Media

China E-commerce Giant Alibaba Buys Up Newspaper

In a move reminiscent of Jeff Bezos' acquisition of The Washington Post, e-commerce giant Alibaba is buying an English-language newspaper. But why?

China E-commerce Giant Alibaba Buys Up Newspaper
Getty Images / Andrew Burton
Article by Ethan Weston
SMS
December 11, 2015

The South China Morning Post — the top English-language newspaper in Hong Kong — was bought Friday by Alibaba.

But why would one of the world's largest e-commerce companies want to buy a newspaper? (Video via YouTube / epSos.de)

One of its goals seems to be to countering what it sees as a bias against China in Western media — bias it claims affects its stock prices on the New York Stock Exchange.

China's Communist Party, too, is often extremely critical of how Western media covers China. 

The South China Morning Post has long reported on issues that China's state-run media couldn't cover, including human rights issues or political scandals. 

This isn't the first media platform the company has invested in. 

It also recently bought China's version of YouTube, and it has been investing in companies like Snapchat. (Video via YouTube / Smaty SHI)

But of all of Alibaba's purchases, the South China Morning Post probably has the most influence in the West. (Video via South China Morning Post)

And while Alibaba says it's not going to censor the newspaper, it wants to use that influence to present a more friendly version of China to the West.

This video includes images from Getty Images and Barbara Willi / CC BY 2.0.