Wen Wei Po

Wen Wei Po is a pro-Beijing[1] newspaper based in Hong Kong. The newspaper was established in Hong Kong on 9 September 1948, after its Shanghai edition was launched in 1938.

Wen Wei Po 文匯報
Typedaily newspaper
FormatBroadsheet
Owner(s)Liaison Office of the Central Government
Founded9 September 1948
Political alignmentPro-Beijing
LanguageTraditional Chinese
HeadquartersAberdeen, Hong Kong
Websitehttp://www.wenweipo.com
Wen Wei Po
Hing Wai Centre, the head office of Wen Wei Po
Traditional Chinese文匯報
Simplified Chinese文汇报

Its head office is in the Hing Wai Centre (Chinese: 興偉中心) in Aberdeen, Hong Kong.[2]

It is owned by Ta Kung Wen Wei Media Group, which is controlled by the liaison office of the Chinese government in Hong Kong.[3] Wen Wei Po is subsidised by and advocates for the Chinese government.[4]:139 Wen Wei Po accounts for less than 1 per cent of Hong Kong's readership[4]:139 and is mainly read by readers in mainland China and older Hong Kong readers.[1]:20

In a 2019 survey conducted by the Chinese University of Hong Kong, Wen Wei Po was the second least credible paid newspaper in Hong Kong.[5]

History

Wen Wei Po was founded in Shanghai in January 1938. The Hong Kong edition was first published in 6 September 1948.

In the 1980s, Xinhua News Agency, which served as the de facto Chinese embassy to Hong Kong, reduced its control over Wen Wei Po to reflect China's guarantee of "one country, two systems" after sovereignty over Hong Kong is transferred to China in 1997.[6]:123 In 1989, Wen Wei Po published an editorial that criticised the People's Liberation Army for their crackdown of protesters in Tiananmen Square. Lee Tze-chung, the president of the newspaper since 1951 was dismissed,[7] and editor-in-chief Kam Yiu-yu went into exile in the United States.[8] Following the dismissals, Wen Wei Po received financial support from the Chinese government to repair the image of China following the military crackdown in Beijing.[6]:124

Content

Wen Wei Po has around 48 pages every day with sections including news, sports and entertainment. Compared with other newspapers in Hong Kong, it has more coverage of mainland China politics, economy, society, education and culture, but fewer entertainment or human interest stories. Recently the newspaper has started sending journalists to gather news about PRC leaders' visits around China.

Editorial position

Wen Wei Po has been described as pro-China and leftist.[1]:14

The paper is also considered as a "cleaner" paper as it includes fewer sensational reports and bloody pictures. Its reports on issues other than politics and China are considered as more reliable.

According to The Challenge of Hong Kong's Reintegration With China, a book written by Ming K. Chan, Wen Wei Po is a "mouthpiece" of the PRC government.

Despite their low credibility and dismal circulation in Hong Kong, these mouthpieces are well-financed by advertising revenues from the PRC companies...Wen Wei Po has received more funds...Both papers print many Xinhua-initiated commentaries under pseudonym aimed to criticize and intimate China's critics.[9]

Space and military news

Wen Wei Po is known to periodically leak first hand information about the PRC's space program and military buildup. Typical examples are the advanced launch date of the Shenzhou 7 mission,[10] information revealed on occasion of the 60th anniversary of the journal's establishment, space shuttle program[11] or aircraft carrier program.

In this regard, the Wen Wei Po shares the privilege of being provided with exclusive high-tech news with newsgroups targeting the same readership such as the Hong Kong Da Gong Journal or the Beijing Youth Daily.

Market

Wen Wei Po is authorised for distribution in Macau and mainland China. Tourists can get copies of Wen Wei Po easily from hotels in the larger mainland cities. Wen Wei Po has a greater circulation in the mainland than in Hong Kong.

As one of the most popular Hong Kong newspapers in the mainland, Wen Wei Po publishes a lot of advertisements from enterprises of different cities in the mainland. Even for the online version, there are a lot of mainland advertisements, and the newspaper's advertisement revenue is mainly supported by the mainland China market.

Wen Wei Po in the world

The newspaper's 33 official agencies in the mainland, including Beijing, Shanghai and Yunnan, help the paper gather news in the mainland and establish relationships with local officials/advertisers. It also has correspondents in major cities in the world, such as Tokyo, London and New York.

Wen Wei Po has five overseas editions. The latest edition is the Philippines edition, established in Manila on 8 October 2003. The other overseas editions are published in San Francisco, USA, Jakarta in Indonesia, Toronto in Canada and Bangkok in Thailand. It also has a European edition and a flight edition.

See also
  • Media of Hong Kong
  • Ta Kung Pao (大公報)
  • Wenhui-Xinmin United Press Group (文汇新民联合报业集团)
    • Shanghai Xinmin Evening News (新民晚报)

References
  1. Wang, Bess; Wong, Tin Chi (2018). "The Landscape of Newspapers in Hong Kong". In Huang, Yu; Song, Yunya (eds.). The Evolving Landscape of Media and Communication in Hong Kong. Hong Kong: City University of Hong Kong Press. pp. 13–30.
  2. "Contact Us". Wen Wei Po. Retrieved 22 June 2020. 香港 香港仔田灣海旁道7號興偉中心2-4樓 Head Office：3/F, Hing Wai Centre, 7 Tin Wan Pr aya Road, Aberdeen, HK.
  3. Betsy Tse (9 April 2015). "Basic Law violation seen as LOCPG tightens grip on HK publishers". EJ Insight.
  4. Guo, Steve (2018). "A Report on Public Evaluations of Media Credibility in Hong Kong". In Huang, Yu; Song, Yunya (eds.). The Evolving Landscape of Media and Communication in Hong Kong. Hong Kong: City University of Hong Kong Press. pp. 135–150.
  5. Centre for Communication and Public Opinion Survey (2019). "Tracking Research: Public Evaluation on Media Credibility - Survey Results" (PDF). The Chinese University of Hong Kong. Retrieved 14 March 2020.
  6. Lee, Chin-Chuan (1997). "Media Structure and Regime Change in Hong Kong". In Chan, Ming K. (ed.). The Challenge of Hong Kong's Reintegration with China. Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press. pp. 113–147. ISBN 9622094414.
  7. "China Cuts University Rolls by 30,000 in Bid to Curb Dissent". Los Angeles Times. 22 July 1989. Retrieved 11 May 2020.
  8. "The editor who stood up to Beijing". South China Morning Post. 2012. Retrieved 11 May 2020.
  9. "The Challenge of Hong Kong's Reintegration with China". google.com.
  10. "神舟七号提前至月底升空". Wen Wei Po. 2 September 2008. Retrieved 2 September 2008.
  11. "国产空天飞机三年内试飞". Wen Wei Po. 10 December 2007. Retrieved 4 September 2008.

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