"No matter how the situation changes, our original intention of running a newspaper will never change." "The paper is short and long, thank you for having you!" On December 31, at least 8 newspapers and magazines, including Guiyang Evening News, Yibin Evening News, Bazhong Evening News, Hebei Science and Technology News, Southern Rule of Law Daily, Luoyang Business Daily, Hefei Radio and Television News, and Wenzhou Radio and Television New Week, issued announcements saying that they would suspend publications and cease to publish paper editions from January 1, 2022. Some media research scholars told the upstream news (newspaper mailbox: [email protected]) reporter that the new round of shutdown of paper media in the new year does not represent its demise, "This is an inevitable change brought about by the development of media technology." ”
▲Yibin Evening News has been suspended since January 1, 2022. Image source/ Yibin Evening News
On December 31, Guiyang Evening News issued a "To Readers" announcement, announcing the suspension of the 8235 issues of the paper newspaper, ushering in a revision and upgrade, from January 1, 2022, it will be "Guiyang News Network", "Guiyang Toutiao" APP and Guiyang Evening News official WeChat three platforms online "Digital Newspaper", news information will be released in the form of news express, posters free of charge.
The upstream reporter noted that the "Southern Rule of Law Newspaper" sponsored by the head of the Southern Newspaper Group is different from the "Guiyang Evening News" and will completely withdraw from the public eye. The Southern Rule of Law Daily announced that after the newspaper was suspended from January 1, it would stop updating WeChat and Weibo new media accounts at the same time. "Luoyang Business Daily" and "Hebei Science and Technology News" were suspended for half a year. The suspension statement of "Bazhong Evening News" said that in order to meet the needs of media integration and development and promote media transformation and upgrading, Bazhong Evening News will be integrated into the new media matrix of Bazhong Daily and continue to bring readers people's livelihood and urban news with the characteristics of evening newspapers.
▲ Bazhong Evening News announced that it will be closed from January 1, 2022. Image source/ Bazhong Evening News
According to public information, these newspapers that issued a suspension statement on the last day of 2021 have a "brilliant past": as one of the two provincial-level newspapers founded earlier in Hebei Province, Hebei Science and Technology News has won the "first place in the quality evaluation of national science and technology newspapers" after 63 years of rural development and change in Hebei. Founded in 1980, Guiyang Evening News published a total of 8235 issues, covering the fields of economy, society, people's livelihood and education, and is the largest and most influential newspaper in Guiyang. Bazhong Evening News, formerly known as Qinba City, has a total circulation of 28.6 million copies.
▲ The cover of the last issue of the Southern Rule of Law Daily. Photo source/ Southern Rule of Law Daily
Li Xin, deputy dean of the School of Journalism and Communication of Zhejiang University of Media and Communication, told upstream journalists that the shutdown of newspapers does not represent the demise of the media, but a positive development, "This is an inevitable change brought about by the development of media technology, it is just a change in the way of content bearing, serious high-quality news will always have a market." ”
The newly released "2020-2021 China Publishing Industry Development Report" shows that under the impact of the epidemic, new changes have taken place in social reading needs and public reading habits, and the publishing industry needs to seize the opportunity of innovation and integration development to turn the crisis into safety. Li Xin, who has been in the print media industry for many years, believes that the future development of the media industry is a convergent development trend towards the concentration of the Internet, "media people should optimize the concept of public communication, report in-depth and demand content."
Upstream journalist Hu Lei intern Yang Xinyu