Jongo.com was billed as a next-generation worldwide information portal about all things China, and had a soft launch back in early 2006. The website once offered services like Jongo Ask, Jongo Knows (an encyclopedia) and Jongo Local (local bar and restaurant information). Jongo News was launched in December of 2006 and aimed to become a western-style (and western-owned) news organization that operated within the confines of state-run media regulations.
(Full disclosure: I was brought on board Jongo News in March and was relieved of my duties, along with approximately 60 other staff, on May 21).
The UK investors were always walking a tightrope, as western news organizations are not permitted to publish news within China without the appropriate approvals. Jongo got around this by registering the country in the Channel Islands and hosting the website in Los Angeles. Jongo's Channel Islands headquarters merely contracted out some operations, such as website management, maintenance, and news gathering, to its Shanghai office. Nonetheless, in a crowded Web 2.0 environment, Jongo News never gathered the momentum that was needed to sustain it long term (despite the infamous photos section of the website). I was told of the decision by the UK investors to close Jongo on May 21 in a private meeting. (However the website remains up, with some stories updated periodically.) The investors had apparently been spending USD $100,000 on the company each month since it opened, and hit counts remained relatively low. On May 21, whole departments were laid off and others were gutted to focus on Jongo's other more profitable property, bdton.com.
Many of the staff who were purged have since filed a class action lawsuit (I declined to take part) and many have found work, while many other remain searching for stable employment.
Nonetheless, those staff who were spared from the purge have since been leaving at a rapid pace. Many of them were great friends and wonderful colleagues.
Morgan Short is known as a musician around Shanghai, and originally hails from Canada. He was the daily polisher of English-language stories for Jongo News, but left the company within the past few weeks. He now works at SmartShanghai.
Aglaia Jiao was a senior person in the news department, and someone that I depended on regularly. She is a very bright girl who I have no doubt will be successful. She recently left the company to spend time with her family in Heilongjiang.
Monica Shen was responsible for our video coverage, and has a background in documentary production. She was able to quickly grasp ideas and translate them into good video. She will leave Jongo tomorrow to take up a new position with China Travel Trend magazine.
Iris Kong was very adept at finding great photos, and sat next to me for most of my time with Jongo. She left the company last week to pursue other endeavors.
China Media News wishes them all success.