The appointment of an outsider as the top party official at Guangzhou-based Nanfang Media Group has raised concern whether there will be a tighter grip over the popular outspoken media outlets.
Yang Jian, deputy chief of the Guangdong Communist Party propaganda department, was recently named the party boss at Nanfang Media, replacing Yang Xingfeng, who would remain as group president, said Beijing-based Century Weekly magazine in an online report.
Before the reshuffle, Yang Jian had been Xinhua's Guangdong bureau chief before taking the helm at the provincial Radio, Film and Television Administration in 2007.
The report quoted an unidentified source at the press group who said Yang Jian's appointment had deviated from the normal practice of filling top posts internally.
Yang Xingfeng and his predecessor Fan Yijin had worked for Nanfang for many years before being promoted to party secretary of the group.
Two of the mainland's most outspoken and respected newspapers, Southern Weekend and Southern Metropolis Daily are sister publications of the flagship Nanfang Daily.