Southern Weekly

Southern Weekly
在这里读懂中国
Type Weekly newspaper (Thur.)
Format Broadsheet
Owner(s) Nanfang Media Group
Founder(s) Zuo Fang
Publisher Southern Weekly Press
Editor-in-chief Huang Can
Managing editor, design Zhou Yiping
Founded February 11, 1984 (1984-02-11)
Political alignment Liberalism
Language Simplified Chinese
Headquarters 289 Central Guangzhou Avenue, Guangzhou, Guangdong, PRC
City Guangzhou, Guangdong
Country  China
Readership 1.7 million
Sister newspapers Southern Daily, etc.
OCLC number 47997289
Website http://www.infzm.com/
Southern Weekly
Simplified Chinese 南方周末
Traditional Chinese 南方週末

Southern Weekly (literally Southern Weekend; simplified Chinese: 南方周末; traditional Chinese: 南方週末; pinyin: Nánfāng Zhōumò), is a weekly newspaper based in Guangzhou, China, and is a sister publication of the newspaper Southern Daily (simplified Chinese: 南方日报; traditional Chinese: 南方日報).

History and profile

Southern Weekly, founded in 1984, has its head office is in Guangzhou, with news bureaux in Beijing, Shanghai and Chengdu. The paper is published by the Nanfang Daily group under the Guangdong Communist Party Committee.[1] It is printed simultaneously in many Chinese cities, and distributed to the whole of the Chinese mainland.

Southern Weekly currently operates upon 8 key sections: News, Defense, Current Political Situation, Economy, Environment, Culture, Supplement, and Comment, together with an editorial guideline of “Justice, Conscience, Love, Rationality”.[2]

Circulation is more than 1.6 million copies, on average, which is said to be the biggest weekly circulation of any newspaper on the Chinese mainland. Thus it is considered as one of the most influential media outlets in China. However, as of 2007 it had the highest circulation in Beijing.[1]

Although the Chinese Communist Party controls various aspects of the newspaper, Southern Weekly is still considered the most outspoken newspaper in China. It is strongly recommended by liberal intellectuals and is said to contribute to public democratic debate and the formation of civil society. The New York Times has described the Southern Weekend as "China's most influential liberal newspaper".[3]

When U.S. President Obama visited China in 2009, he refused to have an interview with CCTV, but instead accepted to talk to Southern Weekly. However, the report later turned out to be pale and avoided controversial topics, which was interpreted as the result of authorities' pressure.[4]

Naturally however, as a spin-off of provincial official newspaper in mainland China, Southern Weekly still relies on political support from Guangdong Provincial Party Committee of the China Communist Party. Its coverage on regional corruption outside Guangdong province will not be achieved without local leaders' support behind. As such, Southern Weekly could only go so far as to report on political issues that are confined to a regional range lower than the provincial level. Reporting anything behind the scenes regarding the central government or the provincial Party Committee is strictly prohibited.[5]

Meanwhile, being a commercial spin-off of Nanfang Daily in Guangdong Province, Southern Weekly also attracts audiences with entertainment, consumer-oriented lifestyle and sports coverage.[2] In the "China's 500 most valuable brands" released by World Brand Laboratory in 2009, Southern Weekly was ranked as the first position in weekly publications by 4.4 billion RMB of brand value.[6]

In one of the many incidents of the paper running up against the authorities, in January 2013, the provincial propaganda authorities forced Southern Weekly to run a provided commentary glorifying the Chinese Communist Party in place of the paper's annual new year editorial, which had been a call for proper implementation of the country's constitution. Journalists working at the newspaper publicly objected to this interference – which is an unusual occurrence in China – via Sina Weibo. The Party's censorship order was believed to have come from provincial propaganda chief Tuo Zhen, a former vice-president of state-run Xinhua.[7][8]

On 7 January 2013, protesters gathered outside the newspaper's headquarters to support journalists on strike due to censorship.[9]

Notable reports

Title Date Notes
Mou Qizhong Himself and His Hoaxes January 29, 1999
Putian Faction Series starting in 1999
Karamay: A Face Reborned from the Fire January 7, 2000
Our Grains, Our Future (Drought Special) May 26, 2000
3 Nobel Prize Winners Excoriated "Nucleic Acid Nutriment" in China February 22, 2001
Inspection of Zhang Jun Case April 19, 2001
Commemoration of the 10th Anniversary of the Collapse of the Soviet Communist Party August 16, 2001
Thousands Kilometers to Track the Forge Letter in Project Hope November 29, 2001
Commemoration of the 60th Anniversary of the Victory of the War of Resistance Against Japan September 1, 2005
The Exclusive Interview with Obama November 19, 2009 [10]
Commemoration of the 20th Anniversary of the Collapse of the Soviet Communist Party August 18, 2011 [11]
To Stab That Who Insulted His Mother to Death March 23, 2017 [12]

Notable events

2001 Banned Book Incident

Liao Yiwu, the author of The Corpse Walker: Real Life Stories: China From the Bottom Up, a book banned in China[13] which published conversations with China's poorest people, told Voice of America that Southern Weekly's editor-in-chief, deputy-editor-in-chief and director of the newsroom were all sacked for publishing a discussion he had about his book.[14]

2002 Project Hope Incident

Southern Weekly disclosed that a Project Hope leader embezzled large amounts of public funds. Hundreds of thousands of the newspapers were retrieved. The journalist who wrote this article, Fang Jinyu, was fired.[15]

2005 Group Resignation Incident

Reportedly a large number of journalists quit their jobs to voice anger against the newly elected editor-in-chief, but later the Southern media group published a statement that said this was fake information.[16]

2007 Annual Ceremony Incident

In a national gathering that Southern Weekly held in Beijing Bayi Theater, Du Daozheng, the editor of a magazine called Yan Huang Chun Qiu, was awarded the most respectable Chinese media, but a central government propaganda office official called and ordered the award to be canceled. All related shots of the ceremony were also deleted.[17]

2013 New Year Editorial Incident

The provincial propaganda authorities forced Southern Weekly to run a provided commentary glorifying the Chinese Communist Party in place of the paper's annual new year editorial, which had been a call for proper implementation of the country's constitution. Journalists on the paper publicly objected to this interference – which is an unusual occurrence in China – via Sina Weibo. The censorship order was believed to have come from provincial propaganda chief Tuo Zhen, a former vice-president of state-run Xinhua.[7][8]

References

  1. 1 2 Susan L. Shrink (April 2007). "Changing Media, Changing Foreign Policy in China". Japanese Journal of Political Science. 8 (1). doi:10.1017/S1468109907002472. Retrieved 30 November 2014.
  2. 1 2 "About Us- Southern Weekly". Southern Weekly. Retrieved 21 March 2014.
  3. ↑ Elisabeth Rosenthal (24 March 2002). "Under Pressure, Chinese Newspaper Pulls Exposé on a Charity". The New York Times. Retrieved 19 March 2008.
  4. ↑ ZHE, ZHANG (9 November 2009). "Southern Weekly—Exclusive Interview to Obama". Southern Weekly. Retrieved 21 March 2014.
  5. ↑ Susan L. Shirk (2011). "Changing media, changing China" (Oxford University Press).
  6. ↑ Shen Yun. "2009 Billboard of Most Valuable Chinese Media Brand". First Financial Newspaper. Retrieved 21 March 2014.
  7. 1 2 Outrage at Guangdong newspaper forced to run party commentary, SCMP, 4 January 2013. Retrieved 6 January 2012.
  8. 1 2 Southern Weekly reporters confront China censors, BBC, 4 January 2013. Retrieved 6 January 2012.
  9. ↑ Edward Wong (7 January 2013). "Supporters Back Strike at Newspaper in China". The New York Times.
  10. ↑ "独家专访奥巴马". Southern Weekly (in Chinese). November 19, 2009. Archived from the original on November 21, 2009. Retrieved May 20, 2017.
  11. ↑ Huang, Weiting (August 18, 2011). "苏共亡党二十年祭". Southern Weekly (in Chinese). Archived from the original on September 5, 2011. Retrieved May 20, 2017.
  12. ↑ Wang, Ruifeng; Li, Jin (March 23, 2017). "刺死辱母者". Southern Weekly (in Chinese). Archived from the original on May 16, 2017. Retrieved May 20, 2017.
  13. ↑ Linda Jaivin, The Underside of China's Prosperous Age, China Heritage Quarterly.
  14. ↑ "专访禁书作家廖亦武：自认出版 "杀手"". Voice of America (in Chinese). Retrieved 15 April 2017.
  15. ↑ "《南方周末》揭希望工程醜聞遭查封的原版文章". 大紀元 (in Chinese). 23 March 2002. Retrieved 15 April 2017.
  16. ↑ "南方周末报资深记者集体辞职". 30 June 2005. Retrieved 15 April 2017.
  17. ↑ "【 现场目击】 《炎黄春秋》获奖 中宣部出手搅局". www.huaxiabao.org. 6 March 2007. Retrieved 15 April 2017.
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