Newspapers of Hong Kong

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Hong Kong is home to many of Asia's biggest newspapers. The territory has one of the world's largest press industries and is a major centre for print journalism.

Contents

[edit] Overview

[edit] Popularity

By a wide margin, the South China Morning Post is the most popular English newspaper. Among Cantonese newspapers, Oriental Daily and Apple Daily are the top sellers, while the Hong Kong Economic Times is the best-selling financial newspaper. According to independent surveys, Ming Pao and Hong Kong Economic Journal are the papers most trusted by local readers.

[edit] Paparazzi

The fact that The Sun and Oriental Daily are among those with the highest circulation can be explained by their approach. Both use an informal style, concentrating on celebrity gossip and paparazzi photography, and written to some degree in colloquial Cantonese phrases. This style of writing, as in other markets, is popular with a large section of the public. The content is often exaggerated or outright fabricated in order to claim "exclusives". Although the subjects of these alleged falsehoods have tried to express their dissatifaction through actions such as refusing interviews or even suing the reporters, they have not succeeded in stopping the papers' activities.

[edit] Number and price

The number of newspapers in the market has been stable for a long time. There are occasional attempts at establishing new types of newspaper and theme-oriented papers, but most of these new papers cannot compete with the more mainstream papers. However, the entry into the market of free newspapers Metropolis Daily, Headline Daily, am730, and The Epoch Times have spurred competition. In September 2007, The Standard changed its business model from a traditional daily into a free-sheet, to be distributed in commercial districts like Central and Admiralty.[1]

Most papers sell at the cover price of HKD$6, except the South China Morning Post ($7, while the Sunday edition costs $8). The economic recession brought about by SARS in 2003 led to some resellers pricing at $1 below the recommended price. According to the HK Newspaper Hawkers Association, the situation has lasted through to 2008, and some 10% of sellers maintain the cut price despite the change in the prevailing economic climate. The Association urges a return to resale price maintenance.[2]

[edit] Chinese-language newspapers

Ta Kung Pao, Hong Kong Commercial Daily, Sing Pao, and Wen Wei Po are all considered pro-Beijing and pro-government; Oriental Daily, 'The Sun and Sing Tao are considered as slightly pro-Beijing and pro-government; and Apple Daily often takes an anti-Beijing and pro-democracy stance. Oriental Daily, Apple Daily and The Sun are known for their sensational style, often gory pictures (e.g. of road accidents or murder scenes), and frequent borderline obscene coverage (including "prostitution guides"). Ming Pao and Sing Tao are considered as "serious" papers and are favoured by students and intellectuals. Hong Kong Economic Journal and Hong Kong Economic Times are business-oriented.

[edit] English-language newspapers

South China Morning Post and The Standard are both regarded as "serious" newspapers, and generally considered as neutral towards the government, though with the Post slightly more "establishment-leaning" and the Standard a little more liberal in its editorial stance. The Standard now presents itself as a business paper, but also carries general news. From September 10, 2007 it switched to free (advertising-supported) distribution.

The regional English language newspaper The Wall Street Journal Asia is also published in Hong Kong; the Asian editions of the International Herald Tribune and Financial Times are also available in the city.

[edit] Free tabloids

[edit] Free district posts

  • Ming Pao NT Edition (明報新界專線)
  • Sing Tao Daily - District Post (星島地區報)
  • Take Me Home
  • 南區新聞
  • 美新報

[edit] Relative reliability

According to the "Reliability of Hong Kong newspapers", research performed by the School of Journalism and Communication of the Chinese University of Hong Kong in 2001 (results stated below), out of 10, Sing Pao received 6.48 from the public and 5.89 from journalists. Compared to the highest mark, 7.54 of Ming Pao, and the lowest mark, 4.45 of Sun Daily, the reliability of Sing Pao was above average.

Rank Newspaper Average mark
(public)		 Average mark
(journalists)
1 Ming Pao 7.54 7.27
2 South China Morning Post 7.24 7.47
3 Sing Tao Daily 7.13 6.78
4 Sing Pao Daily News 6.48 5.89
5 Wen Wei Po 5.93 5.92
6 Oriental Daily 5.76 5.14
7 Ta Kung Pao 5.64 5.44
8 Apple Daily 5.15 5.08
9 Sun Daily 5.13 4.45

[edit] Defunct newspapers

  • Chinese Serial (1853-1856)
  • Sing Tao Evening News (1938-1996)
  • Eastern Express (1994-1996)
  • Hong Kong United Daily (1992-1995)
  • Television Daily ( - 1995)
  • Wah Kiu Yat Pao (1925-1995)
  • Hong Kong Today (1993-1994)
  • Hong Kong Times (1949-1994)
  • Ching Pao ( -1991)
  • The Star (1965-1984)
  • Tin Tin Daily News (天天日報) (1960-2000)

[edit] References

  1. ^ Standard to become free newspaper - RTHK, 3 September 2007
  2. ^ Diana Lee, "Plea to halt newspaper price war", The Standard, March 28, 2008

[edit] See also

Languages