China-based e-commerce company Alibaba Group has announced that it will launch a newssite aimed at covering e-commerce related events, Lenta.ru reported last week. The move is a response to the shut down of print publications covering the subject, a consequence of the global economic recession, the privately held company explained. The site, Alizila.com, will provide news and information about Alibaba Group products and services.

"Our intent is to provide coverage of developments at Alibaba that otherwise might go uncovered, and to do so with traditional journalistic rigor and skepticism," Alizila editor Jim Erickson stated in a press release. "Our hope is that our target audience - customers, industry analysts, and other journalists - will come to see us as a credible, useful news source."

Alizila will also cover events corresponding to the international online trade industry, according to the press release. Forbes reported that it would feature videos, blogs and online news. Alibaba Group Vice President John Spelich mentioned that the outlet was "an experiment" for corporations to employ the Internet.

Erickson is former senior editor of business and technology news for the Hong Kong-based Asian version of Time magazine (he was laid off in 2009), Forbes noted. The company called Alizila "quasi-independent" and Erickson emphasised that he could continue his journalistic career without experiencing "constant financial pressures."

"There are a lot more publications out there now that are not shy about promoting their agenda," Erickson says. "Outside influences are a lot more overt these days than they are covert. Between the business side and the editorial side, that firewall has been breaking down for years."

The launch was announced during AliFest, the company's two-day conference for Web commerce entrepreneurs. Alizila has been running in beta since June 25. Alibaba Group owns online retail marketplace TaoBao and e-commerce portal Alibaba.com.