Comparing the competitive advantages of leading news sites in mainland China and Taiwan

In the severe recession in journalism, professional news sites are facing the challenge of increasing their competitive advantage. In this study, a resource-based approach was used to interview 12 top executives of leading news sites and portals in mainland China and Taiwan. The data were analyzed to determine the inimitable resources that enabled them to achieve competitive advantages and how these resources varied under different market conditions. The results identified property-based and knowledge-based resources that were developed by the news sites in reaction to the quickly changing environment of technology and media. Particular differences in communist and capitalist ideology between mainland China and Taiwan, respectively, and their effects on comparative resources are also discussed.