. It is owned by foods company I-Mei Foods, which also publishes the Chinese-language news weekly of the same name. History ''China News'' was founded ...

'' of "pre-screening" street interviewees in

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the northe ...

for pro-

Kuomintang The Kuomintang (KMT), also referred to as the Guomindang (GMD), the Nationalist Party of China (NPC) or the Chinese Nationalist Party (CNP), is a major political party in the Republic of China, initially on the Chinese mainland and in Tai ...

viewpoints, in a claimed bid to present balanced viewpoints in a video about

Cross-Strait relations Cross-Strait relations (sometimes called Mainland–Taiwan relations, or Taiwan-China relations) are the relations between China (officially the People's Republic of China) and Taiwan (officially the Republic of China). The relationship ...

. The report claims the channel advertised on Taiwanese forums looking for people with pro-Kuomintang viewpoints. In a Facebook post, one of the interviewees revealed that he was a pro-blue Youtuber who was contacted by Asian Boss for an interview; during the interview, he was requested to appear to be someone they approached on the street.

References

External links

Official website
YouTube channels YouTube channels launched in 2013 {{Internet-bcast-stub