The Paper offers high quality content but it remains to be seen whether it can be a model for traditional media's transformation

It's one small step for the Internet but a giant leap for the newspaper industry. On July 22, The Paper was officially launched by the Shanghai United Media Group. With several exclusive and in-depth reports on corruption, The Paper has already proven its strength in news reporting. Its reports on a few old court cases have also evoked good response from the courts, and the cases are now being re-investigated.

Not surprisingly, this new media product has grabbed people's attention and won a great deal of praise. There are three aspects to this innovative product, and all of them introduce Internet thinking. First, it provides a "news inquiry" platform where users can ask questions about the latest stories and get answers from other users.