The Paper (Chinese: 澎湃新闻; lit. 'Surging News') is a Chinese digital newspaper owned and run by the state-owned Shanghai United Media Group.

The Paper
The Paper headquarters
TypeDaily newspaper
FormatOnline newspaper
PublisherShanghai United Media Group
FoundedJuly 2014; 10 years ago (2014-07)
Political alignmentChinese Communist Party
LanguageMandarin Chinese
Headquarters839 Yan'an West Road, Jing'an District, Shanghai
Sister newspapersSixth Tone
Websitewww.thepaper.cn Edit this at Wikidata

History

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The Paper was launched in July 2014 as an offshoot of the Shanghai United Media Group publication Oriental Morning Post. It received a large amount of initial funding, speculated to be anywhere from US$16 million to 64 million.[1] Of this, RMB 100 million (approximately $14,500,000) was provided by the government through the Cyberspace Administration of China.

The Paper was founded as an attempt to capture the readership of mobile internet users as revenue from mainstream physical papers across China saw major declines in the early 2010s.[2]: 599 

In May 2016, The Paper launched Sixth Tone, an English-language sister publication.[3]

Reporting

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The Paper was originally given greater leeway in its reporting than other comparable organizations in China, where the government heavily censors and controls media. In allowing relative autonomy, the government aims to foster a media organization popular with younger online users that will still follow the political line of the Chinese Communist Party.[4][2]: 500–502 

The Paper has focused in particular on investigative reporting. The day of its founding, it published a piece on judicial misconduct in Anhui province, prompting the Anhui High People's Court to reopen an investigation into the case.[2]: 504  It has since become known for similar stories on societal scandals and corruption, including its series on Ling Jihua.[3][needs update]

References

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  1. ^ Olesen, Alexa (23 July 2014). "The New Website That Has China Buzzing". Foreign Policy. Retrieved 21 June 2020.
  2. ^ a b c Peter, Alain; Chen, Mengshu; Carrasco, Silvia (17 January 2017). "Power interplay and newspaper digitization: Lessons from the Pengpai experiment". Global Media and China. 1 (4): 497–510. doi:10.1177/2086336416687313.
  3. ^ a b Tatlow, Didi Kirsten (5 April 2016). "Digital Paper in China Covers Contentious Issues, Now in English". The New York Times. Retrieved 21 June 2020.
  4. ^ Speelman, Tabitha (15 December 2015). "Looking for Smarter, Sexier Chinese State Media? There's an App for That". Foreign Policy. Retrieved 21 June 2020.
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