A newsstand in downtown Beijing. Many newspapers and magazines including metro newspapers such as the Beijing Times and trade papers such as the China Energy News are facing difficult times. Feng Yongbin / China Daily

Newspapers, magazines chart restructuring plans to transform into real enterprises

Bai Jiancheng was named editor-in-chief of China Electric Power News in April 2006, a time when it seemed as if the lights were dimming on the 25-year-old newspaper. The Chinese power industry was undergoing an overhaul, launched in 2003, to introduce greater competition and redistribute resources more efficiently. The reforms led to the establishment of major electric power corporations, each forming its own media enterprises, with newspapers, magazines, websites, film and TV. Before the restructuring, China Electric Power News dominated administrative resources. When its reporters went to the power companies for interviews, they were guaranteed red-carpet treatment. Suddenly, these advantages disappeared.

With intense competition from the newly formed media enterprises, about 50 of the best reporters and editors were recruited to other jobs. Many became press officers for large electric power groups, with higher salaries and better titles.

"When we lost our resources under the old system, reform seemed to be the only way out for us," Bai says. "Our goal was quite simple: to stay alive."

Five years later, many more newspapers and magazines, including metro newspapers such as the Beijing Times and trade papers such as the China Energy News, are standing at the same crossroad. It is time to restructure their business models and start acting like real businesses, as the government requires.

1,300 and counting

On May 8, China Press and Publishing Media Group was founded. Based on the China Press and Publishing Journal, the group consists of one newspaper, two magazines, one website and one advertising agency. It aims to turn from a simple information provider to the No 1 comprehensive service provider in the Chinese press and publishing industry.

According to Liu Binjie, director of the General Administration of Press and Publication (GAPP), more than 1,300 newspapers and periodicals have already converted from State-owned public institutions into market-based enterprises, reported the Beijing News. The remaining 5,000 - including metro and evening papers owned by central and local Communist Party of China (CPC) newspaper groups, and papers devoted to industry news or owned by businesses - will carry out the transformation by year's end.

The CPC Central Committee's publicity department said reform will revitalize newspapers and periodicals, enlarge the social influence of mainstream media, and increase the industry's quality and profits. An official list of to-be-transformed newspapers and magazines will soon come out.

Sloppy administration

In the old days, State-owned institutions rarely set up a comprehensive system for their own development. Even if they had one, they usually put it on shelf, Bai says.

Before its transformation, China Electric Power News had a slack administration system. When Bai, who had worked at newspapers for 11 years, became editor-in-chief, he found the newsroom had spent more than 20,000 yuan (2,146 euros) a month at a nearby restaurant. All receipts were said to have been signed by the office director, but the signatures were in five different hands.

At that time, no record was taken when the management team met, so it was easy for the leaders to deny their own words. At one point, the paper cooperated with a university on a project, but the university later wanted to pull out. The paper's office director approved the withdrawal but didn't inform the managers.

"I spent a lot of energy to set the rules and create clear standards," says Bai, who issued a handbook of the administration system and regulations for all staff. "Our reform started with reinforcing the management."