Chinese journalists at struggling media group ‘have not been paid all year’
- Industry publication reports that 200 contractors at Jixi News Media Group have not received any wages for months
- Some may have to take their grievances to the local government, employee says
About 200 contractors, including editorial staff, at Jixi News Media Group in Jixi, Heilongjiang province, have not received any of their wages this year, Chinese media industry outlet Media Daily reported on Tuesday.
The group owns six local newspapers and broadcasters including Jixi Daily, Jixi People’s Radio Station and Jixi Television Station, as well as a newspaper publisher and some smaller media companies, with about 490 employees in total.
Around half of the employees are considered non-contract staff, which means their salaries are subsidised by the government because their employers, including Jixi Daily, are technically state propaganda outlets.
“These people are not affected [by the unpaid wages],” a non-contract staff member surnamed Li told the South China Morning Post. “But many people in peripheral operations like advertising and new media operations are contract staff and not under the government payroll. I know many of them had not been getting their pay for about a year.”