Doug Crets looks at how Asian newspapers are dealing with threats to their business model from the internet and free papers. An excellent read, he discusses in part the SCMP:

In Hong Kong, where broadband penetration is among the highest in Asia (73 percent), if there was a threat of a bloodletting, the dominant English language paper seems unfazed. The South China Morning Post (SCMP) is not turning towards the acquisition of online classifieds sites and management says they haven’t been threatened by the free dailies which dealt blows to the Chinese daily industry...Meanwhile, SCMP’s own online platform, which is subscription-based and offers no free content is likely to undergo a revamp as management looks to target higher monetization. SCMP.com saw revenue contract by 10 percent during 1H 2006 due to a 21 percent drop in content syndication fees and the postponement of a number of advertising campaigns. The site’s paid user base remains flat at around 20,000.

It makes a marked contrast with the various other papers discussed in the article, or sites such as Asia Sentinel which also has a piece on Li Ka-shing you wouldn't find in the SCMP.

Meanwhile on the press, the SCMP reports on China's newest efforts to clamp down even while it pretends to be opening up ahead of the Olympics and Austin Ramzy at Time discusses increasing self-censorship in Hong Kong's media.

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