Over 400 Newspapers and Periodicals to Be SuspendedBy the end of this year, more than 400 newspapers and periodicals run by department or bureau under the level of province or ministry will all be marketized.At the recent "Symposium on the 'Computer World' Phenomenon", Liu Bo, head of the press department under the State Press and Publication Administration, expressed that the 400-odd newspapers and periodicals to be put into the market, will either be absorbed by local Party papers, or taken over by non-Party or non-governmental trade associations. Besides, their names will no longer be used. Otherwise, they have to be suspended. It's reported that the nationwide newspaper and magazine screening and rectification work launched in August last year has now concluded, and it has achieved two targets: first, transforming government organization-run newspapers into newspapers run along the market orientation, thereby breaking the monopoly of the trade by these newspapers, second, changing the subscription at public expense into subscription with private money. The hottest topics discussed at the symposium were: whether media are enterprises, marketization of media and capital operation of media. Officials with the State Press and Publication Administration said they had started investigation and study in regard to these issues. |
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