Past lives of China Business Daily, a media empire.
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"Chinese Business Daily" has changed its owner again.
On September 30th, Huawen Media Investment Group in Hainan announced that it would transfer its 100% equity of Shaanxi Huashang Media Group to Xi ‘an Qujiang Culture and Finance Holding Group.
Today, the group’s most valuable assets, one is Huang Majia Logistics, which was born out of newspaper distribution, and the other is several properties it bought at its development peak.
As for the advertising business of China Business Daily itself, it has dropped to the second place.
Under related reports, some readers left a message saying: We can’t understand it, and we can’t control it. I just hope that Shaanxi can have very influential local media. Look at a mango in Changsha.
The feelings of regret and expectation are beyond words, just like countless people’s development of Xi ‘an.
If time goes back ten years, Huashang Media Group will still be the media empire of China, not only ranking first in newspaper circulation and advertising revenue in this province, but also operating media business across provinces and countries.
Beijing, Tianjin, Changchun, Shenyang, Chongqing, as far away as South Africa, at the peak, the group owned seven newspapers, five periodicals and five networks, with a daily newspaper circulation of more than 2 million copies and an annual advertising revenue of over 1 billion yuan.
Looking at Shaanxi, the brands that can be well-known in the whole country, except xifeng liquor, are the Chinese business.
However, the tide of the times is turbulent, and the waves are fierce. With the rise of new Internet media, traditional paper media have been photographed on the beach. The printing press of Huashang Daily has also slowed down, and its influence is far less than before.
Newsstands are no longer visible in the streets of Xi ‘an, and the function of people’s fingers has changed from turning newspapers to sliding mobile phones. ……
In the face of historical inevitability, there is no need to lament, and preserving that full memory is the warmest tribute.
01. The birth of a prefix
The story begins with the return of Hong Kong in 1997.
Shaanxi Federation of Returned Overseas Chinese (hereinafter referred to as Shaanxi Federation of Returned Overseas Chinese) has an internal magazine "Overseas Chinese Voice Times", which was later renamed "Huashang Daily" and distributed to the market.
Why is it called "China Business Daily"? Returned overseas Chinese are mainly businessmen. After the reform and opening up, China attached great importance to overseas Chinese investment, and all provinces have returned overseas Chinese, which was a very important unit in that year.
However, due to poor management, only 3,000 or 4,000 copies of Huashang Daily were issued, with a loss of 10 million yuan. In 1997, the superior was prepared to ask it to close down.
The newspaper was reluctant to part with this asset, so it decided to recruit talents and carry out a thorough reform.
The man who came to rescue was named Zhang Fuhan, a native of Huxian County, Shaanxi Province. He was born in 1957 and joined the army at the age of 19. He worked as a press officer in Lanzhou Military Region and was good at photography. In the self-defense counterattack against Vietnam, he went to the front line of Laoshan to report and made military achievements.
In 1987, Zhang transferred to Shaanxi Daily, served as the stationmaster of Yulin reporter station and director of the photography department of the newspaper, and was later promoted to deputy editor-in-chief of Sanqin Metropolis Daily, a subsidiary of Shaanxi Daily.
It was during this period that his life was changed because of a setback in the workplace.
It was in 1995 that a newspaper, Huaxi Dushi Bao, was born in Chengdu. It put forward the concept of serving the citizens wholeheartedly, provided the news that the people needed, and operated completely according to the market, which opened the era of China media’s metropolis daily.
When Zhang Fuhan went to inspect, he was greatly shocked. When he came back, he wanted Sanqin Metropolis Daily to learn from others’ commercialization model. It’s a pity that this place in Shaanxi, the concept is more than the loess, and it is difficult to advance. His plan can’t be put into practice, and he is very annoyed.
At this time, China Business Daily took a fancy to him. He resolutely gave up his iron rice bowl, resigned and jumped ship. When the rumor left, he dropped a sentence: If Sanqin can be done well, I will jump from the tallest building in Xi ‘an.
An enterprising person is waiting for an opportunity. Just as Wei did not need Shang Yang, Shang Yang defected to Qin and became a great cause for a thousand years.
In 1997, 40-year-old Zhang Fuhan became the editor-in-chief of China Business Daily. Liu Dongming, director of the news department of Sanqin Metropolis Daily, left with him, and they became business partners.
The newspaper began a comprehensive revision, from 8 pages published on Tuesday to 12 pages published on Saturday, but the price is still 50 cents, and there is no increase in the quantity. Later, it was changed to a daily newspaper, and the layout was increased to 60 pages at most, which was a thick stack.
Pay attention to service and practicality in the content, and the topic planning is closely related to the lives of ordinary people, such as the charging of primary and secondary education, bicycle theft in the city, employment of laid-off workers ….. spread citizen information and tell citizen stories.
Reflect the problem and solve it at the same time. In September 1997, shortly after the revision, Huashang Daily launched a social fund-raising activity, raising more than 300,000 yuan, which solved the problem of more than 120 poor female college students’ difficulty in going to school.
In November 1998, 10 directors of departments in Shaanxi Province and Xi ‘an City were invited to the newspaper office to answer people’s complaints and solve the problems on the spot, which caused a good response.
Zhang Fuhan, a photojournalist, attached great importance to photo news and put forward the method of "big photos, short articles and eye-catching titles". The headline of a newspaper is often a big photo, which goes straight to the hottest event.
To achieve a goal: let readers decide to pay for newspapers within five steps and three seconds from the newsstand.
Later, the "headline party" appeared in the new media, and the purpose was to attract readers at first sight.
In fact, no matter how the media platform changes, what the public likes will never change. Someone concluded that what the law doesn’t like to show the public is what the public likes to see.
Hua Shang Bao likes to publish lively and exciting contents such as street stories, conflicts between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law, leadership disputes, major murder cases, etc., which is contrary to the serious face of traditional newspaper industry, grounded and full of fireworks, and everyone loves it.
There is a saying among the people: condoms, mutton bubbles and dog skin plasters.
The words are not rough, and the Huashang Daily was very vulgar at first.
By July 1998, a year after the revision, the circulation of China Business Daily had reached more than 404,000 copies. This is something that really needs to be bought with money, which is even more rare than a WeChat official account fan who has increased by 1 million a year in the new media era.
An elder once told us that a person’s fate depends on self-struggle, of course, but also on the historical process.
The rapid rise of China Business Daily coincided with the upsurge of metropolis daily.
In the middle and late 1990s, the rapid development of China society made news and information just needed, while the flexible and fast metropolis newspaper, which is close to people’s livelihood, became a profiteering industry, with a continuous growth rate of 25%.
In 1998, the profit and tax of the media industry surpassed the tobacco industry for the first time and became the fourth pillar industry in China.
Standing on the tuyere, even a pig can fly. But, first of all, you have to stand in the air.
02. Walk on two legs
Along with the reform of newspaper content, there are also distribution methods, which should be able to write and sell.
The traditional distribution channel of newspapers and periodicals depends on the post office. Readers go to the post office to subscribe, and the postman is responsible for delivery, which is equivalent to adding an industry in the middle, with slow response and low efficiency.
Hua Shang Bao initiated the method of "door-to-door subscription and delivery to households", and set up a distribution team of its own. Employees went to the door to subscribe to readers and delivered newspapers to the door. Newspapers deal directly with readers, which is convenient and flexible, and its circulation has increased greatly.
For publicity, the newspaper’s distributors wore uniform work clothes, yellow hats and yellow vest, and the newspaper delivery carriage was also painted yellow, with the words "Huashang Daily" printed on it. They went in and out of various communities and became the most familiar strangers to the citizens.
Just like today’s US delegation and hungry takeaway riders.
In fact, Zhang Fuhan brought his style in the army to the enterprise and made the publishers become a unified team. Therefore, some media called him the "commander" of the newspaper industry in his early years.
In addition to delivering newspapers, Huang Majia has gradually expanded its business, starting to deliver milk, book tickets, deliver tickets and recycle old books. In 2002, Huang Majia began to operate as a company and became a logistics and distribution enterprise.
"Yellow vest, convenient for thousands of families" is a slogan familiar to many citizens.
This equity transfer, Huangmajia logistics can become an important asset, which is from then on. Some readers left a message saying: Huang Majia was too active to send things. I still remember the helplessness of being woken up at 6 o’clock in the morning to get the express delivery.
Readers are consumers. When the circulation of newspapers is high, there will be more advertisements. In 1999, the advertising revenue of China Business Daily exceeded 100 million yuan.
In the previous newspapers, journalists had to write articles as well as pull advertisements, and articles might be "paid news". After the reform of Huashang Daily, journalists were required to be only responsible for articles, and advertising department staff were responsible for revenue.
Content and advertising walk on two legs, fast and steady.
In 2002, the advertising volume of Xi ‘an in the media was about 700 million yuan, while Huashang Daily accounted for 320 million, almost half, and it was recognized as the overlord, while the advertising revenue of Shaanxi TV Station was only over 100 million yuan.
With the steady growth of revenue, the newspaper began to focus on the content, from the early street secular style to the deep and serious content.
In 2003, China Business Daily sent a special correspondent to the Middle East to cover the LUQIU LUWEI-Iraq war, which was the third batch of China journalists to cover the Iraq war zone after of Phoenix TV and Shui Junyi of CCTV.
In 2003, Jiang Xue, the chief reporter of the newspaper, was named the man of the year in China.
The main achievement is that she reported the incident of "husband and wife watching porn, and the police came to check": in 2002, a couple in Yan ‘an watched a small film at home and were reported. When the police went to investigate, there was a conflict between the two sides and the parties were criminally detained.
China Business Daily’s continuous follow-up report on this incident has triggered a discussion on the division of public power and private power in the national legal circle, which is conducive to the improvement of the rule of law and reflects the value of media participation in social progress.
Every year on New Year’s Day, the newspaper will also send a summary and forward-looking editorial:
In 2008, "The Times of Great Changes: We Stick to and Change"
In 2009, "Carrying your expectations and my longings, going forward through the storm"
In 2010, let’s become more mature, calm and powerful in the crisis.
As can be seen from the title, the article is conveying a message: this is a newspaper with pursuit and texture.
If you want good content, the key is to live your mind.
During the 2006 World Cup, Hua Shang Bao invited Jia Pingwa, a local writer, to open a column and write a commentary on football, which attracted many readers.
Jia Lao’s writing style is unusual, and everything he writes has a local flavor. For example, "Being a coach is not a role of lying flat. Catch pigs and see sows, and what kind of coaches there are. "
Some readers commented: "A newspaper, a writer, can only get readers’ love and welcome if they know their thoughts and interests."
03. The Rise and Fall of the Empire
In 2004, at the first annual meeting of China’s newspaper competitiveness, Huashang Daily ranked 16th among the "Top 20 National Evening Newspapers", and ranked among the top four for the next three consecutive years.
Huashang Media Group was also established in 2004. Southern Weekend, a brother unit, said: "In the west, a newspaper called Huashang Daily is quietly drawing a blueprint for expansion with capital and talents as the link."
It’s about China Business Daily’s operation of media outside Shaanxi and across provinces.
As early as 1999, the newspaper invested and operated Changchun’s New Culture Newspaper, copied its successful model and became the first newspaper in local circulation.
Later, after the China Federation of Returned Overseas Chinese brokered the bridge, it began to operate the Chinese Morning Post under the Liaoning Federation of Returned Overseas Chinese, which was also successful, with a peak circulation of 600,000 copies and an advertising income of 230 million.
The best-selling newspapers in the northeast were captured by Laoshan.
Together with Chongqing Times in Chongqing and People’s Life in Tianjin, Huashang Media is the only media group in China that operates metropolis daily in several regions.
In 2008, he went abroad and invested and operated the South African Chinese Newspaper in Africa, with a circulation of 30,000 copies.
Besides newspapers, there are also periodicals. Its fashion magazines Mingshi Shuyuan, financial magazine Qianjing, travel magazine Auto go on road trip and Volkswagen Digest are also at the forefront of their respective tracks.
Huashang. com is an important portal website in the pre-Internet era, among which the Chinese Business Forum is the most popular, and it is a public opinion position for netizens to give directions and reprimand Fang Qiu.
During the outbreak of the "South China Tiger Incident" in 2007, everyone gathered here to discuss, which became the most popular and best online expression space.
However, the "South China Tiger Forum" was closed only for more than five months, which also reflected a dilemma in the development of the media.
On September 28th, 2011, the advertising revenue of China Business Daily reached 15 million, which was a miracle. This year, the total advertising revenue of newspapers exceeded 1 billion, which is unparalleled in the western newspaper industry.
There is a cloud in the Book of Changes that Kang Long has regrets. This is the peak and final glory of China Business Daily.
On January 21 of the same year, Tencent WeChat was officially launched, and the tide of mobile Internet swept through, and traditional media began to suffer a huge impact.
At first, China Business Daily followed closely. In 2012, it opened WeChat official account and began to publish content on new media.
On May 11th, 2015, the "Chinese Business Headlines" APP was launched. On the same day, the front page of the newspaper was blank, leaving only one headline "Where is the headline?" And attach a QR code to advertise your products.
By viral spread, it attracted 300,000 people to download it that day.
Although I saw the general trend, I was trapped in the editing and operation mode of traditional media, and I couldn’t completely turn to the new media mode. Even if I left early, I fell behind when I walked.
This is also a strange circle that most enterprises can’t escape: when starting a business, they dare to ride the wind and waves and be bold. Once they succeed, they will become bureaucratic groups, or they will be complacent or have serious internal friction, and it is difficult to turn around when they meet new enthusiasm.
Hu Tiehua, a media person, recalled that at a meeting of Huashang. com, an executive conveyed the words of the boss:
"Serving netizens, netizens can’t give us money, only customers can give money, so in the future, news and forums should serve customers. We want to B, not to C!"
From attaching importance to users to despising users, it also indicates the direction of enterprises.
In 2013, the advertising revenue of China Business Daily dropped from a peak of over 1 billion to 800 million. With the decline in business performance, a new financial owner came.
On June 27th, 2013, Huawen Media Investment Group in Hainan acquired Huashang Media for a total price of 1.8 billion yuan. In fact, in 2006, Huawen Media took a stake in Chinese businessmen and obtained 61.25% equity, and this time it was 100% holding.
This media empire in Xi ‘an no longer belongs to the ancient city alone.
In the same year, a reporter named Wang Wei resigned, wrote an article "Why did I leave Huashang Daily", and once screened the screen in the media industry. He pointed out many symptoms of paper media:
"In addition to institutional constraints, newspapers have become more and more like advertising paper from a newsprint because of operational pressure. The hotline number gradually decreased, and reporters began to chase after the Internet and Weibo. The next day, all the leftovers were published.
Before the paper media can complete its professional turn, and even before it can complete the news content subdivision in the era of mobile Internet ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. "
2015 is an eventful year for China Business Daily.
In September, the newspaper began to lay off employees, and employees pulled a banner at the entrance of the building, "Unscrupulous Chinese Business Daily laid off old employees innocently". Thirty years in Hedong and thirty years in Hexi, the media that once defended the rights of ordinary people has itself become the target of crusade by defenders.
At the end of the year, the in-depth news department of the newspaper was dissolved. Because doing an in-depth report requires a lot of manpower and material resources, but the impact may not be as good as short news on the Internet, and it is difficult to bring in income.
In order to save costs, many newspapers have to dissolve the depth department.
In this regard, some netizens said: The wolf didn’t come, and he scared himself to death first.
04. Unknown future
The decline of traditional media started from the inside.
WeChat official account of China Business Daily just copied the contents of the paper media, and the orientation of the new media was not obvious, and it lacked its own style, so it was difficult to continue the domineering of the paper media era. The Chinese headline APP is rough and monotonous, and the iteration is slow, and it has not become a success.
Today’s headlines, such as the "new world" of traditional media entrepreneurs, have become the mainstream of this era.
Their distinctive feature is to interact closely with readers (fans) and produce and spread their favorite content.
Metropolis Daily, which used to attach importance to users, now keeps a straight face, and releases news like an earlier official media, without digging deep into demand.
From 2017 to 2019, the advertising revenues of Huashang Media and its subsidiaries were 290 million, 200 million and 150 million respectively, which declined year by year and the scenery was no longer there.
In 2019, its Chinese Business Morning Post and Chongqing Times ceased publication. In March this year, the New Culture Newspaper also stopped publishing.
When the empire was founded, it was difficult to attack the city. Once it collapsed, it was instantly destroyed.
This time, Huashang Media was acquired by Xi ‘an Qujiang Financial Holdings with deep pockets and joined the embrace of state-owned enterprises, but how to go next is still unpredictable.
According to the audit report, from January to April this year, Huashang Media achieved a total operating income of 250 million yuan, a total operating cost of 268 million yuan and an operating profit of 28.13 million yuan, which was excellent during the epidemic.
As a media brand, the influence of Huashang Daily is crucial, and how to better serve the citizens and promote the social development of a place is more valuable.
There used to be thousands of newsstands in Xi ‘an, which was the benchmark of the city’s culture. Now, we can’t find one after walking through many streets. It’s time to completely abandon traditional thinking.
The form of media and readers’ reading habits have changed, but news and information itself are still just needed. The so-called media transformation is to stick to its own brand advantages and change the mode of communication.
This requires strategic thinking and more execution.
Looking back on 2004, the Chinese business newspaper won the Chongqing Times, and the sword pointed to the mountain city. Faced with fierce local competition, Zhang Fuhan asked the distribution team to make a military order. If it failed, it would pack up and leave.
Huang Majia promoted the whole city of Chongqing by carpet, washing the streets on the ground and the buildings in the air. At last, the circulation of the newspaper reached 168,000 on the first day of publication, which exceeded 300,000 in that year and became the first in Chongqing’s newspaper circulation.
The potential pushes people, and people succeed. Legends are made by actions, but how much ambition can people have today?
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