The best print media will survive
By Cheng Tzu-leong 鄭自隆
On Monday, the print version of the Taiwanese edition of the Apple Daily flew off the presses for the last time.
The Chinese-language newspaper, owned by Hong Kong-based Next Digital Ltd, began publishing in Taiwan on May 2, 2003. At the time, Taiwan had just been through the SARS epidemic and the nation was still in a state of shock; today the newspaper has pulled the plug on its print edition just as Taiwan is battling a resurgence of COVID-19.
Born out of one coronavirus outbreak and finished off by another, the demise of the print edition of the Apple Daily is a sad event.
The final print edition of the Chinese-language <i>Apple Daily</i> in Taiwan is to be published on Monday after 18 years, the newspaper said in a letter to readers posted on its Web site yesterday.
Although the <i>Apple Daily</i> has changed Taiwan’s media environment with its innovative content over the past 18 years, “we were also changed by the media environment,” the newspaper said, citing continuous operating losses as the reason it is ending the print edition.
The company plans to focus on the development of its online Apple News network, according to the letter, which also thanked the paper’s readers for their