East Touch (東Touch) is a weekly Chinese language magazine written in Cantonese style in Hong Kong. It is published every Tuesday by East Touch Publishing Limited, part of Global China Group Holdings Limited.
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'East Touch' is an infotainment publication targeting readers aged between 22 and 34. It covers stories of celebrities, entertainment news, fashion trends and lifestyle topics. A survey conducted by the Society for Truth and Light in Hong Kong showed that about 86.6% of the content of 'East Touch' is related to information about entertainment and consumption. According to the editorial board, the magazine regards men's fashion news as its top priority, followed by women's fashion news and lifestyle reports. Entertainment news is regarded as the least important priority.
The reporting style of 'East Touch' follows four guiding principles established by its owners. These four reporting principles distinguish 'East Touch' from other magazines targeted at trendy young people.
The magazine's competitors, namely, "Easy Finder", "East Week" and "3 Magazine" place considerably more emphasis on paparazzi-type entertainment scoops and Category IIB photos of starlets. This is confirmed by statistics provided by the Hong Kong Press Council and the Hong Kong Journalists Association which show that no complaints have been filed nor condemnations issued against 'East Touch' this year.
The magazine faced the first great challenge in its colourful history when its 42nd issue was published on 29 March 1995. 'East Touch' was convicted and fined by the courts for publishing indecent articles about pornography, thereby falling foul of the Obscene Articles Tribunal and the Television and Entertainment Licensing Authority. The article judged indecent concerned a "Festival of Pornography", in which many sexual utilities and services were advertised without an accompanying warning that the magazine contained material which should not fall into the hands of persons under the age of 18. According to both the Tribunal and the Supreme Court, such an omission violated the Control of Obscene and Indecent Articles Ordinance. The Supreme Court dismissed the appeal made by the publisher in July 1996.
To date, no official figures have been published on the magazine's circulation numbers and market penetration. According to a survey of the reading habits of 15-29 years olds in Hong Kong conducted by Breakthrough, a non-profit Catholic youth organization in Hong Kong, in February 1999, however, 'East Touch' lagged behind its closest competitors. In the survey, 'Next Magazine', 'Easy Finder' and 'East Week' ranked top three, with 32.3%, 27.4% and 24.9% respectively.
'East Touch' was first published on 15 June 1994 as a free magazine in 'East Magazine'. In its pilot form, 'East Touch' was named 'East City' and was wholly owned by the Oriental Press Group Limited (東方報業集團有限公司 Pinyin: Dōngfāng Bàoyè Jítuán Yǒuxiàn Gōngsī).
The "Declaration of Foundation" in the 1st issue stated that the goal of the magazine was to be "rooted in Hong Kong, global in our outlook" (立足香港, 放眼世界). "Reformation"(變) and "Innovation" (新) were two further founding principles of the magazine.
'East Touch' first appeared as a stand-alone magazine on 6 June 1995, its 51st issue. The editor noted that the new 'East Touch' embraced two new reporting principles - to create a new culture representing the new generation and to bring about reform and innovation with an open and creative mind. According to the 52nd issue, the re-launch of 'East Touch' was a great success. The initial print run of the 51st issue was sold out and more than one hundred thousand copies passed into circulation.
On 1 July 1997, 'East Touch' published its 109th issue. Building on their founding principles, the editorial board created another slogan, "Forget 1997! Look ahead to the 21st century!" (不再97, 且看21), in celebration of the handover.
Global China Group Holdings Limited (泛華集團 Pinyin: Fànhuà Jítuán ) acquired 'East Touch' in 2002. In its 348th issue, the first issue after the acquisition, the editor proclaimed four guiding editorial principles: to establish a unique culture in Hong Kong; to be a trend leader; to refuse pornographic materials; and to maintain a global vision.
The retail price of the 1st issue of 'East Touch' was HK$3. This price and the date when the 1st issue came out (6 June) were especially chosen as the numbers 3 and 6 have the meaning of "endlessness" (33不盡, 66無窮). The price rose to (HK$5) with the 11th issue so as "to reflect its real strength and worth in the market", according to the editorial board. The price rose further to (HK$8) with the 21st issue due to the increasing price of paper. The price rose again with the 45th and 59th issues to (HK$10) and (HK$12) respectively. It peaked at HK$15 with the 155th issue when 2 sub-booklets were added. After 'East Touch' was acquired by Global China Group Limited, the price dropped to (HK$13) with the 348th issue. The current selling price remains at (HK $13).
Articles in 'East Touch' are written in colloquial Chinese and are often peppered with slangy Cantonese phrases and English words. The layout of 'East Touch' is very colourful with photos, pictures and graphics taking up equal, if not more, page space than words. The magazine's layout changes frequently in order to maintain freshness and to avoid any ‘detachment’ between authors and readers. However, such oral–oriented written discourse has been accused of polluting Modern Standard Chinese, and has been blamed by teachers and educators for the deteriorating language proficiency of Hong Kong's youngsters.
'East Touch' also makes frequent changes to the appearance and organisation of its contents, though the contents themselves remain largely the same. When it was first published, the magazine was unitary and was divided into four sections, namely 'First touch', 'Entertainment touch', 'Fashion & City touch' and 'Keep in touch'.
'East Touch' launched the present logo with Issue 437, which came out on 14 October 2003. This new logo, incorporating the Chinese character "East" (東)with the English words "East Touch", was chosen to reflect the magazine's very first logo. Before the present logo was launched, "East Touch" had changed the design of its logo six times.
A number of sub-booklets were subsequently published together with the main book.
Today, "East Touch" is divided into two books. The main book has five sections, namely Begin, Entertainment, Babe, Knock, and Relax.
The sub-booklet has four sections. It focuses on the latest products and presents them in a catagloue format detailing prices and retail outlets.
In recent issues, 'East Touch' has followed the practice of other trend magazines by issuing a small booklets on selected high-fashion labels. These booklets focus on clothes and accessories from a particular brand, along with prices and shop details. It occasionally offers readers free gifts, a typical example being the 100 sets of block toys offered to readers with the 349th issue to celebrate Valentine's Day.
A frequent advertising technique employed by 'East Touch' is its use of soft marketing. Advertisements are often presented in formats similar to the feature articles with "Information provided by clients" (資料由客戶提供) in small print at the top of the page to indicate that it is an advertisement.
The idea of naming the magazine 'East Touch' came from the phase "Don't touch". According to the editorial board, the sub-booklet aimed at inspiring readers to be "rebellious", to "challenge everything", and to be concerned with the world. according to this philosophy, the first thing to do is "to touch". Thus, the Board used the word "Touch" as a part of the sub-booklet's name. The Chinese word "East"(東) is a pun of the pronunciation of the English word "Don't" in the Cantonese-accented English of the then owner Oriental Press Group Limited (東方報業集團有限公司 Pinyin: Dōngfāng Bàoyè Jítuán Yǒuxiàn Gōngsī).
'East Touch' was published every Tuesday for its first 303 issues. The day of publication changed to Sunday with the 304th issue. It was then, for a brief period from the 348th issue to the 354th issue, released on Wednesdays. It has again been issued on Tuesdays from the 355th issue to date.
Cathay Pacific Airways and Dragonair have chosen 'East Touch' to be one of their in-flight magazines.