Sing Pao Daily News
Encyclopedia
Sing Pao Daily News is one of the oldest Chinese newspaper
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...

s in Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...

 and was first published on May 1, 1939 by the Sing Pao Newspaper Company Limited (成報報刊有限公司 Pinyin
Pinyin
Pinyin is the official system to transcribe Chinese characters into the Roman alphabet in China, Malaysia, Singapore and Taiwan. It is also often used to teach Mandarin Chinese and spell Chinese names in foreign publications and used as an input method to enter Chinese characters into...

: Chéngbào Bàokān Yǒuxiàn Gōngsī). It was initially published once every three days, and later once a day. According to Sing Pao, it circulates about 100,000 copies every day, with over 220,000 readers (as of 2003). People from Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...

, Macau
Macau
Macau , also spelled Macao , is, along with Hong Kong, one of the two special administrative regions of the People's Republic of China...

, Taiwan
Taiwan
Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...

 and Mainland China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...

 can also buy and read it. In addition, people from all over the world can read Sing Pao anytime on the Internet
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...

 simply by visiting its official site.

The Newspaper

Sing Pao consists of various News Sections:
  • Local — This section contains Hong Kong
    Hong Kong
    Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...

     headlines, an editorial column, local news and related softnews, as well as a complaint board.
  • International (including PRC and Taiwan) — This section consists of international news, news from China
    China
    Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...

    , amusing international softnews, and profiles of international leaders.
  • Economics — In this section, one can find Economic headlines, news on Chinese Business, finance information, investment tips, and information on the property market.
  • Entertainment — In this section, there is wide coverage of local and international entertainment news.
  • Sports — This section focuses on football news, including football-gambling, NBA
    National Basketball Association
    The National Basketball Association is the pre-eminent men's professional basketball league in North America. It consists of thirty franchised member clubs, of which twenty-nine are located in the United States and one in Canada...

    , and other news.
  • Horse-racing
  • Supplementary Sections, such as Holiday, Foods and Drinks, Cars, Mobile phones, Computers and Software, Fashion and Beauty, Health, and Education.


Sing Pao especially targets teenagers and it has many school
School
A school is an institution designed for the teaching of students under the direction of teachers. Most countries have systems of formal education, which is commonly compulsory. In these systems, students progress through a series of schools...

 subscriptions. It has an editorial section for students, where young readers can summit their essays by post, fax
Fax
Fax , sometimes called telecopying, is the telephonic transmission of scanned printed material , normally to a telephone number connected to a printer or other output device...

 or [email. Therefore, readers have a chance to share and learn from the essays of others. In addition, readers can get all sorts of useful information on education in Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...

, ranging from kindergarten to tertiary institutions at the Teacher and Student Corner. There are some articles about further studies overseas as well.

To give readers a clearer picture of what is happening in this constantly changing world
World
World is a common name for the whole of human civilization, specifically human experience, history, or the human condition in general, worldwide, i.e. anywhere on Earth....

 as well as Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...

, Sing Pao also provides Weekly International News Highlights and a Corner about the Hong Kong Legislative Council. In this section, readers not only get a quick overview of current affairs happening around the world but also an opportunity to express their views.

Improvement in technology

In order to meet the advancement of the modern technology and the demands of IT
Information technology
Information technology is the acquisition, processing, storage and dissemination of vocal, pictorial, textual and numerical information by a microelectronics-based combination of computing and telecommunications...

 people, Sing Pao introduced the PDA Channel. By utilizing this channel, people using PDAs
Personal digital assistant
A personal digital assistant , also known as a palmtop computer, or personal data assistant, is a mobile device that functions as a personal information manager. Current PDAs often have the ability to connect to the Internet...

 can download the most up-to-date news (including politics, current affairs, international affairs, entertainment, and even horse-racing information) from the official Sing Pao website. It is convenient to readers who often browse news online, and it can further enlarge the circle of possible users.

Financial problems

Sing Pao experienced a change of ownership in 2000 due to a decline in sales. In 2000, the StarEastNet Limited (東魅網) and China Strategic Holdings Limited (中策集團) bought Sing Pao and announced that the reporting style would remain the same, but the main focus would shift to entertainment news and advertisements in order to satisfy public interest. Furthermore, Chief Executive Officer
Chief executive officer
A chief executive officer , managing director , Executive Director for non-profit organizations, or chief executive is the highest-ranking corporate officer or administrator in charge of total management of an organization...

 Ng-Ching has been targeting the Chinese market to properly expand its service as an advertisement agent. But the date to initiate the circulation of Sing Pao is unknown at this time.

However, in 2002, there was another change of ownership. Sun Media (陽光文化媒體集團) bought Sing Pao Media Group (including Sing Pao) for 1 billion (??). The company promised that they would re-structure the organization of Sing Pao and targeted the reduction of its loss in recent years until a balanced budget was reached.

The newspaper was under financial troubles again in early 2006, during which it was unable to pay the salaries of various employees on time. Eventually, in May 2004, 23 of its reporters—led by Kwok Yin-Ling (?) (郭燕玲), the assistant chief editor—took sick leave together as a measure/protest against the management. However, no agreement could be reached and the reporters resigned in the end. Some top-level executives (and board members?) have resigned after this incident. As of June 2006, at least 60 employees have left Sing Pao, the Mandatory Provident Fund Schemes Authority is suing Sing Pao because of all the MPF Sing Pao hasn't paid, and the Labour Department is suing Sing Pao because of the unpaid wages.

The Labour Departnebt won and on 3 January 2007, Sing Pao was fined HK$4200. The media and the head of the Labour Department criticized the punishment as being too light. In face of the criticisms, the magistrate reopened the case on his own initiative the next day, as authorized by law (Chapter 227, Section 104(5)). With the Magistrates' Courts, there is no functus officio
Functus officio
Functus officio, Latin for "having performed his office," is a legal term used to describe a public official, court, governing body, statute, or other legal instrument that retains no legal authority because his or its duties and functions have been completed...

; the magistrate can reopen his own case within 14 days. This led to other people criticizing the magistrate's decision to reopen, saying it gives the impression of popular and executive interference in the judiciary. [ Audrey Eu
Audrey Eu
Yuet Mee Audrey Eu , LLB, LLM, SC, JP is a member of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong and the former leader of the Civic Party.-Education and legal career:...

, Ming Pao
Ming Pao
Ming Pao is a Chinese language newspaper published by Ming Pao Group in Hong Kong. In the 1990s, Ming Pao established four overseas branches in North America, each provides independent reporting on local news and collect local advertisements. Currently, only the two Canadian editions remain: Ming...

, 9Jan2007]

Reliability and Criticism

Although Sing Pao has a motto of reporting the truth fairly and objectively, it has faced criticism too. On 4 February 2003, a reader complained to the Hong Kong Journalists Association (香港記者協會 Pinyin:xiāng gǎng jì zhě xié huì) that Sing Pao published the full name, address, and picture of a victim in their paper, which violated their personal privacy.

External links


Source:Pinyin translated with CozyChinese.COM
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