People's Daily
Encyclopedia
The People's Daily is a daily newspaper
in the People's Republic of China
. The paper is an organ of the Central Committee
of the Communist Party of China
(CPC), published worldwide with a circulation of 3 to 4 million. In addition to its main Chinese-language
edition, it has editions in English
, Japanese
, French
, Spanish
, Russian
, and Arabic
. Similar to Pravda
s relationship with the Soviet Union
, the newspaper provides direct information on the policies and viewpoints of the Party. It maintains an online presence as The People's Daily Online (人民网).
, Hebei
, until its offices were moved to Beijing
in March 1949. Ever since its founding, the People's Daily has been under direct control of the Party's top leadership. Deng Tuo
and Wu Lengxi served as editor-in-chief from 1948–1958 and 1958–1966, respectively, but the paper was in fact controlled by Mao
's personal secretary Hu Qiaomu
.
During the Cultural Revolution
, the People's Daily was one of the few sources of information from which either foreigners or Chinese could figure out what the Chinese government was doing. During this period, an editorial in the People's Daily would be considered an authoritative statement of government policy and was studied across the nation.
Newspaper articles in the People's Daily are often not read for content so much as placement. A large number of articles devoted to a political figure or idea is often taken as a sign that the mentioned official is rising.
Editorials in the People's Daily are also regarded both by foreign observers and Chinese readers as authoritative statements of government policy. Distinction is made between editorials, commentaries, and opinions. Although all must be government approved, they differ sharply on the amount of official authoritativeness they contain. For example, although an opinion piece is unlikely to contain views that are opposed to those of the government, it may express a viewpoint, or it may contain a debate that is still under consideration and may reflect only the opinions of the writer. By contrast, an official editorial, which is rather infrequent, means that the government has reached a final decision on an issue.
During the Tiananmen Square Protests of 1989
, the People's Daily editorial of April 26
, which condemned "unlawful parades and demonstrations," marked a significant moment in the newspaper's history. The editorial increased tension between the government and protesters, and top CPC leaders argued about whether to revise it.
Since the mid-1990s, the People's Daily has faced a decline of governmental subsidies combined with increasing competition from international news sources and Chinese tabloid
s. As part of its effort to modernize, it began an online edition in 1997, and the web bulletin forums, such as the Strengthening Nation Forum in the Chinese edition, has been known for their surprisingly candid content. The complexity of the People's Daily's situation can be seen by the fact that it is a dot-com, with banner advertising for washing machines and Coca-Cola next to banners promoting the Communist Party of China.
The People's Daily is also responsible for the publication of the strongly nationalistic Global Times
, and hosts the Strengthening Nation Forum on its website.
The internet new portal of People's Daily includes pages in Arabic, French, Russian, Spanish, Japanese and English. In comparison to the original Chinese version, the foreign language version offer less in-depth discussion of domestic policies and affairs and more editorial about China's foreign policies and motives, often explaining China's positive intentions. In addition, the portals runs an English page dedicated to Tibet, which can be understood as means to show China's positive attitude towards the province, which has become a major point of controversy worldwide.
Newspaper
A newspaper is a scheduled publication containing news of current events, informative articles, diverse features and advertising. It usually is printed on relatively inexpensive, low-grade paper such as newsprint. By 2007, there were 6580 daily newspapers in the world selling 395 million copies a...
in the People's Republic of China
People's Republic of China
China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...
. The paper is an organ of the Central Committee
Central Committee of the Communist Party of China
The Central Committee of the Communist Party of China is the highest authority within the Communist Party of China. Its approximately 350 members and alternates are selected once every five years by the National Party Congress....
of the Communist Party of China
Communist Party of China
The Communist Party of China , also known as the Chinese Communist Party , is the founding and ruling political party of the People's Republic of China...
(CPC), published worldwide with a circulation of 3 to 4 million. In addition to its main Chinese-language
Chinese language
The Chinese language is a language or language family consisting of varieties which are mutually intelligible to varying degrees. Originally the indigenous languages spoken by the Han Chinese in China, it forms one of the branches of Sino-Tibetan family of languages...
edition, it has editions in English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
, Japanese
Japanese language
is a language spoken by over 130 million people in Japan and in Japanese emigrant communities. It is a member of the Japonic language family, which has a number of proposed relationships with other languages, none of which has gained wide acceptance among historical linguists .Japanese is an...
, French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
, Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
, Russian
Russian language
Russian is a Slavic language used primarily in Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. It is an unofficial but widely spoken language in Ukraine, Moldova, Latvia, Turkmenistan and Estonia and, to a lesser extent, the other countries that were once constituent republics...
, and Arabic
Arabic language
Arabic is a name applied to the descendants of the Classical Arabic language of the 6th century AD, used most prominently in the Quran, the Islamic Holy Book...
. Similar to Pravda
Pravda
Pravda was a leading newspaper of the Soviet Union and an official organ of the Central Committee of the Communist Party between 1912 and 1991....
s relationship with the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
, the newspaper provides direct information on the policies and viewpoints of the Party. It maintains an online presence as The People's Daily Online (人民网).
History
The paper was established on June 15, 1948 and was published in PingshanPingshan County, Hebei
Pingshan County, Hebei is a county of Hebei, China. It is under the administration of the Shijiazhuang city.-Administrative Divisions:Towns:...
, Hebei
Hebei
' is a province of the People's Republic of China in the North China region. Its one-character abbreviation is "" , named after Ji Province, a Han Dynasty province that included what is now southern Hebei...
, until its offices were moved to Beijing
Beijing
Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...
in March 1949. Ever since its founding, the People's Daily has been under direct control of the Party's top leadership. Deng Tuo
Deng Tuo
Deng Tuo was a Chinese poet, intellectual and journalist. He became a cadre of the Chinese communist party and served as editor-in-chief of the People's Daily from 1948–1958...
and Wu Lengxi served as editor-in-chief from 1948–1958 and 1958–1966, respectively, but the paper was in fact controlled by Mao
Mao Zedong
Mao Zedong, also transliterated as Mao Tse-tung , and commonly referred to as Chairman Mao , was a Chinese Communist revolutionary, guerrilla warfare strategist, Marxist political philosopher, and leader of the Chinese Revolution...
's personal secretary Hu Qiaomu
Hu Qiaomu
Hu Qiaomu , was a revolutionary, sociologist, Marxist philosopher and prominent politician of People's Republic of China...
.
During the Cultural Revolution
Cultural Revolution
The Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, commonly known as the Cultural Revolution , was a socio-political movement that took place in the People's Republic of China from 1966 through 1976...
, the People's Daily was one of the few sources of information from which either foreigners or Chinese could figure out what the Chinese government was doing. During this period, an editorial in the People's Daily would be considered an authoritative statement of government policy and was studied across the nation.
Newspaper articles in the People's Daily are often not read for content so much as placement. A large number of articles devoted to a political figure or idea is often taken as a sign that the mentioned official is rising.
Editorials in the People's Daily are also regarded both by foreign observers and Chinese readers as authoritative statements of government policy. Distinction is made between editorials, commentaries, and opinions. Although all must be government approved, they differ sharply on the amount of official authoritativeness they contain. For example, although an opinion piece is unlikely to contain views that are opposed to those of the government, it may express a viewpoint, or it may contain a debate that is still under consideration and may reflect only the opinions of the writer. By contrast, an official editorial, which is rather infrequent, means that the government has reached a final decision on an issue.
During the Tiananmen Square Protests of 1989
Tiananmen Square protests of 1989
The Tiananmen Square protests of 1989, also known as the June Fourth Incident in Chinese , were a series of demonstrations in and near Tiananmen Square in Beijing in the People's Republic of China beginning on 15 April 1989...
, the People's Daily editorial of April 26
People's Daily editorial of April 26
On the morning of April 25, 1989, members of the Communist Party of China’s Politburo met at the home of Deng Xiaoping to discuss the recent student response to the death of former General Secretary Hu Yaobang. The words exchanged at this meeting were then used to construct the People’s Daily ...
, which condemned "unlawful parades and demonstrations," marked a significant moment in the newspaper's history. The editorial increased tension between the government and protesters, and top CPC leaders argued about whether to revise it.
Since the mid-1990s, the People's Daily has faced a decline of governmental subsidies combined with increasing competition from international news sources and Chinese tabloid
Chinese tabloid
Chinese tabloid refers to a newspaper format that became extremely popular in the People's Republic of China in the mid-1990s. Like tabloids in the rest of the world, they focus on sensationalism and scandal, but in the context of media in China this has the effect of challenging government limits...
s. As part of its effort to modernize, it began an online edition in 1997, and the web bulletin forums, such as the Strengthening Nation Forum in the Chinese edition, has been known for their surprisingly candid content. The complexity of the People's Daily
The People's Daily is also responsible for the publication of the strongly nationalistic Global Times
Global Times
The Global Times is a daily Chinese tabloid under the auspices of the official Chinese Communist Party newspaper, the People's Daily, focusing on international issues...
, and hosts the Strengthening Nation Forum on its website.
The internet new portal of People's Daily includes pages in Arabic, French, Russian, Spanish, Japanese and English. In comparison to the original Chinese version, the foreign language version offer less in-depth discussion of domestic policies and affairs and more editorial about China's foreign policies and motives, often explaining China's positive intentions. In addition, the portals runs an English page dedicated to Tibet, which can be understood as means to show China's positive attitude towards the province, which has become a major point of controversy worldwide.
Former and present chief officers
- Zhang Panshi (张磐石)
- Hu QiaomuHu QiaomuHu Qiaomu , was a revolutionary, sociologist, Marxist philosopher and prominent politician of People's Republic of China...
(胡乔木) - Fan ChangjiangFan ChangjiangFan Changjiang , originally named Fan Xitian , was a famous journalist, reporter and author in China. Fan was born in Sichuan Province and educated at Peking University . Fan committed suicide in Henan Province at the age of 61.-Biography:Fan started his career as a journalist in 1933...
(范长江) - Deng TuoDeng TuoDeng Tuo was a Chinese poet, intellectual and journalist. He became a cadre of the Chinese communist party and served as editor-in-chief of the People's Daily from 1948–1958...
(邓拓) - Hu Jiwei (胡绩伟)
- Qin Chuan (秦川)
- Qian LirenQian Liren-Early life:Born in 1924 in Zhenjiang, Jiangsu province, Qian had family origins in Jiaxing, Zhejiang province, and is a documented descendant of the kings of Wuyue...
(钱李仁) - Gao DiGao DiGao Di is a Chinese football player who plays as a forward for Shandong Luneng Taishan F.C..-Club career:Gao Di is a graduate of the Shandong Luneng youth team and would be promoted to the senior side during the 2008 league season...
(高狄) - Shao Huaze (邵华泽)
- Bai KemingBai KemingBai Keming graduated from department of missile engineering at Harbin Institute of Military Engineering. He joined Communist Party of China in 1975, and was a member of central committee of 16th CPC's national congress. He was the chief officer of People's Daily. He used to serve as the secretary...
(白克明) - Xu Zhongtian (许中田)
- Wang ChenWang Chen (politician)Wang Chen is the current Director of State Internet Information Office of the People's Republic of China and the Deputy Director of the Propaganda Department of the Communist Party of China....
(王晨) - Zhang Yannong (张研农) (incumbent)
See also
- Media of the People's Republic of ChinaMedia of the People's Republic of ChinaMedia of the People's Republic of China primarily consists of television, newspapers, radio, and magazines. Since 2000, the Internet has also emerged as an important communications medium....
- Xinhua News AgencyXinhua News AgencyThe Xinhua News Agency is the official press agency of the government of the People's Republic of China and the biggest center for collecting information and press conferences in the PRC. It is the largest news agency in the PRC, ahead of the China News Service...
- China News ServiceChina News ServiceThe China News Service is the second largest state-owned news agency in the People's Republic of China, after the Xinhua News Agency. It serves mainly overseas Chinese and residents of Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan....
- Reference NewsReference NewsReference News , first published on November 7, 1931, is a newspaper daily which has the largest circulation in mainland China with 3 million. It is published by Xinhua News Agency...
- Global TimesGlobal TimesThe Global Times is a daily Chinese tabloid under the auspices of the official Chinese Communist Party newspaper, the People's Daily, focusing on international issues...
- Strengthening Nation Forum
Further reading
- Wu Guoguang. "Command Communication: The Politics of Editorial Formulation in the People's Daily". China Quarterly 137:194–211.
- People's Daily. "人民日报基本情况" ("Basic facts about the People's Daily"), 2003-05-14.