The External Communication Of The Local English-language Newspaper

With the deepening of China's reforms and opening-up, city-level governments are attaching more importance to the internationalization of a city and there's an increasing trend of more involvement of foreign affairs in a city's management. This new tendency has fueled a thriving demand for publicity and communications targeting overseas audiences. Such external publicity is not only an important means for the internationalization of a city, but also an effective way to build China's positive international image. Among all the media working on external publicity, English newspapers are one of the most significant and effective communication tools considering their rich information, timely reporting and service content. Due to the frequent foreign-linked affairs and rapid development of the local economy, many city governments or local press groups have started thinking about establishing their own English newspaper to match the demand of external communication and build their city into an international metropolis. The speeding-up of China's urbanization has laid the foundation, both in terms of material and readers, for the emergence of a local English newspaper.Previous research mainly focused on state-level external communication while there was little discussion about city-level external communication. Research over a local English newspaper is meaningful to Chinese cities' external communication. The emergence and development of a local English newspaper has a close relationship with a city's economic situation and the expat population. But it also needs the support of the government and the presence of a talent pool. As China's famous international metropolis and financial center, Shanghai is home to 150,000 foreign residents and nearly 8.5 million travelers visit the city every year, which marks out Shanghai as one of the Chinese cities most favored by foreigners. Shanghai has already taken the lead in the country by launching its own local English newspaper Shanghai Daily, which currently is the largest local English daily newspaper. After 12 years of development, Shanghai Daily has become one of the most influential English newspapers in East China. Its success has caught the attention of neighboring developed cities and the newspaper is often cited as an outstanding example.This essay has opted for Shanghai Daily, a typical local English newspaper, as its research subject. Through case study and interviews with professionals, the essay explains Shanghai Daily's operation and experiences during more than a decade of development. It also compares the newspaper with China Daily and the English version of Global Times, two national English newspapers, trying to find out the relation between the local English newspaper and the city it is located in, and the advantages and disadvantages of local English newspapers. Through research, the essay looks into the future direction of a local English newspaper's external communication.According to the research, compared to national English newspapers, a local English newspaper finds it easier to win local audience due to its city-focused reporting. Meanwhile, the truth and fairness principle that local English newspapers adopt helps boost their credibility. The soft approach of local English newspapers further contributes to their popularity. However, local English newspapers have to face inherent obstacles, resulting from an unreasonable administrative system. They also face difficulties in attracting talents and expanding advertising markets. Through research and analysis, this essay suggests that the reform of local English newspapers should focus on new media technology application and diversified marketing if they are to sustain their development.