Ta Kung Pao
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Cover of the first issue
Ta Kung Pao (Chinese: 大公報; formerly L'Impartial) is the oldest alive Chinese language newspapers in China which has based in Hong Kong and been funded by the People's Republic of China Government after 1949. Highly regarded as the mouthpiece of Communist Party of China, it covers a range of political, economic and cultural topics.
In June 2002, Ta Kung Pao newspaper celebrated its 100th birthday although there has been rumors that the PRC Government would cut the funding for supporting pro-communist newspapers after the transfer of sovereignty of Hong Kong.
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History
Ying Lianzi (英斂之) founded the newspaper in Tientsin (now Tianjin) on 17 June, 1902 in order to, in Ying's own words, 'help China become a modern and democratic nation'. Unlike its present editorial style, the paper put forward the slogan 4-No-ism" (四不主義) in the early years, pledging to say "No" to any parties, any governments, commercial companies, and any persons.
It stood up to the repression at the time, openly criticizing the Empress Dowager Cixi 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.
The head office of Ta Kung Pao is at Hennessy Road, Wan Chai, Hong Kong Island, with many offices in mainland China, such as Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin, Inner-Mongolia, Guangzhou, etc.
With the increasing popularity of internet, the paper was the earliest Chinese newspaper to establish a website "TaKungPao.com" in 1995.
Present
Ta Kung Pao was regarded as a paper that published only positive news, in respect of the PRC-HKSAR relationship. It has favourable relationship with the Government, all Blue-Chips, and Pro-CPC parties. The line between advertorial and editorial is faded. \
The exact local circulation is unknown, but it's among the lowest 3 selling newspaper in the severe competition, with less than 10,000 circulations every day.
Despite losing its popularity, the paper is renowed for its almost error-free in literacy.
See also
External link
- http://www.TaKungPao.com (The homepage of Ta Kung Pao)zh:大公报