Those interested in East Asian economic and political issues have just lost one of their greatest resources: The Feer Eastern Economic Review (FEER).
December brought the terminal edition of FEER, a once flagship journal on East Asian economics and politics that, according to its 1946 mission statement, sought to
“analyze and interpret financial, commercial and industrial developments; to collect economic news; and to present views and opinions with the intent to improve existing conditions. Politics and economics being connatural, it will be inevitable that this publication may at times appear to transgress its primary objective by reporting on, and dealing with, political affairs. At any time and in every case unbiased and dispassionate, factual and balanced reporting will be our aim and policy.”
According to Dow Jones, the owner of FEER, the decision to close the journal was the unfortunate result of “continued losses in advertising revenue and readers.”
To be sure, FEER’s final issue didn’t come as a total surprise. The magazine was significantly downsized five years ealier – switching from a weekly to a monthly – and has been beset with financial difficulties since. Interestingly, some FEER ex-staffers reckon that its termination was in the works the moment it was taken over by Dow Jones and the Rupert Murdoch news group, the result of bad blood between the management and staff. According to one anonymous employee commenting at The Economist’s website, “Every ex-Review staffer knows that its days were numbered the day Dow Jones bought it. The Asian Wall Street Journal never enjoyed the kind of readership and readers’ loyalty as that of the Review. And it wasn’t a secret that the Americans wanted the AWSJ to supplant the Review.”
Whatever the cause of its demise, it will be sorely missed. FEER’s termination is disheartening news to many journalists and analysts who had come to rely on it as a reliable, balanced take on a wide array of topics: international relations, science, technology, climate change, to name but a few. Indeed, what separated FEER from its competition, at least in my opinion, was its vibrant community of local, boots-on-the ground contributors that filed thoughtful dispatches from across the region.
For anyone interested, L. Gordon Crovitz has a brief history of the the publication here.
It’s not all bad news, though: Hugo Restall, the current editor in chief, and his team of six employess have been asked to stay on with WSJ Asia. As a result it is likely that much of this analysis will be redirected into other news outlets maintained by WSJ. What’s more, the website’s archives – including interviews, op-eds, videos, and troves of analysis – have been transferred to and will be maintained at asia.wsj.com.
Still, it will be missed. (This fledgling journalist will particularly miss the trivialities and musings offered at FEER’s Traveller’s Tales.)
A few months ago, I wrote about the early stages of the conflict in Ukraine through the lens of Sun Tzu’s The Art of War. While it appears likely that the war will carry on into the foreseeable future, enough time has passed for us to make an honest assessment of each side’s relative […]
The Ukrainian Army has made dramatic strides in the last few weeks. Ukraine’s tactical commanders have outfoxed their Russian counterparts, and by issuing a feint towards the south the UA has been able to earn substantial gains in the north of their country. The impact of these efforts have been compounded by the steady stream […]
In mid-May the Irish political party, Sinn Féin, won the plurality of seats in the Northern Ireland Assembly. Many American readers might not fully understand the significance of Sinn Féin’s political victory- but rest assured that subjects of the United Kingdom and a wide range of political movements the world over have heard the message […]
The first wave of the Russian offensive in Ukraine has fallen short of Russian autocrat Vladmir Putin’s ambitions. Most analysts deduced that Putin had hoped to achieve a decapitation strike of the Ukrainian government- taking Kiev and replacing Ukrainian President Vladimir Zolinski with a pro-Kremlin voice. Kiev has been threatened repeatedly through the course of […]
On the weekend of March 26th, the notorious MS-13 gang went on a massive killing spree in El Salvador which left more than 70 people dead by Sunday. Even for a country where powerful gangs hold massive sway, this recent tragedy stands out considering that it was the bloodiest day on record since the civil […]
