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''The Standard'' is an English-language free newspaper in
Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a List of cities in China, city and Special administrative regions of China, special ...
with a daily circulation of 200,450 in 2012. It was formerly called the ''Hongkong Standard'' and changed to ''HKiMail'' during the Internet boom but partially reverted to ''The Standard'' in 2001. The '' South China Morning Post'' (SCMP) is its main local competitor.


Format

''The Standard'' is printed in
tabloid Tabloid may refer to: * Tabloid journalism, a type of journalism * Tabloid (newspaper format), a newspaper with compact page size ** Chinese tabloid * Tabloid (paper size), a North American paper size * Sopwith Tabloid The Sopwith Tabloid an ...
format rather than in broadsheet. It is published daily from Monday to Friday.


Ownership

''The Standard'' was published by Hong Kong iMail Newspapers Limited as of 2001 (previously known as Hong Kong Standard Newspapers Limited) but currently The Standard Newspapers Publishing Limited. These enterprises are owned by
Sing Tao News Corporation Limited Sing Tao News Corporation Limited (Sing Tao) is a Hong Kong media company, incorporated in Bermuda. It was formerly called Global China Group Holdings Limited. History The Group, which is listed on the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong, was founded i ...
, also the publisher of '' Sing Tao Daily'' and ''
Headline Daily ''Headline Daily'' () was launched on 12 July 2005, by Sing Tao Newspaper Group Limited and became the second free Chinese-language newspaper published officially in Hong Kong ('' Metro Daily'' being the first). The paper is only distributed o ...
''; the firm also has other businesses including media publications, ''The Standard'' was previously owned by Sally Aw's Sing Tao Holdings Limited. Aw is the daughter of the founder Aw Boon Haw. In 1999 Holdings was acquired by a private equity fund, and in January 2001 by Charles Ho's listed company Global China Technology Group Limited (whose name was changed to
Sing Tao News Corporation Limited Sing Tao News Corporation Limited (Sing Tao) is a Hong Kong media company, incorporated in Bermuda. It was formerly called Global China Group Holdings Limited. History The Group, which is listed on the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong, was founded i ...
in February 2005). In mid-2002 the ownership of an intermediate holding company of ''The Standard,'' Sing Tao Media Holdings, was transferred to Sing Tao News Corporation. At the same time Sing Tao Holdings, without its main business, was sold to a Chinese private company.


History

''The Standard'' was originally named the ''Hong Kong Tiger Standard.'' The newspaper was founded by Tycoon Aw Boon Haw after the end of the Chinese Civil War. He incorporated the publisher The Tiger Standard Limited on 23 May 1947. On the backs of financially successful Sing Tao Daily and Tiger Balm, he attacked the English-language newspaper market by launching the paper on 1 March 1949 to give a Chinese voice to the world and to advance the interests of Chinese in all their endeavours and defend them against all kinds inequalities, challenging the procolonial establishment press. It started life as a broadsheet, largely edited and run by Chinese, though not to the exclusion of other nationals. Politically, it shared the Sing Tao and Aw's allegiance to the Kuomintang. These early editors were all thoroughly U.S. educated and trained, the first being L.Z. Yuan (father-in-law of Golden Harvest founder, Raymond Chow). There followed C.S. Kwei, a leading Chinese lawyer and bilingual intellectual–author, and Kyatang Woo, an alumnus of University of Missouri in Columbia, Missouri. In 1985
Robert Chow Robert Chow Yung (; born 22 April 1950), BBS, is a Hong Kong journalist and media personality who is a former RTHK radio host. He is currently the spokesman of the pro-Beijing conservative Alliance for Peace and Democracy and founder and le ...
, who later became a staunch and vocal pro-establishment advocate of highly restrictive Soviet-style democratic elections for Hong Kong's chief executive, became the editor in chief of ''The Standard'' and worked there until the 1990s. During the 1990s, when Sally Aw (Aw Sian, adopted daughter of Aw Boon Haw) chaired
Sing Tao News Corporation Limited Sing Tao News Corporation Limited (Sing Tao) is a Hong Kong media company, incorporated in Bermuda. It was formerly called Global China Group Holdings Limited. History The Group, which is listed on the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong, was founded i ...
, ''The Standard'' was the only English newspaper in Hong Kong that was allowed to be circulated in China. In 1994 a third English-language newspaper, the '' Eastern Express,'' appeared. Its bold headlines and large photographs provoked a radical redesign at the Standard, which also suffered the loss of a great many reporters, sub-editors, and advertising to the Eastern Express, tempted by its boasts of generous pay. The new paper quickly pushed the Standard into third place for full-price sales. The Standard adopted a distinctive orange and black masthead and an advertising campaign that used a carrot logo and the maxim "clearer vision." Meanwhile, an emergency recruitment drive brought in new staff from the UK and Tasmania, mostly from regional newspapers and on fixed contracts. Its Sunday supplement, Hong Kong Life, began free distribution in bars and clubs. On 27 May 2000, facing challenges from its biggest competitor the '' South China Morning Post,'' the ''Hongkong Standard'' was renamed ''Hong Kong iMail'' () and reduced to tabloid size to attract more younger readers, and was refocused on business issues. On 30 May 2002, following the burst of the dot-com bubble, the paper reverted to being ''The Standard.'' The current editor in chief is Ivan Tong, who replaced Mark Clifford. From 10 September 2007, ''The Standard,'' then sold at HK$6, became a free newspaper. It is now Hong Kong's first and only free English newspaper. The newspaper is considered pro-Beijing in its editorial stance.


Circulation fraud

In August 1996 the Independent Commission Against Corruption in Hong Kong found that 14,000 copies of the paper had been discarded at
Wan Chai Pier The Wan Chai Pier (), or Wan Chai Ferry Pier (), is a pier at the coast of Wan Chai North on the Hong Kong Island of Hong Kong. The pier is operated by Star Ferry, and provides ferry services to Tsim Sha Tsui. The pier is near the Hong Kong Conv ...
and therefore started an investigation. The ICAC discovered that from 1994 to 1997 the circulation figures of the ''Hong Kong Sunday Standard'' and the ''Hongkong Standard'' had been routinely and substantially exaggerated, in order to attract advertisers and to raise the revenue of the newspapers. Circulation figures had always been somewhat obscure, owing to the Sing Tao group's longstanding agreements with hotels and clubs where the newspaper was distributed free. As a result, the ICAC arrested three staff members of the ''Hongkong Standard'' and investigated Aw Sian as co-conspirator. The case was heard from 23 November 1998 to 20 January 1999, at the conclusion of which all three were found guilty and sentenced to 4 to 6 months in jail. Aw Sian was not charged, after the secretary of justice Elsie Leung decided not to prosecute her owing to insufficient evidence and in the public interest. The decision generated controversy among a skeptical public who saw this as discrimination in favour of the powerful and well-connected.


References

* * Sing Tao News Corporation Annual Report 2004


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Standard, The English-language newspapers published in Hong Kong Publications established in 1949 Aw family Sing Tao News Corporation