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.
Taiwan does not exclude the possibility of having formal diplomatic relations with countries that also have formal ties with China, regardless of Beijing’s stance, Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) said on Sunday. There was speculation in 2012 that Honduras was attempting to have simultaneous diplomatic relations with Taiwan and China, an idea that then-minister of foreign affairs David Lin (林永樂) rejected. Honduras severed formal ties with Taiwan on Sunday morning after establishing diplomatic relations with Beijing. President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) administration has taken a more practical approach to relations with like-minded countries since assuming government in 2016. Previous administrations took the
Seven senior faculty members, including the principal, of a high school in Taichung were temporarily suspended from their jobs on Friday, pending an investigation by the Taichung Education Bureau into alleged bullying and abuse that led to the suicide of a student last month. The city’s education officials were too slow to suspend those involved, the student’s father told a news conference on Wednesday, at which Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Chang Liao Wan-chien (張廖萬堅) and members of the Humanistic Education Foundation were also present. The boy had been a good student and a high achiever during elementary and junior-high, and had
ORIGIN UNKNOWN: The Leofoo Village Theme Park and Taipei Zoo have accounted for their baboons, as authorities continue a 12-day capture attempt Authorities in Taoyuan are searching for a non-native baboon, possibly of the chacma species, that has been spotted several times in the city’s Pingjhen District (平鎮) over the past 12 days, and was most recently seen in coastal Sinwu District (新屋). The baboon was first spotted near a local factory on March 10 in central Taoyuan, Jhensing Borough Warden Huang Chih-chieh (黃志杰) said. Huang said he requested the Leofoo Village Theme Park’s help after a second sighting on Saturday. In other sightings, the baboon raided fruit and vegetable gardens on private property, and has evaded one capture attempt via a tranquilizer dart. Media reported
Taiwan would have established formal relations with Argentina long ago if not for China’s interference, Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Alexander Yui told US-based Spanish-language online news outlet Infobae in an interview published on Tuesday. Beijing has left behind a string of unfulfilled promises in Latin America, including pledges to build the Grand Nicaragua Canal and airports, docks, ports and industrial zones in El Salvador, he said. Meanwhile, Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Mexico and other countries enjoy pragmatic and improving relations with Taiwan based on cooperation on the economy, culture, technology and science, he said. While Taiwan is “happy to live and let live,”