MODERN CHINESE PRESS

Evening Star, Issue 22804, 12 November 1937, Page 1

MODERN CHINESE PRESS

EVOLUTION Of NEW METHODS POPULARITY INCREASING China, with the oldest journalism in the world, to-day has the newest, iu the view of Air Hubert S. Liang as expressed in his brochure, ‘ Development of Modem Chinese Press,’ published by the Council of International Affairs,; Nanking. “It is a Press,” he says, “ which daily throws off another tradition of the past and evolves a new method to meet a modem need.!’

China’s first newspapers appeared hundreds of years ago in the form of “ Gazettes,” circulating , almost exclusively among the official class and with public circulation provided only through connivance contrary to law. Contents included recommendation of individuals for promotion, impeachments, notices of removal from office or from station to station, and of rewards or degradations, together with expressions from the Emperor and somo indication of general happenings. For the general public there were small “gossip sheets” of which the present-day Chinese “ mosquito papers ” are direct descendants—keeping alive a lack of faith in the Press which is characteristic of the Chinese public and which present-day censorship has, if anything, heightened. However, in Air Liang’s view, “ the power of the Press grows steadily, and this is being realised in all circles. The Government continues to supervise the Press in nearly all possible ways, and ascendant military and political powers always make haste to arrogate to their control as many newspapers as possible.”

Following establishment of the re* public in 1911 many of the Chines® newspapers steered away from politics, and “ the era of daily journalism as a business enterprise was inaugurated.”' The ‘ Shanghai Shun Pao ’ is regarded 'as the oldest Chinese newspaper of this type. It was started by an Englishman 66 years ago, taken over by Chinese interests, and for years it had tha largest circulation of Chinese newspapers, reaching a figure as high as 150,000 with circulation both at home and abroad. Its annual net profit is considered to be around £IOO,OOO to £150,000. The ‘ Sin Wan Pao,’ formerly owned by the 'American Dr J. C. Ferguson, but sold to the Shun Pao interests in 1925, now has a larger circulation than the ‘ Shun Pao,’ and it also puts out an evening edition—an innovatdon in a field formerly exclusively morning, but an increasing popular practice. “By far the best-edited and probably the most influential newspaper in China to-day,” says Mr Liang,* “is not found in Shanghai, however, but in ,Tientsin. This paper is the ‘Ta Kung Pao ’ (L’lmpartial) ’’—which recently,' in view of the increasing Japanese domination of Tientsin, started a successful Shanghai edition.

Th© Kuomintang Party has established many subsidised papers, and it's Central News Agency serves more than 250 papers. Recent years have seen remarkable strides toward better make-up, more diversified news, and general modernisation, Mr Liang finds. In the matter of news assemblage he notes a breaking ‘away from rigid classification.

There are now at least three fullfledged schools of departments of journalism, “ mostly modelled on American lines,” in addition to many journalism 'courses, the author notes. There is also a growing solidarity among members of the newspaper craft, especially to combat encroachments in Press freedom..

Among the trends Mr Liang discerns in the future are an increasing “ proletarianisan ” of the Chinese Press, with 1 growing literacy and the steady raising of the economic status of iho masses; a steady modernisation, with employment of scientific inventions and discoveries to speed up production and ai development of the evening paper field which was untouched until 1931; and probably a trend toward ■ standardisation through use of press association and syndicate material and also with. Government censorship and propaganda tending to standardise both news and views.