Newtalk News
Taiwanese news website
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Newtalk News (Chinese: Newtalk新聞) or formerly Newtalk (Chinese: 新頭殼; pinyin: Xīntóuké; Wade–Giles: Hsin1-t'ou2-k'o2) is an online news platform operated by Vanguard Media Co., Ltd. in Taiwan[1], launched on September 1, 2009.
 | |
Native name | Newtalk新聞 |
|---|---|
| Type | News website |
| Owner(s) | Tu Yao-ren (Sole director since 2024) |
| Founder | Su Tzen-ping |
| Publisher | Vanguard Media Co., Ltd. |
| President | Su Tzen-ping |
| Editor | Zhang Zheng-lin |
| Founded | September 1, 2009 |
Political alignment | Pan-Green |
| Language | Traditional Chinese |
| Headquarters | No. 39, Lane 141, Hang'ai Road, Neihu District, Taipei, Taiwan |
| Website | newtalk |
| Type | Private company |
|---|---|
| Unlisted | |
| Industry | News publishing |
| Founded | July 24, 2009 |
| Headquarters | No. 39, Lane 141, Hang'ai Road, Neihu District, Taipei, Taiwan |
| Key people | Tu Yao-ren (Chairman) |
| Products | Chinese-language online media |
| Total equity | NT$50,000,000 |
| Website | newtalk |
History
Founding period
On July 24, 2009, Vanguard Media Co., Ltd. was registered and established as a news publishing enterprise. Its initial founding team mainly consisted of former employees of Taiwan Daily during the tenure of its last chairman, Yen Wen-shuan. The founder and first chairman was Su Tzen-ping, former chief editorial writer of Taiwan Daily; the first chief producer was Chuang Feng-chia, former editor-in-chief of Taiwan Daily; and the first political reporter was Lin Chao-yi, former deputy director of the political center at Taiwan Daily and head of the "Taiwan Daily Employees' Self-Help Association" (who held strong Taiwanese consciousness).
On September 1, 2009, coinciding with Taiwan's Journalists' Day, Newtalk was officially launched.
Crisis
In 2015, Chuang Feng-chia announced his resignation from Newtalk on Facebook.
On November 30, 2016, former chief consultant Hu Yuan-hui confirmed that a shareholders' meeting held the previous week had decided to cease operations. Hu stated that the shutdown was not due to running out of capital, as rumored, but rather the inability to find a sustainable business model for independent online media in Taiwan, where advertising revenue alone could not support operations despite efforts to diversify income sources.[2] On December 1, 2016, Mirror Media reported that founder and chairman Su Tzen-ping stated the board and shareholders had decided to close at the end of the year due to expectations that the media environment would not improve.[3]
On December 15, 2016, Newtalk issued an announcement stating that although the team had originally decided to cease operations due to insurmountable bottlenecks, several local entrepreneurs in central Taiwan expressed willingness to provide capital and technology following the news. After negotiations, a consensus was reached to retain the existing editorial team and continue operations, with an official handover planned for February 2017. Su Tzen-ping stated that although he had originally planned to retire, he would remain to assist the new management.[4]
Change of ownership
On March 28, 2017, Up Media revealed that Jinfeng International, the company taking over Newtalk, was chaired by Chao I-kuei, an esports entrepreneur who imported Lamborghini supercars and worked closely with mobile game developer Wanin International. Although the new team requested the original management to stay, Su Tzen-ping declined, transforming Newtalk from a social enterprise into a sole proprietorship. Board members previously representing figures like Chen Chi-cheng and Mu Tse Social Enterprise (chaired by Shen Hsueh-jung, husband of former Minister of Culture Cheng Li-chiun) were completely replaced by legal representatives from Jinfeng International.[5]
In October 2017, Newtalk launched a mobile application.
In January 2024, Tu Yao-ren succeeded as chairman of Jinfeng International. In July, the board members stepped down, leaving Tu Yao-ren as the sole shareholder of Vanguard Media.
Founding members
During its initial founding period, Newtalk's key management team included:
- Chairman: Su Tzen-ping — former deputy chief editor of Independence Morning Post, chief editorial writer of Taiwan Daily, president of the Taiwan Journalists Association, Minister of the Government Information Office, chairman of the Central News Agency, and chairman of the Association for Quality Journalism.
- Chief Consultant: Hu Yuan-hui — former president of Independence Evening Post, news director at Formosa TV, general manager of Taiwan Television, president of the Central News Agency, general manager of Public Television Service, associate professor of mass communication at National Chung Cheng University, and consultant at ELTA Technology.
- Chief Producer: Chuang Feng-chia — former deputy editor-in-chief of the Central News Agency and editor-in-chief of Taiwan Daily; co-editor of Understanding Taiwan Military Dependents' Villages: 1949–2006 (published by the Democratic Progressive Party's Ethnic Affairs Department, November 2006, ISBN 978-957-29227-2-9). In 2015, he announced his resignation on Facebook and launched a project to train local citizen journalists, founding New Citizen Media.[6] In 2016, he served as convener for the Citizen Information Channel team at the Citizen Congress Watch, and on September 1, 2016, became the first president of the community platform Chuan Lou Kou. He later served as news department manager at Chinese Television System (CTS) and was general manager of CTS from March 8, 2018, to January 21, 2022.
Business model
- Social enterprise
- Founder Su Tzen-ping argued that common Taiwanese media models—commercial and government-funded public media—each had drawbacks. Newtalk operated as a social enterprise, focusing on issue-centered reporting and empowering readers through citizen journalism while rejecting advertorials and product placement.[7]
- Transparent newsroom
- During its period as a social enterprise, reporting formats included traditional text, photographs, audio-visual content, live streaming, and submissions from citizen journalists. It introduced two innovative mechanisms: an "Open Newsroom" allowing readers to inspect and participate in editorial discussions, and an ombudsman system inviting academics to review complaints.[8] However, both systems were suspended shortly after implementation due to underperformance.[9]
- Focus on civic organizations
- As a social enterprise, Newtalk emphasized international news and civic engagement, hosting a video broadcast program, Happiness Gas Station, for civic groups to host.[9] During this period, Newtalk gained attention for notable reports, including early coverage of WikiLeaks cables related to Taiwan and the resignation of China Times editor-in-chief Xia Zhen after referring to Chen Yunlin as a "C-tier" figure.[10]