Plan to save newspaper industry as youth increasingly turn to the internet
Mainland propaganda officials and editors of leading newspapers are drafting a five-year plan they hope will give the industry the direction it needs to survive in the digital age.
With newspapers' circulation and advertising revenues dropping, the General Administration of Press and Publication (GAPP) announced at an annual meeting in Beijing yesterday that the plan would be released next month and would specify press market targets, business models and general industry direction.
The mainland's newspaper industry leads the world in quantity but is facing increasing competition from the internet and other new media for advertising revenue.
GAPP vice-president Shi Feng said that in the past five years, 'the press industry has faced a serious challenge'.
'Many obvious problems have arisen, including imbalanced development of newspaper groups, the growing consumption gap between urban and rural residents and increasingly cutthroat competition among newspapers.'
He said the information technology revolution had accelerated the proliferation of media players and dealt traditional outlets a big blow.
Wang Guoqing , deputy director of GAPP's newspapers and periodicals department, said the plan aimed to ensure that, by the end of 2010, three in 10 households regularly bought a newspaper.
Ms Wang said the plan would encourage newspapers to change the way they did business and advocate support for major media groups to help the industry cope with rising competition.
There are 39 newspaper groups on the mainland.
Other measures include encouraging a variety of content in a single newspaper, fostering information value-added services and promoting the development of digital newspapers.
Mr Shi said traditional media had distanced themselves from the younger generation, who were more passionate about the internet and other new technologies. He said the market economy required a more market-oriented and multifaceted business model and, to meet increasing market competition, traditional party-run newspapers should sharpen their competitive edge through consolidation.
Mr Shi added: 'Driven by commercial profit, some media had lost some of their sense of their political and social responsibilities. Mainstream media should take more responsibility to continue their function as propaganda tools of the party and government.'
