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''Southern Weekly'' (literally ''Southern Weekend;'' ), is a Chinese weekly newspaper based in
Guangzhou Guangzhou (, ; ; or ; ), also known as Canton () and alternatively romanized as Kwongchow or Kwangchow, is the capital and largest city of Guangdong province in southern China. Located on the Pearl River about north-northwest of Hong Kon ...
, and is a sister publication of the newspaper ''
Nanfang Daily The ''Nanfang Daily'' (), also known as ''Southern Daily'' and ''Nanfang Ribao'', is the official newspaper of the Guangdong provincial committee of the Chinese Communist Party. The paper was established in Guangzhou on October 23, 1949. On Oct ...
''.


History and profile

''Southern Weekly'', founded in 1984, has its head office in Guangzhou, with news bureaus in Beijing, Shanghai and
Chengdu Chengdu (, ; Simplified Chinese characters, simplified Chinese: 成都; pinyin: ''Chéngdū''; Sichuanese dialects, Sichuanese pronunciation: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: ), Chinese postal romanization, alternatively Romanization of Chi ...
. The paper is published by the Nanfang Daily group under the Guangdong Committee of the
Chinese Communist Party The Chinese Communist Party (CCP), officially the Communist Party of China (CPC), is the founding and One-party state, sole ruling party of the China, People's Republic of China (PRC). Under the leadership of Mao Zedong, the CCP emerged victoriou ...
(CCP). It is printed simultaneously in many Chinese cities, and distributed to the whole of the
Chinese mainland "Mainland China" is a geopolitical term defined as the territory governed by the People's Republic of China (including islands like Hainan or Chongming), excluding dependent territories of the PRC, and other territories within Greater China. ...
. ''Southern Weekly'' currently operates upon 8 key sections: News, Defense, Current Political Situation, Economy, Environment, Culture, Supplement, and Comment, together with an editorial guideline of "Justice, Conscience, Love, Rationality". Circulation is more than 1.6 million copies, on average, which is said to be the biggest weekly circulation of any newspaper on the Chinese mainland. Thus it is considered to be one of the most influential media outlets in China. However, as of 2007 it had the highest circulation in Beijing. Although the CCP controls various aspects of the newspaper, ''Southern Weekly'' is still considered the most outspoken newspaper in China. ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' has described the ''Southern Weekend'' as "China's most influential liberal newspaper". Outlets such as
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...
and '' n+1'' have termed the newspaper as one of the country's most respected. When U.S. President Obama visited China in 2009, he turned down an interview with
China Central Television China Central Television (CCTV) is a Chinese state- and political party-owned broadcaster controlled by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Its 50 different channels broadcast a variety of programing to more than one billion viewers in six lan ...
, and instead accepted to talk to ''Southern Weekly''. The interview later turned out to be pale and avoided controversial topics, which was interpreted as the result of authorities' pressure. After Obama then issued a letter to the newspaper praising its commitment to press freedom, the paper was forced to omit it in its report due to government censors. ''Southern Weekly'' protested by featuring two large blank spaces on its first two pages. The paper has built an audience of liberal-minded readers outside Guangdong Province. In 2010, the newspaper was reported to have a larger news bureau and greater circulation in politically charged Beijing than it did in southern China. Because the paper pushes the limits on domestic political reporting, its editors are often fired and replaced. Meanwhile, being a commercial spin-off of ''Nanfang Daily'' in Guangdong Province, ''Southern Weekly'' also attracts audiences with entertainment, consumer-oriented lifestyle and sports coverage. In the "China's 500 most valuable brands" released by World Brand Laboratory in 2009, ''Southern Weekly'' was ranked at the first position in weekly publications by 4.4 billion RMB of brand value. In one of the many incidents of the paper running up against the authorities, in January 2013, the provincial propaganda authorities forced ''Southern Weekly'' to run a provided commentary glorifying the CCP in place of the paper's annual new year editorial, which had been a call for proper implementation of the country's constitution. Journalists working at the newspaper publicly objected to this interference – which is an unusual occurrence in China – via
Sina Weibo Sina Weibo (新浪微博) is a Chinese microblogging ( weibo) website. Launched by Sina Corporation on 14 August 2009, it is one of the biggest social media platforms in China, with over 582 million monthly active users (252 million daily acti ...
. The CCP's censorship order was believed to have come from provincial propaganda chief
Tuo Zhen Tuo Zhen (; born 9 September 1959) is a Chinese official, serving the Chief Editor and President of the ''People's Daily'', an official newspaper of the CPC since April 2018. From July 2015 to March 2018 he as the deputy head of the Propaganda Dep ...
, a former vice-president of state-run ''
Xinhua Xinhua News Agency (English pronunciation: )J. C. Wells: Longman Pronunciation Dictionary, 3rd ed., for both British and American English, or New China News Agency, is the official state news agency of the People's Republic of China. Xinhua ...
''."Outrage at Guangdong newspaper forced to run party commentary"
''SCMP'', 4 January 2013. Retrieved 6 January 2012.
"''Southern Weekly'' reporters confront China censors"
''BBC'', 4 January 2013. Retrieved 6 January 2012.
On 7 January 2013, protesters gathered outside the newspaper's headquarters to support journalists on strike due to censorship, among them, Bill Chou.


Notable reports


Notable events


2001 banned book incident

Liao Yiwu Liao may refer to: Chinese history * Liao (Zhou dynasty state) (蓼), two states in ancient China during the Spring and Autumn period in the 8th and 7th centuries BC * Liao of Wu (吳王僚) (died 515 BC), king of Wu during ancient China's Spring a ...
, the author of '' The Corpse Walker: Real Life Stories: China From the Bottom Up'', a book banned in China which published conversations with China's poorest people, told
Voice of America Voice of America (VOA or VoA) is the state-owned news network and international radio broadcaster of the United States of America. It is the largest and oldest U.S.-funded international broadcaster. VOA produces digital, TV, and radio content ...
that ''Southern Weekly'''s editor-in-chief, deputy-editor-in-chief and director of the newsroom were all sacked for publishing a discussion he had about his book.


2005 Group Resignation Incident

Reportedly a large number of journalists quit their jobs to voice anger against the newly elected editor-in-chief, but later the Southern media group published a statement that said this was fake information.


2007 Annual Ceremony Incident

In a national gathering that ''Southern Weekly'' held in Beijing Bayi Theater, Du Daozheng, the editor of a magazine called Yan Huang Chun Qiu, was awarded the most respectable Chinese media, but a central government propaganda office official called and ordered the award to be canceled. All related shots of the ceremony were also deleted.


2009 Obama Interview Incident


2013 New Year Editorial Incident

The provincial propaganda authorities forced ''Southern Weekly'' to run a provided commentary glorifying the
Chinese Communist Party The Chinese Communist Party (CCP), officially the Communist Party of China (CPC), is the founding and One-party state, sole ruling party of the China, People's Republic of China (PRC). Under the leadership of Mao Zedong, the CCP emerged victoriou ...
in place of the paper's annual new year editorial, which had been a call for proper implementation of the country's constitution. Journalists on the paper publicly objected to this interference – which is an unusual occurrence in China – via
Sina Weibo Sina Weibo (新浪微博) is a Chinese microblogging ( weibo) website. Launched by Sina Corporation on 14 August 2009, it is one of the biggest social media platforms in China, with over 582 million monthly active users (252 million daily acti ...
. The censorship order was believed to have come from provincial propaganda chief
Tuo Zhen Tuo Zhen (; born 9 September 1959) is a Chinese official, serving the Chief Editor and President of the ''People's Daily'', an official newspaper of the CPC since April 2018. From July 2015 to March 2018 he as the deputy head of the Propaganda Dep ...
, a former vice-president of state-run
Xinhua Xinhua News Agency (English pronunciation: )J. C. Wells: Longman Pronunciation Dictionary, 3rd ed., for both British and American English, or New China News Agency, is the official state news agency of the People's Republic of China. Xinhua ...
.


References


External links


Official Website of Southern Daily

Official Website of Southern Weekly

English news about Southern Weekly
{{Authority control Weekly newspapers published in China Chinese-language newspapers (Simplified Chinese) Publications with year of establishment missing Mass media in Guangzhou Chinese Communist Party newspapers