The nation’s last evening newspaper closed after publishing its final edition yesterday.
The Chinese-language United Evening News said in a statement that it decided to end publication due to the “changing habits of readers, development of digital media and the COVID-19 outbreak.”
“The decision to cease publication starting [today] was finalized this [yesterday] morning, but we had been evaluating that option over the past few years,” managing editor Wang Mao-chen (王茂臻) said.
Photo: CNA
Wang said that the newspaper’s circulation had been declining annually, as have other print media in the nation.
“However, we cannot break even anymore with the circulation we have at the moment,” he said.
It said it would offer subscribers a refund or allow them to transfer their subscription to another United Daily News Group (UDN) publication, and it would retain all of its reporters.
The front page of its final edition featured images of its 11,783 front pages published over the past 32 years and three months with the text “thank you” in Mandarin in large font.
UDN founder Wang Tiwu (王惕吾) established the newspaper on Feb. 22, 1988, shortly after the government on Jan. 1, 1988, lifted a newspaper ban.
It was the nation’s first Chinese-language paper to print in landscape orientation.
“As the only evening newspaper in the nation, the United Evening News has accomplished its purpose in the nation’s history of development. We thank our readers for their support, which has helped sustain us for more than 10,000 days,” it said.
In February, Chinese-language weekly tabloid Next Magazine folded its online publication after ending its print edition in 2018.
In addition to the United Evening News, the nation previously had two other evening newspapers: China Times Express and Independent Evening Post, founded in 1988 and 1947 respectively.
The China Times Express ended publication on Oct. 31, 2005, due to shortfalls in advertising revenue as 24-hour cable TV news rose in popularity.
It also experienced a sharp decline of subscribers following an economic slump, the rising influence of online news and the Taiwan Stock Exchange’s decision to extend trading until 1:30pm.
Its management tried unsuccessfully to negotiate a merger with United Evening News.
The Independent Evening Post distinguished itself as unaffiliated with political parties.
It ceased publication on Oct. 2, 2001, after years of financial losses and management changes.
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), spokeswoman Yang Chih-yu (楊智伃) and Legislator Hsieh Lung-chieh (謝龍介) would be summoned by police for questioning for leading an illegal assembly on Thursday evening last week, Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) said today. The three KMT officials led an assembly outside the Taipei City Prosecutors’ Office, a restricted area where public assembly is not allowed, protesting the questioning of several KMT staff and searches of KMT headquarters and offices in a recall petition forgery case. Chu, Yang and Hsieh are all suspected of contravening the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) by holding
President William Lai (賴清德) has appointed former vice president Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁) to attend the late Pope Francis’ funeral at the Vatican City on Saturday on his behalf, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said today. The Holy See announced Francis’ funeral would take place on Saturday at 10am in St Peter’s Square. The ministry expressed condolences over Francis’ passing and said that Chen would represent Taiwan at the funeral and offer condolences in person. Taiwan and the Vatican have a long-standing and close diplomatic relationship, the ministry said. Both sides agreed to have Chen represent Taiwan at the funeral, given his Catholic identity and
PRAISE: Japanese visitor Takashi Kubota said the Taiwanese temple architecture images showcased in the AI Art Gallery were the most impressive displays he saw Taiwan does not have an official pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, because of its diplomatic predicament, but the government-backed Tech World pavilion is drawing interest with its unique recreations of works by Taiwanese artists. The pavilion features an artificial intelligence (AI)-based art gallery showcasing works of famous Taiwanese artists from the Japanese colonial period using innovative technologies. Among its main simulated displays are Eastern gouache paintings by Chen Chin (陳進), Lin Yu-shan (林玉山) and Kuo Hsueh-hu (郭雪湖), who were the three young Taiwanese painters selected for the East Asian Painting exhibition in 1927. Gouache is a water-based
RSS