小树 在 上 海 种 树

By GEORGE CHEN in Shanghai
STAFF WRITER OF TreeBar.net

This week I was always thinking of a question after I had some brief talks with my colleagues and ex-colleagues who once worked as journalist.

We talked about the typical journalism based on Chinese standard such as what you can learn from the official news agency like Xinhua or what Shanghai's Fudan University can teach you at class, i.e., Fudan has the top journalism school in China, or referred to the international standard -- Reuters or our respected rivals.

Personally, I am somehow worried about the future of the journalism in China. Most of the top positions in media world in China such as editor-in-chief for "mainstream media" such as Shanghai's Jiefang Daily or the country's only national English-language newspaper China Daily, are in face held by journalists who believe in the Chinese standard of journalism -- in their words -- for the sake of world peace and state security.

Meanwhile, many of my friends who worked for Chinese media have eventually decided to leave the media world for richer jobs like investment bankers or PR managers in the past few years or just months, making me even more concerned about the future of the journalism in China.

On the other hand, global news organisations such as Reuters and Bloomberg are becoming more and more influential in China. For instance, Reuters recently revamped its Chinese-language online service Reuters.com.cn and the company also hired more young Chinese for its domestic services based on international standard. However, some of them are willing to learn but don't want to learn too deeply as they may think of international journlism just as shortcut to richer career in the near future.

More and more Chinese journalists who once had ambition for news career from global perspective left the media world and there is no wonder that they can really do a good job for big international companies such as General Motor or Citigroup for PR or marketing roles, while Fudan continues to educate the next generation of Chinese journalists based on the Chinese standard for mainstream media. That's the way that how journalism works in China nowadays.

What can we do with it? Someone believes there is life, then we have hope.

(This article was based on online communications between the author and his Reuters colleagues. It was edited when published to the blog. All rights reserved and reproduction in whole or in part without permission from the author is prohibited.)

By GEORGE CHEN in Shanghai
STAFF WRITER OF TreeBar.net

SHANGHAI, May 11 (Reuters) - Shanghai's biggest online news portal, Eastday.com, has begun preparations for an initial public offering on the city's stock exchange in early 2008, two sources close to the situation said on Friday.

The sources said the Shanghai city government, the de facto owner of the Web site, had agreed in principle at an internal meeting on April 30 to allow Eastday.com to list, as part of Beijing's plans to boost China's media industry ahead of the 2008 Olympic Games.

If successful, Eastday.com, launched in 2000 and run by the news office of the Shanghai government, would become China's first online news portal to list domestically.

Eastday.com held its first meeting for IPO preparations on Thursday, to seek advice from potential financial advisers, the sources said.

"It's still at an early stage but the goal (of an IPO) has become very clear now that the plan has won the government's support," said one source close to Eastday.com.

"It will be very good if Eastday.com can list in early 2008, as the government hopes," the source added.

Media and tourism company Shanghai Oriental Pearl Co. Ltd. , which is also owned by the city government, is the largest shareholder of Eastday.com and will increase its investment in the Web site in conjunction with the IPO, the sources said.

Eastday.com declined comment, while Shanghai Oriental was not immediately available for comment.

GOVERNMENT CONTROL

Shanghai Oriental, operator of the city's landmark Oriental Pearl TV Tower, has invested 72 million yuan ($9.37 million) for a 12 percent stake in Eastday.com and will remain its top shareholder after the Web site's IPO, the sources said.

Eastday.com also counts several Shanghai TV and radio stations among its major shareholders.

China's media industry is highly regulated by the Communist Party and few Chinese media companies have floated shares at home or abroad, partly because public listings might decrease government control in the sector.

China's publicly listed independent online news portals such as market leader Sina Corp. and Sohu.com Inc. have chosen to list outside China, on the U.S. Nasdaq market.

However, the upcoming Beijing Olympics in 2008 and the World Expo in Shanghai in 2010 have boosted the prospects for China's online media sector, which could benefit from advertising and sponsorships for the events.

Top media regulators in Beijing have picked Eastday.com, People.com.cn, the Web site of the official People's Daily, and Xinhuanet.com, the online version of China's official Xinhua News Agency, as three pilot portals that the government is looking at for possible public listings, the sources said.

"Shanghai wants to establish Eastday.com as a model (IPO) for the country's media industry," said the other source, who is close to the government.

"If Eastday.com can be successful in the capital markets, it will be much easier for the others, including People.com.cn and Xinhuanet.com, to copy Eastday.com's success," said the source.

The source added that Eastday.com contained less potentially sensitive content, such as political news and opinion, than the other two, which are more closely connected to the State Council, or China's cabinet.

The sources did not know how much Eastday.com might plan to raise, although one expected it would be in the billions of yuan, depending on the market environment and the stance of the top securities regulator in Beijing. ($1=7.7 Yuan)