Chinese paper adds editions

A donor helps The China Star in Cary become a twice-monthly publication

The China Star recently decided to switch from monthly to twice-monthly publication, even though the Chinese-language newspaper is struggling financially.

A donation from a loyal reader made it possible: a fitting development for a paper that is fueled by passion, not revenue.

"After three years of operation, I figured it out," said Cathy Kimball, 42, founder and publisher of the Cary-based publication. "This is more service than business."

Indeed, Kimball, whose accent harks back to her Chinese homeland, is considering transforming her business enterprise into a nonprofit to tap the largess of the state's Chinese population.

"Some people have told me, 'If you are a nonprofit, we can help,'" Kimball said.

The China Star is distributed free statewide and publishes 5,000 to 8,000 issues each edition, depending on the time of year. It also has an online edition.

The publication doesn't generate enough revenue from advertising for Kimball to pay herself a salary. She works out of her home in Cary. The paper is dependent on volunteers and doesn't have full-time employees. Kimball is a hands-on publisher whose duties include selling ads, editing and delivering papers to store racks.

A recent edition had 24 tabloid-size pages and featured a front-page obituary of a Chinese professor at East Carolina University. Other stories, by North Carolina writers, focused on education, food and personal finance. The paper also has entertainment and sports stories from a Chinese news service.

Kimball says she thinks it is the only Chinese-language paper based in North Carolina.

One hurdle for the business is that the state's Chinese population -- while growing rapidly -- isn't large: It was about 25,000 in 2003, up from 14,000 in 2000, according to the Census Bureau. Another, Kimball said, is finding advertisers interested in targeting the Chinese market.

Still, readers say the paper fills a need. "This newspaper is a milestone for the Chinese community here," said Peter Cheng, vice president of the nonprofit N.C. Chinese Business Association. "It is something that is connecting everybody. ... The sense of community is much, much stronger."

Younger Ye, a Web master at the University of North Carolina's Lineberger Cancer Center, was chief editor of the paper for nearly two years and typically devoted 30 to 40 hours a week to the task.

"It was almost like another full-time job," said Ye, who left the paper last year to produce a Chinese translation of Ayn Rand's "Atlas Shrugged."

Ye's sole compensation was reimbursement for his monthly phone bill, but he didn't mind. "I think it is something meaningful," Ye said of the paper. "It is something more valuable than money."

Kimball, an engineer by training, emigrated from China to Chicago in 2001 after she married an American. In the Windy City, a local Chinese-language paper was a valuable resource as she learned about the area.

When she and her husband moved to Cary in 2003, she was disappointed that the Triangle didn't have a similar resource. A few months later, she invested $5,000 to start the China Star.

"We have a lot of news," Kimball said. "The space is not enough. And the information is too old if we publish monthly."