China's media face change ( 2003-08-18 15:15) (Agencies)
Many Chinese people have been
noticing the media are changing their traditional ways of broadcasting news, as
ambitious reform plans formulated by the government are put into action.
In newspapers, ordinary people can read more stories closely related to their
lives rather than the activities of leaders, and on television they watched live
news about the war in Iraq. Behind all this is a fundamental reform involving
over 2,000 newspapers, 9,000-plus magazines and other Chinese media.
One sudden change came when all the Chinese print media, except science
journals, were asked to suspend looking for new subscribers next year.
According to new rules released by the State Administration of Press and
Publication on July 30, departments of the central government and the Communist
Party of China Central Committee should no longer subsidize any newspapers or
magazines which required a paid subscription.
The central government has decided to weed out some media that can yield no
social or economic profit, said Deputy Director Liu Binjie of the State
Administration of Press and Publication.
Experts say this reform is to make the Chinese press open to competition. Li
Ping, an editor with the China Water Resources News, said the change will bring
them both challenges and opportunities. The newspaper will lose some traditional
subscribers and face limitations from administrative departments, she said.
Such reform will spur media workers to do their best, said Zhang Xinsong with
the Economic Information Daily.
Some people meanwhile expressed some concerns. An editor with a local
industry newspaper said that without subsidies and support from the local
government, the newspaper might go out of business.
The press reform is not a complete surprise. Some press have been preparing
for such changes for a long time. Economic newspapers are among the first to
assume sole responsibility for their profits and losses. In Beijing, Shanghai
and Chongqing, television stations are planning to launch paid channels.
Press reform will help the media to better supervise the government and
safeguard social justice, which is also the reform aim of the Chinese
government, said Yu Guoming, a professor on media with the People's University
of China.
Chinese media have played positive roles in pushing reforms in China, but
this time the media themselves are facing changes and challenges, whether the
staff are ready or not, experts said.