Ta Kung Pao
Cover of the first issue
Ta Kung Pao (大公報; formerly L'Impartial) is one of the oldest Chinese language newspapers in China or even the world, according to xinhuanet. Articles are largely politically focused, with news covering both international and domestic issues. The paper reports a range of economic and cultural topics, such as women's issues, arts and literature, and education.
Ying Lianzi (英斂之) founded the newspaper in Tianjin on 17 June, 1902 in order to, in Ying's own words, 'help China become a modern and democratic nation'. It stood up to the repression at the time, openly criticizing the Empress Dowager and the conservative leaders in China in the early 1900s, and promoted democratic reforms, pioneering the use of the vernacular language (báihuà). Readership fell after the Xinhai Revolution in 1911 and Wang Zhilong (王郅隆) bought it in 1916. Still, the newspaper was out of print by 1925 due to the lack of readership. On 1 September 1926, however, Wu Dingchang (吳鼎昌), Hu Zhengzhi (胡政之), and Zhang Jiluan (張季鸞) re-established the newspaper in Tianjin. With "no party affiliation, no political endorsement, no self-promotion, no ignorance" (不黨, 不賣, 不私, 不盲) as its motto, the newspaper's popularity quickly rose again because of its sharp political commentary, especially of the Japanese as the Second Sino-Japanese War/World War II began.
As the war waged on, the journalists escaped to other cities, such as Shanghai, Hankou, Chongqing, Guilin and Hong Kong, to continue their newspaper, but local editions were abandoned as the Japanese further their invasion. After the war was won, Wong Wan San (王芸生), the chief editor, re-established the Shanghai edition on November 1st 1945, in the original format and style of the old Shanghai edition. Later, they were planning to issue another edition for those in other provinces, including Guangzhou, but the Chinese Civil War forced this proposal to be shelved and in March 1948, the Hong Kong edition was re-issued. A major newspaper during the Republican years, it continued to be influential after re-publication in Hong Kong after 1949, as one of few newspapers that survived foreign invasion and civil war.
In June 2002, Ta Kung Pao newspaper celebrated its 100th birthday at Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre's New Wing. A number of celebrities spoke at the celebration conference.
The head office of Ta Kung Pao is at Hennessy Road, Hong Kong, with many offices in China, such as Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin, Inner-Mongolia, Guangzhou, etc., and overseas, e.g. New York, London and Sydney.
With the increasing popularity of using the internet for searching information, Ta Kung Pao established a site "TaKungPao.com" in 1995 for readers to catch up with the latest news. It is one of the earliest established news media on web. It also follows the aim of the publication in working swiftly and giving good service to its readers. On the net, it provides many sources about China, with links to webpages about Chinese affairs. In total, there are 14 major channels, 64 minor channels and 7 features focused channels. News, politicals, economics, sports, culture and entertainment are all included. Statistically, of those visiting the homepage, 43% are Americans, 10% are Australians, 18% are Chineses and 16% are from Hong Kong.
"Speed" seems to be the most important thing in this newspaper due to keen competition in Hong Kong. According to experienced editor Leung Sun Chun (who worked on Ta Kung Po for 5 years), the most exciting experience was that of having a special edition with a total of 16 pages.
Nevertheless, most of the public view Ta Kung Pao as 'full of positive news' (and only positive news), in respect of the PRC-HKSAR relationship. This may be explained by its background, unique development and its financial nature. Ta Kung Pao originated in China and experienced all the major events in Chinese history. Its stance is supported by the rights to publish legal announcement granted by the HKSAR Government. Nowadays, its readership covers a wide spectrum of society, particularly those in commercial and financial fields. Ta Kung Pao is also an ideal media for advertising and a gateway access to the Mainland Chinese market.
Much is revealed in the choice of news headlines and the proportion of news, good and bad from both Mainland China and HKSAR. It provides a more than usually detailed report on events in China, which can include news about new car inventions and business. This is quite different from the most common newspapers nowadays which seldom report detailed events in China.
The style of the Ta Kung Pao is different most popular newspapers. These days, most popular newspaper illustrate the news with lots of trivia and graphics. Contrarily, Ta Kung Pao is rather serious. The language they use is much more formal and polished, sometimes employing phrases in classical Chinese. Its influence is great in some areas of Southeast China. It is the top－ selling Chinese newspaper in the Philippines and its overseas edition is widely circulated in Europe and the United States.
See also
External link
- http://www.TaKungPao.com (The homepage of Ta Kung Pao)
Categories: Hong Kong media