Taiwan People News to end daily operations at end of year

Taipei, Dec. 13 (CNA) Taiwan People News will cease its daily operations on Dec. 31 after six years, due to financial difficulties, its founder and political activist Chen Yung-hsing (陳永興) said Thursday on the news website, thanking the publication's readers for their support.

Chen said that Taiwan People News does not have the financial backing of big conglomerates, enterprises, or political parties and has been supported by about 300 small shareholders from the medical, cultural, and small-and-medium enterprise sectors.

A shareholders' meeting of the online publication decided that daily operations will cease at the end of 2018 because of an inability to meet the financial cost of running a daily news website. Over the past six years, Taiwan People News has spent NT$72 million (US$2.3 million), Chen said, adding that the decision was made with great reluctance, but the time to say goodbye is now.

Chen, who is also a psychiatrist, said that the shareholders' meeting appointed him to settle the accounts of the news outlet and any remaining funds will be donated to the Taiwan People Cultural Arts Foundation, which is expected to continue running the news' website and publish occasional articles written by chief editorial writers from Taiwan People News.

According to research in October conducted by Taiwan Media Watch, an NGO committed to maintaining press freedom and promoting media self-regulation, Taiwan People News' Facebook page was one of the most trustworthy and diverse among 36 media that publish daily news in Taiwan.

Organized by Chen, Nobel laureate Lee Yuan-tseh (李遠哲) and renowned Taiwanese Director Wu Nien-jen (吳念真), Taiwan People News publishes news stories without charge and seeks to reflect public opinion in Taiwan, according to its website.