Newspapers in Continental Countries

Crossing the Andes, one finds the newspapers of Chile next in influence. First comes El Mercurio (1827) of Valparaiso, with separate publication in Santiago and Antofagasta. Its chief com petitor is La Union (1885), which also publishes a paper of the same name in Santiago. In the last-mentioned city are the rather influential La Nacion (1916), and El Diario Ilustrado. In Peru the three leading papers are La Cronica (1912), La Prensa (1903) and El Comercio (1839), of Lima.

The more influential newspapers in Mexico are practically limited to the capital city and frequently contain features ob tained from American syndicates. They include El Excelsior (1919), El Universal (1916) and El Universal Grdfico (1922). Outside the capital city, mention may be made of El Informador (1917) of Guadalajara, La Tribuna (1926) of Guaymas, El Correo de la Tarde (1885) of Mazatlan and Diaro de Yucatan (1918) of Merida.

China.

By no means the least result of the Chinese revolution of 1911 was the amazing expansion of the vernacular press. Ac tually the movement had begun some years earlier, but after the revolution it developed into a portent. Native newspapers sprang up in all parts of the empire in a night, as it were, and it is not surprising that the Chinese press exhibits most of the un desirable attributes of a mushroom growth. The general quality is poor. Most of the papers are run for political or personal ends, the news supplied by them is untrustworthy and their standard of journalistic ethics is low. This is the more to be regretted as their multitude testifies to the interest which awakened China takes in affairs and their influence on public opinion is beyond doubt enormous ; but little improvement is to be expected until political conditions become more settled. As things are it is only fair to say that, with all its irresponsibility and corruption, the Chinese press is on the whole liberal and patriotic in intention if not always in fact. It may be noted that Chinese periodical pub lications are on a much higher level than the newspaper press.

Between 20 and 3o European and American newspapers are published in China, more than half of them at Shanghai. The majority are British, including the North China Daily News of Shanghai which, founded in 1864, is the oldest foreign daily in China. Other British morning newspapers are : The Shanghai Times, The Central China Post (Hankow), The Peking and Tient sin Times, The Hongkong Daily Press and The South China Morning Post (Hongkong). The principal British evening papers are The Shanghai Mercury, The North China Daily Mail (Tient sin), The Hongkong Telegraph and The China Mail (Hongkong). There are three American morning dailies, The China Press (Shanghai) ; The Peking Leader and The North China Star (Tientsin)—and three French, L'Echo de Chine (Shanghai), Le Journal de Pekin and L'Echo de Tientsin. There are also a number of Chinese and Japanese-owned journals published in English.

Japan.—There has been a very remarkable development in the press of Japan during recent years, owing to the spread of popular education. Public opinion in Japan today is practically shaped by the press and while some old restrictions remain the tendency is towards complete freedom of discussion. There are about a dozen newspapers in Japan whose capital is about a million yen. The two centres of newspaper activity are Tokyo and Osaka. The Osaka Mainichi and the Osaka Asahi, the big gest newspapers in Japan, have a daily circulation of a million copies. The Tokyo Nichinichi and the Tokyo Asahi are subsidi aries of these newspapers. The Tokyo Hochi, the Jiji, the Chugai and the Kokumin are all important national newspapers and almost all are politically independent. There are a very large number of newspapers of the second class which penetrate into the country districts, and there are a number of first-class local newspapers. The Japanese press is influenced by American journalism and some of the popular newspapers display news in quite modern. style. Every up-to-date method is employed. In the news col umns there is a close network of correspondents and private long distance telephone lines, television, air transport, and pigeons are in use.

A great deal of capital is required to start new newspapers. Greater attention is being given to sport and a large space is given to foreign news.

The Kokumin is famous for its president, Mr. I. Tokutomi, who is one of the pioneers of the newspaper business, and is a great critic and author. Its tone is conservative. One of the present problems is the keen competition between the papers in the big cities and the local newspapers, the same tendency which is observable in England.

Newspapers for the English speaking residents in Japan are the Japan Chronicle (British), the Japan Advertiser (American), and the Japan Times (Japanese).

The organisations for newspapers in Japan are the Nohom Shimbun Kyokwai (The Japanese Press Association), and the Kokusai Kisha Kyokwai (International Pressmen's Association), both established in 1913.

During recent years there has been a surprising increase in magazines in Japan of an educational character. Seventy per cent of these are published by Seiji Noma, who is called the "Maga zine King" of Japan. It is claimed that the magazines are read by ten million people. His list includes magazines for young men, for girls of the high-school grade, magazines for women, and others of an educational and entertaining character.

BIBLIOGRAPHY.-Continental

Press: Handbuch Deutscher Zeitungen; Political Handbook of the World (1928) ; Political Almanack ; Lewis S. Benjamin, Guide to the Foreign Press (1924) ; Annuaire de la Presse franfaise et etrangere et du Monde Politique ; Newspaper Press Direc tory (Mitchell's) ; Press Directories of different countries.