The Pots Weekly (破報), a publication dedicated to the coverage of issues concerning the younger generation and minorities in the country, announced yesterday that it would suspend publication at the end of this month.
The final edition of the weekly newspaper will be issued on Wednesday next week, the publication said.
The newspaper’s editorial department said it was instructed by the company’s higher management to produce a special edition to mark the final publication.
Shih Shin University College of Journalism and Communications dean Chen Ching-ho (陳清河) said suspending the publication was a painful decision to make.
“The university is operating on a tight budget due to a decrease in enrollment and the tuition freeze ordered by the Ministry of Education. The university has decided to suspend the weekly newspaper for at least one year and will determine whether publication should be resumed after an evaluation of the university’s financial situation,” Chen said.
Founded in 1995, the newspaper was originally a special section of the Taiwan Lipao (台灣立報), a newspaper funded by Shih Shin University to cover mainly educational issues. Pots then became a weekly newspaper that is available free of charge.
The newspaper’s Web site said the alternative newspaper has a circulation of about 80,000 copies per week. Free copies can be picked up at university and high-school campuses, as well as bookstores, pubs, live music houses, coffee shops, performance arts venues, art galleries and museums.
Controversies surrounding the newspaper began when its first edition was issued in September, 1995, with the publication of a cover story titled One Hundred Attitudes Toward Abortion.
The Taipei Rapid Transit Corp originally allowed Pots Weekly newsstands in Taipei’s MRT stations, but the publication drew criticism over its progressive view on social issues and potentially “jeopardizing the health of young people.” The newsstands were later removed from the MRT stations.
The publication prided itself for having a similar style to the New York-based weekly newspaper The Village Voice, with reporters covering social issues and Taiwan’s cultural scene.
ALARM GROWS: US officials are concerned that China’s claim that the Taiwan Strait is an internal waterway is a deliberate effort to muddy the legal status of Taiwan US President Joe Biden’s administration has decided to reject a vague new assertion by China that the Taiwan Strait is not “international waters” and is increasingly concerned the stance could result in more frequent challenges at sea for Taiwan, people familiar with the matter said. Chinese officials have made such remarks repeatedly in meetings with US counterparts over the past few months. In the past, while China regularly protested US military moves in the Taiwan Strait, the legal status of the waters was not a regular talking point in meetings with US officials. The timing of the assertion is causing alarm within the
‘HIDDEN GEM’: The city earned plaudits for its low crime rate, world-class healthcare system, cheap cost of living and easy public transportation Taipei has been named the 10th best city in the world for quality of living in an annual survey by the editors of Monocle, a UK-based global affairs and lifestyle magazine. The survey, which is to be published in the magazine’s July/August issue, selected the world’s top 25 cities based on factors including cost of living, retail, hospitality, culture and access to green spaces, as well as feedback from Monocle correspondents. Taipei’s 10th place finish was one place down from a year earlier. The survey ranked Copenhagen as the world’s best city, with Zurich, Lisbon, Helsinki and Stockholm rounding out the top five.
NO COMORBIDITIES: The girl died of encephalitis, the sixth COVID-19-related death of the disease this year and 19th death of a child from the virus, the center said The Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) yesterday reported 52,213 new domestically transmitted COVID-19 cases and 171 deaths from the virus, including a four-year-old girl, who had been diagnosed with encephalitis, and a 19-year-old man, who had underlying health conditions. “The caseloads are usually higher on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, but they [yesterday] fell 7.3 percent from the day before,” Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Deputy Director-General Chuang Jen-hsiang (莊人祥) said. Chuang, who is the CECC’s spokesman, said that most cities and counties reported a drop in new cases, and the CECC expects fewer than 50,000 new cases today. The center said that 150 of
LIMIT: The CECC has capped the number of weekly arrivals to 25,000, which critics said has limited the number of available flights and caused ticket prices to soar The government is not likely to raise the cap on the number of inbound travelers before the end of this month, despite the apparent effect on the number of inbound flights, Minister of Transportation and Communications Wang Kwo-tsai (王國材) said yesterday. The Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) on Wednesday last week eased quarantine rules for inbound travelers, who must undergo three days of home quarantine upon arrival and spend another four days in self-initiated disease prevention. It also capped the number of inbound travelers to 25,000 per week. The weekly limit has drawn criticism that it has limited the number of flights