The New York Daily News tabloid has launched a new online section which seeks to appeal to the city’s South Asian residents, paidContent reported.

The new section, called “Desi,” features South Asian news curated for an American immigrant audience, including stories about Bollywood, cricket and politics, the article said. The stories found on Desi are a mixture of original content and articles from the digital newswire Newscred, the article said. As we previously reported, Newscred filters content from more than 750 sources around the world, creating personalized bundles of online content for publishers.

NY Daily News Digital Senior Vice President Steve Lynas told paidContent that according to research conducted by the newspaper, second and third generation immigrants demonstrated an interest in South Asian News, but presented through an American lens.

Lynas also said that culture is more of a factor in determining what news people are interested in, implying that the notion of local news in general can be redefined, the article said.

“I don’t see a zip code as a good filter for community,” Lynas told paidContent.

The Indian English language daily, Hindustan Times, has just launched an iPhone news app, and claims to be the first Indian newspaper to do so, reported afaqs!

While the number of iPhone users in India does not represent a substantial number, the application "will primarily target iPhone users or non-resident Indians in the West."

The app will be offered for free and without advertisements, but HT does hope it will be able to embed ads on the news app, monetizing the application in the future.

The application will feature five vertical sections - national, world, business, Bollywood, and cricket - and photos. An HT spokesporn told faqs! That they are considering opening the iPhone app to local content once it is launched, providing an additional way to monetize the content.

Hindustan Times has a large following in Northern India and is the country's second-most read English newspaper. In the past, it has partnered up with the Washington Post and Google to provide additional news coverage.

A new reform of a state secrets law enacted by the Standing Committee of China's National People's Congress (China's legislative body) late April and will go into full effect on October 1st, puts greater pressure on media companies to protect state secrets and to cooperate with authorities in case there is a violation of the law, CPJ reported yesterday.

These reforms came as no surprise from a government that restricts its population's freedom of expression and is in full control of media outlets, censoring websites, imprisoning journalists, and even hacking into their email accounts.
But what is most worrisome about this particular law is that it does not define what exactly constitutes a "state secret" to Chinese authorities. CPJ believes the measure may be used as an excuse to punish journalists who publish any information that the government finds unwelcome. The law may also be used as a convenient cover for government officials who do not wish to disclose information on the grounds of 'state secrets.'

The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) has launched a new mobile-optimised website for its Asia edition, and another for its Europe edition, allowing users to access regional news on any web-enabled mobile phone.

The Asia edition features updates from Asia.WSJ.com and includes text from the sections What's News, Markets, Technology, Opinion, Personal Finance and Life & Style, as well as additional market-specific news from China and India.

The Europe edition, from Europe.WSJ.com, features similar news sections, except with market-specific news from the UK and Europe and a section titled Europe In-Depth. It will update as often as the website itself.

The WSJ recently redesigned the Chinese version of its website. General manager of the WSJ digital network in Asia, Olivier Legrand, called the regional mobile site a "natural evolution for our product and a sign of our commitment in developing locally relevant products for our users".

"After launching regional sites, regional BlackBerry applications and local language sites, we continue to serve our readers with relevant products across all platforms," he said. The WSJ will continue to expand its digital network in Asia this year, he added, with plans for a mobile application for India and an iPhone application for Japan and China.