In 2008, David Ownby, director of the Center for East Asian Studies at the Université de Montréal and the author of "Falun Gong and the Future of China", said the newspaper is set up by Falun Gong practitioners with their own money. He described "The Epoch Times" as wishing to be taken seriously as a global newspaper rather than being judged on the basis of its strong association with Falun Gong. He wrote: ""Epoch Times" is a newspaper with a mission, that of reporting on issues bearing on human rights throughout the world, which allows for considerable focus on China and Falun Gong."