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This is a list of newspapers in Hong Kong. Hong Kong is home to many of Asia's biggest English and Chinese language newspapers. The territory has one of the world's largest press industries and is a major centre for print journalism.

Overview

Popularity

The Chinese language newspapers Headline Daily and Oriental Daily News have the highest shares in the Hong Kong newspaper market, while the Hong Kong Economic Times is the best-selling financial newspaper. The Standard, a free tabloid with a mass market strategy, is the most widely circulated English newspaper by a significant margin. Its rival, South China Morning Post, has the most paid subscribers among English-language papers in Hong Kong.

Paparazzi

Apple Daily had one of the highest circulations before its closing, due to their approach. They used an informal style, concentrating on celebrity gossip and paparazzi photography. Apple Daily had brash news style, sensationalist news reportage and was known for its anti-government political positions. The Chinese language publications were written to some degree with colloquial Cantonese phrases.[citation needed]

Number and price

The number of newspapers in the market has been stable for a long time. There are occasional attempts at establishing new types of newspaper and theme-oriented papers, but most of these new papers cannot compete with the more mainstream papers. However, the entry into the market of free newspapers Metropolis Daily, Headline Daily, am730, and The Epoch Times has spurred competition. In September 2007, The Standard changed its business model from a traditional daily into a free-sheet, distributed in commercial districts like Central and Admiralty.[1]

Most papers sell at the cover price of HK$9-10, except South China Morning Post (HK$9, while the Sunday edition, Sunday Morning Post, costs HK$10). The economic recession brought about by SARS in 2003 led to some resellers pricing at $1 below the recommended price. According to the HK Newspaper Hawkers Association, the situation has lasted through to 2008, and some 10% of sellers maintain the cut price despite the change in the prevailing economic climate. The Association urges a return to resale price maintenance.[2]

Chinese-language newspapers

Newspapers in Hong Kong are known to follow a particular political stance, with most being either pro-Beijing or pro-democracy. Some newspapers are completely neutral, or are oriented towards finance or religion. A few papers, such as Oriental Daily, Apple Daily, and The Sun are known for their sensational style, such as publishing gory pictures (e.g., of road accidents or murder scenes),[3] and engaging in borderline obscene coverage (including "prostitution guides") on a regular basis.[4]

Online only

Free tabloids

English-language newspapers

From 10 September 2007, The Standard switched to free, advertising-supported distribution. The South China Morning Post [8] announced on 11 December 2015 that the Alibaba Group would acquire the South China Morning Post from Malaysian tycoon Robert Kuok, who had owned it since 1993. As of 5 April 2016, the South China Morning Post's online content became free to read.[9]

Hong Kong is also the base of regional editions of foreign English-language newspapers. The International New York Times and Financial Times are published in Hong Kong.

Online only

Other language newspapers

Defunct newspapers

Chinese-language

English name(s) Chinese name(s) Year established Year closed Notes
The Friend of China 中國之友 1842 1859
Chinese Serial 遐爾貫珍 1853 1856
The Kung Sheung Daily News 工商日報 1925 1984
Tin Tin Daily News 天天日報 1960 2000
The Star 英文星報 1965 1984
Wah Kiu Yat Po 華僑日報 1925 1995
The Sun 太陽報 1999 2016 [10]
Sharp Daily 爽報 2011 2013 [11]
Metropolis Daily 都市日報 2002 2019
Apple Daily 蘋果日報 1995 2021 [12]

English-language

English name(s) Chinese name(s) Year established Year closed Notes
The China Mail 中國郵報
later known as 德臣西報		 1845 1974
Daily Press 每日雜報 1864 1941
Eastern Express 東快訊 1994 1996
Hongkong Telegraph 士蔑報 1881 1951
The Wall Street Journal Asia 亞洲華爾街日報 1976 2017

Online only

English name(s) Chinese name(s) Year established Year closed Notes
Citizen News 眾新聞 2017 2022
FactWire 傳真社 2015 2022
House News 主場新聞 2012 2014
Inkstone News 2018 2021
Stand News 立場新聞 2014 2021

See also

Notes

  1. ^ a b c † The indicated news outlets are indirectly owned and controlled by the Liaison Office of the Central People's Government.[5][6][7]

References

  1. ^ Standard to become free newspaper – RTHK, 3 September 2007
  2. ^ Diana Lee, "Plea to halt newspaper price war" Archived 29 April 2009 at the Wayback Machine, The Standard, 28 March 2008, in 2013, the newspapers changed price to $7.
  3. ^ "血腥旅巴留慘烈景象". The Sun (Hong Kong) (in Chinese (Hong Kong)). 26 August 2010. Retrieved 4 October 2020.
  4. ^ "《蘋果》《太陽》《東方》風月版裁一級". Ming Pao (in Chinese (Hong Kong)). 8 June 2007. Archived from the original on 21 August 2007. Retrieved 4 October 2020.
  5. ^ Betsy Tse (9 April 2015). "Basic Law violation seen as LOCPG tightens grip on HK publishers". EJ Insight. Retrieved 4 October 2020.
  6. ^ "《壹週刊》報導揭露中聯辦壟斷香港出版市場". The News Lens (in Chinese (Hong Kong)). 8 April 2015. Retrieved 20 September 2020.
  7. ^ "The Publishing Empire Helping China Silence Dissent in Hong Kong". Bloomberg. 18 August 2020. Retrieved 20 September 2020.
  8. ^ "Alibaba Buys HK's SCMP to Counter 'Western Bias'".
  9. ^ "Paywall down as Alibaba takes ownership of SCMP". 5 April 2016.
  10. ^ "紙媒進入凜冬，17年歷史的香港《太陽報》4月起停刊". Initium Media (in Chinese (Hong Kong)). 30 March 2016.
  11. ^ "Apple's free sister paper Sharp Daily folds after losing millions". South China Morning Post. 18 October 2013.
  12. ^ "Take care and don't give up hope: Apple Daily staff - RTHK". news.rthk.hk. Retrieved 24 June 2021.
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