Popular newspaper sacrifices bold image for self-censorship

There are thousands of publications in Guangdong, but very few of them are worth paying for because of the heavy hand of government control.

However, one outspoken newspaper, The Southern Metropolis News, has earned public respect for its investigative reports and independent commentaries.

Every day, the paper publishes four different editions - for residents of Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Dongguan and the rest of the Pearl River Delta region. Daily circulation in the past two years has been about 1.5 million copies, and with each edition exceeding 120 pages, it's the thickest and most expensive daily on the mainland.

Back issues are popular in Zhaoqing , a small city not covered by the newspaper's circulation network, where the state media toes the censors' line.

But there are increasing signs of self-censorship - including an order that bans the paper's most prominent commentator from writing any commentaries. Chang Ping , former deputy editor of Southern Weekly and now a senior researcher, confirmed that Nanfang Press Group censors had banned him from writing any analyses for The Southern Metropolis News and Southern Metropolis Weekly since late last month.

He said he wasn't given a reason and he did not know if any of his articles had prompted the ban.

Chang's colleague Kuang Biao , an award-winning political cartoonist, was also punished by the newspaper after he drew an illustration criticising the ban. In the widely circulated yet unpublished cartoon, Chang's hands are tied tightly by ropes and his throat is squeezed by two people.