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Rolling Stone to launch in China early 2006
(AP)
Updated: 2005-11-23 14:25
One of the leading chroniclers of US popular culture _ Rolling Stone magazine
_ is taking on the next frontier _ China.
The monthly has licensed Hong Kong-based One Media Group to publish a
Chinese-language edition in the mainland, One Media Group Chief Strategy Officer
Robby Yung told The Associated Press on Wednesday.
The target launch date is the first quarter of next year, Yung said.
He said the mainland Chinese edition, printed in simplified Chinese
characters commonly used in China mainland, will contain a mix of local content
written by a mainly Beijing-based staff and translations of pieces from the US
edition.
Given Rolling Stone's US emphasis, "the trick is to see how you can balance
that with popular culture from China or from Asia, as well as popular music,"
Yung said.
He declined to say how much money was being invested in the magazine edition,
and he wouldn't discuss the terms of the licensing agreement. But Yung said
Rolling Stone will receive part of the net revenue. He didn't provide
circulation figures.
He expressed confidence that Rolling Stone's high-quality reporting will
impress readers in China.
"It's not a pop culture gossip magazine. It's not a music magazine. One of
the things about the magazine that I think has always really helped it to stand
head and shoulders above other people is the quality of the editorial, the
journalism, as well as the photojournalism, iconic cover photos (and)
award-winning writing," he said.
Yung said One Media is collaborating with Rolling Stone on the content.
"It's still their brand name and their trademark, so of course they have a
right to look at the content, and we work closely together with them because we
want to make sure that we're faithful to the spirit of the brand," he said.
Rolling Stone may expand to Taiwan and Hong Kong later, Yung said.
One Media also publishes Chinese mainland editions of Popular Science, the
car magazine Top Gear, Digital Camera and the gadget magazine
T3.
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