Jiefang Daily

History

Jiefang Daily (Liberation Daily) was published in Yan'an beginning on 16 May 1941. It published the famous editorial Without the Communist Party, There Would Be No New China. Mao Zedong provided regular instruction for the paper's operations and also contributed articles and essays for publication in it.

During the editorial tenure of Lu Dingyi, Jiefang Daily increased its focus on promulgating CCP policies. Because the party relied on grassroots cadre to communicate its messages to the masses at a time when literacy was still limited, the newspaper used simple and direct language. In an effort to give clear instruction, it typically published a piece of reporting side-by-side with an instructive editorial. Seeking to implement principles of the mass line, the newspaper dispatched reporters to collect news stories from villagers and sought contributions from local cultural workers. Circulation methods included village newspaper reading groups, community blackboards and bulletin boards, night study groups, and public meetings.

Lu established the requirement that the paper's content had to be approved by the CCP. During Lu's tenure, the paper became more aligned with those who supported Mao's leadership, and less with the Soviet-leaning and Comintern-leaning members of party leadership.

The Yan'an-based paper stopped operating 27 March 1947 when the CCP headquarters moved out of Yan'an because attack by the Nationalists was imminent.

In March 2018, Jiefang Daily won the Third National Top 100 Newspapers in China.{{cite web | title= 第三届全国"百强报刊"公布 这份名单是怎么产生的 | website=People's Daily | date=2018-03-06 | url=http://media.people.com.cn/n1/2018/0306/c40606-29850971.html | language=zh | access-date=2025-02-06}}

In October 2020, the United States Department of State designated Jiefang Daily as a foreign mission of China.

References

References

1. Li, Ying. (2024). "Red Ink: A History of Printing and Politics in China". Royal Collins Press.
2. Kang, Xiaofei. (2023). "Enchanted Revolution: Ghosts, Shamans, and Gender Politics in Chinese Communist Propaganda, 1942-1953". [[Oxford University Press]].
3. "第三届全国"百强报刊" 推荐结果出炉".
4. (2020-10-21). "Pompeo says U.S. designates six more Chinese media firms as foreign missions". [[Reuters]].
5. "Designation of Additional PRC Propaganda Outlets as Foreign Missions".