News Mash-up: Media

HK pro-democracy Apple Daily closes The pro-democracy Hong Kong newspaper Apple Daily closed for good June 23 following police raids and the arrest of executives — a move that critics say undermines the city’s status as a free and open society. The jewel in Lai’s Next Digital media business, Apple Daily is a popular tabloid founded 26 years ago that mixes pro-democracy discourse with celebrity gossip and critical reports on China’s Communist leaders. Hundreds of police raided the paper June 16 in a national security probe in which senior Apple Daily executives were arrested. (Reuters) New news channel launches in UK and wants to shake things up A new news channel launched on British television on June 13 with the aim of shaking up a media landscape that it claims has become an echo chamber for metropolitan elites. GB News, which is positioning itself as a rival to the BBC and Sky News, denies it will be the British equivalent of Fox News. However, the channel, which has been backed by New York-based Discovery and British investor Paul Marshall, among others, clearly wants to do things differently, offering viewers a more opinionated service than they are used to. “We are proud to be British,” veteran broadcaster Andrew Neil said during the launch. (AP) These articles were provided by The Japan Times Alpha.