Oriental Daily News' logo
Oriental Daily News ( ) is a
Chinese language newspaper in Hong Kong
. It was established in 1969. It is one of
the two newspapers published by the
Oriental Press Group
Limited (東方報業集團有限公司
Jyutping: dung1
fong1 bou3 jip6 zaap6 tyun4 jau5 haan6 gung1 si1), found by Ma's
Family.
History
The founder of the newspaper was accused of committing heroin
trades and series of corruptions in 70s by Hong Kong government,
earning him the moniker 'White Powder'. He fled to Taiwan and never
returned to Hong Kong.
In 1999, the newspaper was found guilty of "scandalizing the
court", an extremely rare
criminal charge that
the
newspaper's conduct would undermine
confidence in the administration of justice . The charge was
brought after the newspaper had
published
abusive articles challenging the
judiciary's integrity and accusing it of bias in a
lawsuit the paper had instigated over a
photo of a
pregnant Faye Wong. The paper had also arranged for
paparazzi to track a
judge for 72 hours, to
provide the judge with first-hand experience with what
paparazzi do.
While
Oriental Daily targets at a more mature reader
group,
Sun Daily (太陽報
Jyutping: taai3 joeng4 bou3) is more youthful and
adventurous.
Oriental Daily is referred by many as a
tabloid because of its focus on soft news, i.e. news
that edges towards entertainment in its form and content. It also
adopts a sensational and critical style when reporting hard
news.
The paper has been number one in circulation since 1976, with a
record readership of over 3,100,000.
Apple Daily is its main competitor. While
claimed figures are around the 3 million (approx 5.72 readers per
copy) mark, Nielsen data from 2008 had the ODN at 1,762,000
(530,000 circulation), Apple Daily at 1,633,000 (347,000
circulation, The Sun at 537,000 readers (180,000 circulation)all
including online readers too.
Other selected readership figures as follows from full year 2008
and percentages of audience 12+ reached (including internet
readers).
Apple Daily News 1,633,000蘋果日報 31%
Oriental Daily News 1,762,000東方日報 33%
The Sun 537,000太陽報 10%
Ming Pao 447,000明報 8%
South China Morning Post 296,000南華早報 6%
Sing Tao Daily 339,000星島日報 6%
Hong Kong Economic Times 220,000經濟日報 4%
Sing Pao 61,000成報 1%
Hong Kong Daily News 74,000新報 1%
Hong Kong Economic Journal 74,000信報 1%
Headline Daily 1,093,000頭條日報 20%
Metro 616,000都巿日報 12%
am730 623,000
12%
Content
The paper does not differ greatly from other Chinese papers in
terms of content. The newspaper provides daily coverage of various
kinds of news, including local, international, financial, real
estate, entertainment,and sports news. Information on horse-racing,
soccer gambling, fashion trends and travel are also provided.
The
Oriental Daily is credited for a couple of
breakthroughs. In 1977, it was the first local paper to launch a
complaint page. These complaints could be against both public
agencies (including governmental departments) and private
companies. Readers can phone, fax or even complain through the
internet using realtime conference system. If the reporters find
the complaints interesting, they investigate and report them,
acting as a sort of
ombudsman for their
readers. This has contributed to local newspaper's role as an
influential channel for citizens to express their ideas and
articulate their antipathy.
The complaint page also reports on the response from the target of
the complaints. It thus tries to stay neutral and fair, aiming only
to arouse public awareness on the issues.
Facing keen competition,
Oriental Daily tries hard to keep
up with the city's pace. For instance, new columns like 'new
arrivals' postbox' were set up to accommodate the needs of
mainland readers. A new soccer gambling page was
also launched, with information on current
odds.
Its
editorial is one of a kind. It has two
editorial everyday. The first one is called the 'Main Editorial'
(正論), which is styled like a typical newspaper editorial. The
second one is called 'Kung Fu Tea' (功夫茶), which is written in the
vernacular form of
Cantonese, is a daily critic of the misfits of
the
bureaucracy and reflecting the
concerns of the grassroot population of Hong Kong.
Internet service
Oriental Daily, like many newspapers, has its own website.
It provides readers free access to full version, up-to-date news.
However, it only covers news of the day but not past issues.
Readers can, too, send e-mails instead of posting letters to
editors. An electronic message board is out there to record their
discussions.
Orisun.com is the flagship website of the Oriental Press
Group Limited. It was started in February 2002, and includes
e-paper versions of
Oriental Daily and
Sun Daily.
The whole printed version is uploaded onto the web allowing people
from all over the world to read. This helps promote online
newspaper viewing. However, one point to note is that readers have
to register and pay to subscribe to the e-papers. This is 'personal
information as commodity', as readers need to provide personal
information.
Competition and new developments
Apple Daily, established in 1995, is the paper's main
competitor. They declared a price war against each other in
December 1995.
Apple Daily reduced its price to
HKD$4 dollars. To retain its market share,
Oriental
Daily responded by reducing the price of newspaper to $2
dollars. During and after this war, six newspapers closed down due
to persistent losses, driving out competitors such as
Hong Kong
Daily News,
Sing Pao Daily News and
Tin Tin
News. The competition has led to changes in the paper's
presentation, with more use of colorful photos and
illustrations.
Competition also improved service quality, such as the introduction
of customer service centres.
Readers can report their complaints by
visiting these centres in Tsim Sha Tsui
and Wan Chai
.
Inside the centre, complaints can be lodged face-to-face to
reporters via a digital video conversation system.
Recently, Oriental Press Group Limited would like to extend its
business to America and Canada. Cities like New York and Toronto
which have high population of Chinese will be its first
target.
Contribution to society
Since 1980,
Oriental Daily has contributed to society
through the Oriental Daily Foundation. The foundation has helped
thousands through financial assistance and scholarships. The
paper's great number of donors promises a stable source of funding
for the foundation. During the
SARS outbreak, the fund helped
several newly-orphaned children, providing the finances to meet
basic needs and continue their education.
In 2002, the fund raised over eleven million dollars. The
cumulative amount collected since 1980 has exceeded $350 million
dollars.
See also
References
- [1]
External links
Source: Pinyin translated with
CozyChinese.COM
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