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The ''World Economic Herald'' () was a newspaper based in
Shanghai Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flow ...
, China. It was founded in 1980 by
Qin Benli Qin Benli (; August 13, 1918 – April 16, 1991) was a well-known Chinese journalist, newspaper editor, commentator, and founder of the '' World Economic Herald'' newspaper. Benli grew up as the eldest of four children (two sisters and one brother) ...
(), who acted as its chief editor until its closure by 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 ...
Shanghai government in May 1989, after the
1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre The Tiananmen Square protests, known in Chinese as the June Fourth Incident (), were student-led demonstrations held in Tiananmen Square, Beijing during 1989. In what is known as the Tiananmen Square Massacre, or in Chinese the June Fourth ...
. The ''Herald'' gained a reputation for being one of the most influential, forthright, and liberal weekly newspapers in China during the 1980s, a period of relative freedom in the country's modern history. It excelled in publishing editorials and news pushing political and economic reform in China.


History

The ''Herald'' was founded in April 1980. For decades, since the founding of the Republic in 1949, the press had been tightly controlled by the
Communist Party of China The Chinese Communist Party (CCP), officially the Communist Party of China (CPC), is the founding and sole ruling party of the People's Republic of China (PRC). Under the leadership of Mao Zedong, the CCP emerged victorious in the Chinese Civil ...
and used almost exclusively for the purposes of political communication—from the Party's leaders to the populace. No private publications were allowed to exist. After the launching of reforms after the
Cultural Revolution The Cultural Revolution, formally known as the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, was a sociopolitical movement in the People's Republic of China (PRC) launched by Mao Zedong in 1966, and lasting until his death in 1976. Its stated goal ...
, however, there was a blossoming of print publication in China. The number of newspapers in China went from 200 nationally in 1976 to 320 in 1979, the year after the beginning of reforms. By the first half of the 1980s, less than half of the newspapers in the country had been established in the last five years. By 1987 there were 2,509 newspapers in China, 255 of which were printed daily. The ''Herald'', based in
Shanghai Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flow ...
, became one of the most liberal and outspoken in all of China. It gained this role quickly primarily due to its 'independence,' that is political independence, since its founding. It was self-financed and free from institutional links to the Communist Party and government. The paper introduced new ideas about economic reform and development, popularizing economic knowledge related to both domestic and international matters. The ''Herald'' was praised for helping to promote China's economic reforms and it was considered "an authority on both world and national economic issues," according to Won Ho Chang, Professor and Director of the Stephenonson Research Center at the
University of Missouri The University of Missouri (Mizzou, MU, or Missouri) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbia, Missouri. It is Missouri's largest university and the flagship of the four-campus Universit ...
's School of Journalism. In its first two years it focused primarily on matters of
international economics International economics is concerned with the effects upon economic activity from international differences in productive resources and consumer preferences and the international institutions that affect them. It seeks to explain the patterns and ...
, before expanding to coverage of
China's economy The People's Republic of China has an upper middle income developing mixed socialist market economy that incorporates economic planning through industrial policies and strategic five-year plans. —Xu, Chenggang. "The Fundamental Institutio ...
. By the late 1980s the paper's orientation was that without political reform, economic reform would eventually be ineffectual. The paper never formally endorsed by the Party, but it was printed under the sponsorship of the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences and the World Economic Society. It sometimes thus had to pay more for newsprint and distribution (through the postal system). The Herald used to be printed on the presses of the Liberation Daily and did not have to submit proofs for scrutiny before going to press.


Political impact

Like newspapers that have succeeded it in the digital age, such as ''
Caijing ''Caijing'' is an independent magazine based in Beijing that covers societal, political, and economic issues, with a focus on civil rights, public affairs, and business.James F. Scotton"New Media for a New China,"John Wiley & Sons, 8 March 2010, ...
'' and the ''Nanfang'' newspapers, the ''Herald'' was able to survive in times of political difficulty because its editor-in-chief exercised careful judgement. "Qin Benli was adept at gauging the political climate, lying low when necessary and resurfacing at the appropriate moment." The political impact of the ''Herald'' went beyond mere survivability. According to Lynn White II and Li Cheng, the development of the ''Herald'' was closely connected with China's "technocratic movement," which helped popularize notions of "science" and "democracy." Political development in the 1980s put emphasis on those ideas and the Herald played a "critical role" as part of this "elitist movement."Li Cheng and Lynn T. White, III
"China's Technocratic Movement and the World Economic Herald,"
Modern China, Vol. 17, No. 3 (Jul., 1991), pp. 342-388, Sage Publications, Inc.


Shutdown

The newspaper was shut down amidst the political turmoil of the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre. Former regime chief Jiang Zemin is thought to have played a significant role in the action. A "reorganization group" was installed to oversee the paper's closure while the chief-editor Qin Benli was ousted.Editorial Board of the World Economic Herald
''Statement of Our Views on the Shanghai Party Committee's "Decision" to Reorganize the ''World Economic Herald''
May 1, 1989. Published in Ogden, Suzanne, "China's Search for Democracy: The Student and the Mass Movement of 1989," M.E. Sharpe, 1992, pp. 157-158, 0873327233
The newspaper's editorial board responded with a statement of "Our Attitudes and Demands," on May 1, 1989. They characterized the decisions made by the Shanghai Party Committee as "conspicuously unjust" which "damaged the image of the party and the state." The editorial board charged that the Shanghai Party Committee with "disregarded the facts and dealt with the problem in an oversimplified and crude way." The board demanded that the suspension of Comrade Qin Benli be annulled and that the matter should be handled "strictly" according to the law and the "fundamental rights of the news agencies."


Notes

{{Reflist Jiang Zemin 1980 establishments in China 1989 disestablishments in China Business newspapers published in China Communist newspapers Defunct newspapers published in China Newspapers published in Shanghai Publications established in 1980 Publications disestablished in 1989