Sinocism Publishes Last Daily Edition, Moves to Weekly Format

China-watching newsletter Sinocism published its last daily edition Wednesday, after failing to generate sufficient financial support from its reader base of over 14,000.

"The last fundraising drive was a real wakeup call though, as even in the face of imminent shutdown, only three percent of people who had not already contributed something were willing to pony up. Had it been six percent, I would still be doing it, but the poor response made it clear that most people did not find it worth paying for," said Sinocism founder and writer Bill Bishop.

A mix of links in both Chinese and English, accompanied by commentary from Bishop, became a morning must-read for academics, executives and journalists, consumed mostly via email but also on its website.

Bishop, who previously founded CBS Marketwatch, said he relied on a "semi-socialist model of keeping it free and asking for willing donors," with one of his goals being "to provide access to students and others who are on limited budgets. I said that repeatedly, and I guess I was naive in believing that there were enough readers who agreed that we all benefit if we know more about China and so were willing to subsidize 'free-riders.'"

Described by former New Yorker correspondent Evan Osnos as “the China watcher’s China watcher” and more influential than the South China Morning Post by Danwei.org, Bishop was named to the Beijinger's list of Beijing's 20 Most Interesting People.

"It's a sad day. We're losing a terrific resource that saved me countless hours and vastly broadened my knowledge. I sincerely hope Bill comes back to it one day. Not many can do what he has been doing," Sinica podcast co-host, former Beijinger columnist and avid Sinocism reader Kaiser Kuo said of the newsletter's decrease in frequency.

Sinocism will now continue in a weekly format.

Photo courtesy of Bill Bishop