The Epoch Times
Encyclopedia
The Epoch Times is a multi-language, international media organisation. As a newspaper, the Times has been publishing in Chinese
since May 2000. It was founded in 1999 by supporters of the Falun Gong
spiritual discipline.
The paper covers general interest issues, China
, and human rights
. The newspaper is heavily critical of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and policies of the P.R. Chinese government. In 2004, the newspaper published the "Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party", an in-depth critique of China's ruling regime. The newspaper covers causes and groups opposed to the CCP, including Falun Gong
, dissidents, activists, and supporters of the Tibetan government-in-exile. The Epoch Times Website also hosts a "CCP Renunciations" service, encouraging Chinese to quit the CCP and related organizations. The PRC government blocks mainland Chinese from accessing the Epoch Times website.
Headquartered in New York City
, the newspaper has local bureaus and a network of local reporters throughout the world. It is either sold or distributed free-of-charge in roughly 30 countries worldwide, and maintains editions in English
, Chinese, nine other languages in print, and 17 on the internet
.
On August 12, 2002, The Epoch Times launched its first daily in Washington, D.C.
In August 2004, an English language
edition of The Epoch Times was launched in Manhattan
, as well as Washington, D.C., Los Angeles
, San Francisco, and several other cities. It is also distributed in Chicago
and San Diego. The paper has associated media services, including the television station New Tang Dynasty TV
and the radio station Sound of Hope
.
The Epoch Times is often connected with the Falun Gong
spiritual group. A 2006 report by the U.S. Congressional Research Service
listed the newspaper as a Falun Gong affiliated media source, and Professor David Ownby, an expert on Falun Gong, said that after years of ill-treatment by journalists, "they decided to publish a newspaper by themselves to publicize their beliefs..."
Yuezhi Zhao, Assistant Professor of Communication at Simon Fraser University
, Canada, wrote in 2003 that The Epoch Times website and The Epoch Times group of newspapers had "grown into one of the largest Chinese-language news websites and newspaper groups outside China in the past two years, with local editions in more than thirty U.S. states, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Indonesia, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and major Western European countries." It claims a circulation
of 100,000 in the United States, and more than 1 million worldwide in 2009; it is unaudited in some places.
Its New York-area circulation is 35,000 weekly for the English version and 105,000 weekly for the Chinese-language edition, according to a spokesman for the company.
The paper staffs reporters locally based in offices in each country where an edition is printed. In New York they are a common presence at public events, and around the world they cover stories that pertain to their own areas, contributing to a pool of articles for the different editions to share. David Ownby, director of the Center for East Asian Studies at the University of Montreal and the author of Falun Gong and the Future of China, wrote that the newspaper’s articles are “well written and interesting, if occasionally idiosyncratic in their coverage."
"The Epoch Times is a newspaper with a mission," Ownby says, which includes "reporting on issues bearing on human rights throughout the world, which allows for considerable focus on China and Falun Gong."
(CCP). The paper's reports on China are highly critical of the PRC government, particularly in its tone and commentaries towards the Communist Party. The paper is unique in giving significant attention to Falun Gong's campaigns, particularly their attempt to sue former Chinese President Jiang Zemin
under civil legislation for genocide
, which many mainstream publications have not covered. As reported by the paper itself, Chinese journalists relayed stories overseas of alleged human rights
abuses, infringements on civil liberties and corruption
in the CCP, among others. In 2005, the San Francisco Chronicle
reported that "three new U.S-based, Chinese-language media outlets that provide provocative reporting about the Communist Party, government oppression and social unrest in China [namely the Epoch Times, Sound of Hope, and NTDTV] have ties to the Falun Gong spiritual movement." When interviewed, executives at each outlet said they did not represent the Falun Gong movement as a whole.
The paper also counters what it considers to be CCP propaganda through its own opinion pieces. The paper is vocal in supporting dissidents, pro-independence Taiwanese, and other traditional opponents of the CCP.
According to Ming Xia, political science professor at the College of Staten Island
, The Epoch Times represents part of Falun Gong's effort to expand to non-practitioners, and "is part of the Falun Gong strategy to embed itself into the large civil society for influence and legitimacy"
Throughout March 2006, the newspaper published a series of articles containing allegations by a number of anonymous individuals claiming to be eyewitnesses to organ harvesting
in Sujiatun Hospital and beyond, labelling it "Sujiatun Concentration Camp". The claims made in the article were unsubstantiated, and criticised by dissident Harry Wu
, who dismissed the claims as hearsay, without any documentary support or any detailed information.
Since November 2004, the Chinese version of The Epoch Times have published and heavily promoted a series of editorials and a booklet entitled "Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party" . The editorials purport to give an alternate exposé of the CCP through its history, from its ascent to power under Mao Zedong
to its present-day form, as well as a condemnation of communism in all of its forms. In it the CCP was criticized as an illegitimate institution who employed underhanded tactics to gain power. The commentaries allege that the CCP "destroyed traditional Chinese culture" and goes so far as to brand the CCP an "evil cult". According to Ownby, the Commentaries are a condemnation of Communism and direct indictment on the legitimacy of the Chinese Communist Party in ruling China. While acknowledging the "unnecessary violence" the Chinese Communist Party have inflicted, as a professional historian Ownby finds that the lack balance and nuance in tone and style makes the editorial resemble "anti-Communist propaganda written in Taiwan in the 1950s."
The Nine Commentaries won the “Asian American Issues - Online” category of the AAJA National Awards at the 2005 Asian American Journalists Association
(AAJA) convention held in August 2005. The "Commentaries" were subsequently translated into more than 30 other languages.
During the 2009 New York City Comptroller
elections, the Epoch Times alleged that Taiwan
-born Democratic nominee John Liu
is part of a "United Front" by the Chinese Communist Party to infiltrate the United States and subvert its government, democracy, and human rights in general. The newspaper alleges that "the CCP works tenaciously and systematically to place its people [...] in key positions in corporations, academia, and government in the United States and other countries." The coverage began when practitioners felt Liu had sided with local residents critical of Falun Gong, and therefore was on equal moral footing with the Communist Party of China. The Epoch Times also published an 8-page "special edition", and also featured on its website a section focused on coverage of Liu's reported ties with CCP officials.
During Hu Jintao
's visit to Canada in June 2010, the Toronto Star
noted that the Epoch Times had published several "hard-hitting" critical stories on Hu's visit, such as allegations of the local Chinese embassy's orchestration of welcome parades, as well as an alleged recording of a speech by the first secretary of education Liu Shaohua, in which Liu stated that embassy would provide accommodation and transport for over 3,000 participants in the welcome parade.
Canadian media reported that the parliamentary press office made deliberate arrangements in relation to Hu's public appearances limiting the Epoch Times' access to the Chinese President, even though the newspaper is an accredited member of the Canadian Parliamentary Press Gallery, with all the same access rights as other media outlets. The paper also carried an exclusive interview with outspoken Canadian MP Rob Anders, wherein Anders alleged that the Chinese government used gifts and business deals in attempts to influence Canadian political decisions.
(IGFM) for "extensive and regular reporting about violations of human rights in China
." In August 2005, the English version of the paper was awarded the top award in the category "Asian American Issues - Online" by the Asian American Journalists Association
(AAJA). In September 2005, the Chinese version of the paper was recognized during the National Ethnomedia Week 2005 in Canada
as a "strong defender of human rights and free democratic values."
lawn press briefing where she yelled at Chinese President Hu Jintao
over recent allegations of organ harvesting from Falun Gong practitioners in China. In turn, The Epoch Times apologized to the U.S. President, whilst denying any direct ties to, or funding from, Falun Gong.
Dr. Liu Kang, professor of Chinese Cultural Studies at Duke University
, claimed in 2006 that the paper did not adhere to basic journalistic standards of professionalism and objectivity, and is "not viewed as an independent objective news media" by members of the Chinese Diaspora; he also referred to the Wang incident. Liu remarked that the newspaper is seen by the overseas Chinese community as "Falun Gong propaganda".
James Bettinger, a professor of Communications at Stanford University
and the director of the John S. Knight Journalism Fellowships, said "Even if the Epoch Times is not associated with Falun Gong, if they consistently write about Falun Gong in the same perspective, or if there are no articles examining Falun Gong, people would perceive it as being not credible."
Others critics have given different opinions. Orville Schell, dean of the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism, said in 2005 that "It's hard to vouch for their quality because it's difficult to corroborate, but it's not something to be dismissed as pure propaganda."
The paper's apparent lack of balance has been lauded by some Chinese dissidents. Jiao Guobiao
, an outspoken dissident and former Beijing University journalism professor who was dismissed after criticizing the CCP's propaganda department, proposed that even if Falun Gong outlets published only negative information highly critical of the CCP, the weight of their attacks could never begin to counterbalance the positive propaganda the party publishes about itself. In addressing media balance, Jiao noted that the Chinese public lacked negative, critical information regarding their country. As such, he noted for a need of media balance based on the principles of freedom, equality, and legality, and that media balance "is the result of the collective imbalances of all"
Chinese language
The Chinese language is a language or language family consisting of varieties which are mutually intelligible to varying degrees. Originally the indigenous languages spoken by the Han Chinese in China, it forms one of the branches of Sino-Tibetan family of languages...
since May 2000. It was founded in 1999 by supporters of the Falun Gong
Falun Gong
Falun Gong is a spiritual discipline first introduced in China in 1992 by its founder, Li Hongzhi, through public lectures. It combines the practice of meditation and slow-moving qigong exercises with the moral philosophy...
spiritual discipline.
The paper covers general interest issues, China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
, and human rights
Human rights
Human rights are "commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being." Human rights are thus conceived as universal and egalitarian . These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, in both national...
. The newspaper is heavily critical of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and policies of the P.R. Chinese government. In 2004, the newspaper published the "Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party", an in-depth critique of China's ruling regime. The newspaper covers causes and groups opposed to the CCP, including Falun Gong
Falun Gong
Falun Gong is a spiritual discipline first introduced in China in 1992 by its founder, Li Hongzhi, through public lectures. It combines the practice of meditation and slow-moving qigong exercises with the moral philosophy...
, dissidents, activists, and supporters of the Tibetan government-in-exile. The Epoch Times Website also hosts a "CCP Renunciations" service, encouraging Chinese to quit the CCP and related organizations. The PRC government blocks mainland Chinese from accessing the Epoch Times website.
Headquartered in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, the newspaper has local bureaus and a network of local reporters throughout the world. It is either sold or distributed free-of-charge in roughly 30 countries worldwide, and maintains editions in English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
, Chinese, nine other languages in print, and 17 on the internet
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
.
History
According to the newspaper itself, The Epoch Times was founded in New York in May 2000, following the arrest of a small circle of journalists in China in 2000. As stated on the website, it was “in a suburban Atlanta home basement with a noble cause, a clear sense of purpose and a few home personal computers.”On August 12, 2002, The Epoch Times launched its first daily in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
In August 2004, an English language
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
edition of The Epoch Times was launched in Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
, as well as Washington, D.C., Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
, San Francisco, and several other cities. It is also distributed in Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
and San Diego. The paper has associated media services, including the television station New Tang Dynasty TV
New Tang Dynasty TV
New Tang Dynasty Television is a television broadcaster based in New York City, with correspondents in over 70 cities worldwide. The company was founded by Falun Gong practitioners...
and the radio station Sound of Hope
Sound of Hope
Sound of Hope is a global, non-profit provider of radio news, cultural programming, talk shows and commentaries. SOH was established by Chinese immigrants in the United States in June 2003 and now has operating teams spread across North and South America, Asia, Australia and Europe...
.
The Epoch Times is often connected with the Falun Gong
Falun Gong
Falun Gong is a spiritual discipline first introduced in China in 1992 by its founder, Li Hongzhi, through public lectures. It combines the practice of meditation and slow-moving qigong exercises with the moral philosophy...
spiritual group. A 2006 report by the U.S. Congressional Research Service
Congressional Research Service
The Congressional Research Service , known as "Congress's think tank", is the public policy research arm of the United States Congress. As a legislative branch agency within the Library of Congress, CRS works exclusively and directly for Members of Congress, their Committees and staff on a...
listed the newspaper as a Falun Gong affiliated media source, and Professor David Ownby, an expert on Falun Gong, said that after years of ill-treatment by journalists, "they decided to publish a newspaper by themselves to publicize their beliefs..."
Distribution
As of September 2010, The Epoch Times is available in ten languages for its print editions and in 17 languages on the Internet. English editions were distributed in Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, Singapore, the United Kingdom, and the United States. German and French editions were launched in late 2004. There were two language editions published in Tokyo, Japan: the Chinese language edition, launched in January 2001, and the Japanese language edition, launched in 2005. In addition, a Hebrew edition of the Epoch Times has been available in Israel since 2005.Yuezhi Zhao, Assistant Professor of Communication at Simon Fraser University
Simon Fraser University
Simon Fraser University is a Canadian public research university in British Columbia with its main campus on Burnaby Mountain in Burnaby, and satellite campuses in Vancouver and Surrey. The main campus in Burnaby, located from downtown Vancouver, was established in 1965 and has more than 34,000...
, Canada, wrote in 2003 that The Epoch Times website and The Epoch Times group of newspapers had "grown into one of the largest Chinese-language news websites and newspaper groups outside China in the past two years, with local editions in more than thirty U.S. states, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Indonesia, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and major Western European countries." It claims a circulation
Newspaper circulation
A newspaper's circulation is the number of copies it distributes on an average day. Circulation is one of the principal factors used to set advertising rates. Circulation is not always the same as copies sold, often called paid circulation, since some newspapers are distributed without cost to the...
of 100,000 in the United States, and more than 1 million worldwide in 2009; it is unaudited in some places.
Its New York-area circulation is 35,000 weekly for the English version and 105,000 weekly for the Chinese-language edition, according to a spokesman for the company.
Coverage and focus
Typically a 16-page broadsheet, the Epoch Times also runs mainstream newswire stories and in some places can resemble a community newspaper. Some local versions take the form of a free weekly newspaper drawing on content from the Epoch Times website, and are distributed worldwide. Zhao said: "While mainstream newspaper typically treat Web versions as an extension of the already-existing print version, the Epoch Times website serves as the master for all its worldwide papers."The paper staffs reporters locally based in offices in each country where an edition is printed. In New York they are a common presence at public events, and around the world they cover stories that pertain to their own areas, contributing to a pool of articles for the different editions to share. David Ownby, director of the Center for East Asian Studies at the University of Montreal and the author of Falun Gong and the Future of China, wrote that the newspaper’s articles are “well written and interesting, if occasionally idiosyncratic in their coverage."
"The Epoch Times is a newspaper with a mission," Ownby says, which includes "reporting on issues bearing on human rights throughout the world, which allows for considerable focus on China and Falun Gong."
Political stance
The Epoch Times originally targeted Chinese readers living abroad and reported on various abuses and inner workings of the Communist Party of ChinaCommunist Party of China
The Communist Party of China , also known as the Chinese Communist Party , is the founding and ruling political party of the People's Republic of China...
(CCP). The paper's reports on China are highly critical of the PRC government, particularly in its tone and commentaries towards the Communist Party. The paper is unique in giving significant attention to Falun Gong's campaigns, particularly their attempt to sue former Chinese President Jiang Zemin
Jiang Zemin
Jiang Zemin is a former Chinese politician, who served as General Secretary of the Communist Party of China from 1989 to 2002, as President of the People's Republic of China from 1993 to 2003, and as Chairman of the Central Military Commission from 1989 to 2005...
under civil legislation for genocide
Genocide
Genocide is defined as "the deliberate and systematic destruction, in whole or in part, of an ethnic, racial, religious, or national group", though what constitutes enough of a "part" to qualify as genocide has been subject to much debate by legal scholars...
, which many mainstream publications have not covered. As reported by the paper itself, Chinese journalists relayed stories overseas of alleged human rights
Human rights
Human rights are "commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being." Human rights are thus conceived as universal and egalitarian . These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, in both national...
abuses, infringements on civil liberties and corruption
Political corruption
Political corruption is the use of legislated powers by government officials for illegitimate private gain. Misuse of government power for other purposes, such as repression of political opponents and general police brutality, is not considered political corruption. Neither are illegal acts by...
in the CCP, among others. In 2005, the San Francisco Chronicle
San Francisco Chronicle
thumb|right|upright|The Chronicle Building following the [[1906 San Francisco earthquake|1906 earthquake]] and fireThe San Francisco Chronicle is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California, but distributed throughout Northern and Central California,...
reported that "three new U.S-based, Chinese-language media outlets that provide provocative reporting about the Communist Party, government oppression and social unrest in China [namely the Epoch Times, Sound of Hope, and NTDTV] have ties to the Falun Gong spiritual movement." When interviewed, executives at each outlet said they did not represent the Falun Gong movement as a whole.
The paper also counters what it considers to be CCP propaganda through its own opinion pieces. The paper is vocal in supporting dissidents, pro-independence Taiwanese, and other traditional opponents of the CCP.
According to Ming Xia, political science professor at the College of Staten Island
College of Staten Island
The College of Staten Island is a four-year, senior college of and is one of the 11 senior colleges in the City University of New York. Programs in the liberal arts and sciences and professional studies lead to bachelor's and associate's degrees. The master's degree is awarded in 13 professional...
, The Epoch Times represents part of Falun Gong's effort to expand to non-practitioners, and "is part of the Falun Gong strategy to embed itself into the large civil society for influence and legitimacy"
Reporting style
An iconic feature of the newspaper is displayed under the masthead of every Chinese edition of the newspaper: a counter of the number of people who have allegedly renounced their membership in the Communist Party of China or its affiliate organizations. The counter stood at over 103 million as of October 10, 2011. This same number is either omitted in English editions or described as the number of people who have renounced the Party or its affiliates.Throughout March 2006, the newspaper published a series of articles containing allegations by a number of anonymous individuals claiming to be eyewitnesses to organ harvesting
Organ harvesting
Organ harvesting refers to the removal, preservation and use of human organs and tissue from the bodies of the recently deceased to be used in surgical transplants on the living...
in Sujiatun Hospital and beyond, labelling it "Sujiatun Concentration Camp". The claims made in the article were unsubstantiated, and criticised by dissident Harry Wu
Harry Wu
Harry Wu is an activist for human rights in the People's Republic of China. Now a resident and citizen of the United States, Wu spent 19 years in Chinese labor camps. In 1992, he founded the Laogai Research Foundation. In 1996 the Columbia Human Rights Law Review awarded Wu its second Award for...
, who dismissed the claims as hearsay, without any documentary support or any detailed information.
Since November 2004, the Chinese version of The Epoch Times have published and heavily promoted a series of editorials and a booklet entitled "Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party" . The editorials purport to give an alternate exposé of the CCP through its history, from its ascent to power under Mao Zedong
Mao Zedong
Mao Zedong, also transliterated as Mao Tse-tung , and commonly referred to as Chairman Mao , was a Chinese Communist revolutionary, guerrilla warfare strategist, Marxist political philosopher, and leader of the Chinese Revolution...
to its present-day form, as well as a condemnation of communism in all of its forms. In it the CCP was criticized as an illegitimate institution who employed underhanded tactics to gain power. The commentaries allege that the CCP "destroyed traditional Chinese culture" and goes so far as to brand the CCP an "evil cult". According to Ownby, the Commentaries are a condemnation of Communism and direct indictment on the legitimacy of the Chinese Communist Party in ruling China. While acknowledging the "unnecessary violence" the Chinese Communist Party have inflicted, as a professional historian Ownby finds that the lack balance and nuance in tone and style makes the editorial resemble "anti-Communist propaganda written in Taiwan in the 1950s."
The Nine Commentaries won the “Asian American Issues - Online” category of the AAJA National Awards at the 2005 Asian American Journalists Association
Asian American Journalists Association
The Asian American Journalists Association was founded in 1981 by several Asian American journalists who felt a need to support greater participation by Asian Americans in the news media.Its goals are:...
(AAJA) convention held in August 2005. The "Commentaries" were subsequently translated into more than 30 other languages.
During the 2009 New York City Comptroller
New York City Comptroller
The Office of Comptroller of New York City is the chief fiscal officer and chief auditing officer of the city. The comptroller is elected, citywide, to a four-year term and can hold office for three consecutive terms. The current comptroller is Democrat John Liu, formerly a member of the New York...
elections, the Epoch Times alleged that Taiwan
Taiwan
Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...
-born Democratic nominee John Liu
John Liu
John Chun Liu is a New York City elected official, currently serving as New York City Comptroller. Liu previously served on the New York City Council representing District 20...
is part of a "United Front" by the Chinese Communist Party to infiltrate the United States and subvert its government, democracy, and human rights in general. The newspaper alleges that "the CCP works tenaciously and systematically to place its people [...] in key positions in corporations, academia, and government in the United States and other countries." The coverage began when practitioners felt Liu had sided with local residents critical of Falun Gong, and therefore was on equal moral footing with the Communist Party of China. The Epoch Times also published an 8-page "special edition", and also featured on its website a section focused on coverage of Liu's reported ties with CCP officials.
During Hu Jintao
Hu Jintao
Hu Jintao is the current Paramount Leader of the People's Republic of China. He has held the titles of General Secretary of the Communist Party of China since 2002, President of the People's Republic of China since 2003, and Chairman of the Central Military Commission since 2004, succeeding Jiang...
's visit to Canada in June 2010, the Toronto Star
Toronto Star
The Toronto Star is Canada's highest-circulation newspaper, based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Its print edition is distributed almost entirely within the province of Ontario...
noted that the Epoch Times had published several "hard-hitting" critical stories on Hu's visit, such as allegations of the local Chinese embassy's orchestration of welcome parades, as well as an alleged recording of a speech by the first secretary of education Liu Shaohua, in which Liu stated that embassy would provide accommodation and transport for over 3,000 participants in the welcome parade.
Canadian media reported that the parliamentary press office made deliberate arrangements in relation to Hu's public appearances limiting the Epoch Times' access to the Chinese President, even though the newspaper is an accredited member of the Canadian Parliamentary Press Gallery, with all the same access rights as other media outlets. The paper also carried an exclusive interview with outspoken Canadian MP Rob Anders, wherein Anders alleged that the Chinese government used gifts and business deals in attempts to influence Canadian political decisions.
Assessments
In 2010, The Epoch Times had to defend its reporting in the Canadian court system, when a publisher they had reported on, Crescent Chau, sued for libel. The justice in charge of the case ruled that the paper had acted in the public interest, and that the particular article expressed "legitimate concerns and constitute an opinion which is drawn from a factual premise". In examining the case, John Gordon Miller, a Canadian journalist and media professor, noted that the articles of the paper "appear to be thoroughly and professionally reported, which isn't always the case in the often under-resourced ethnocultural press." Miller viewed the court victory as significant step in repairing its credibility, previously damaged by the Wang Wenyi incident. "In the Quebec case, the paper's reporting stood up to the court's scrutiny," Miller wrote.Awards and achievements
In May 2005, Die Neue Epoche, the German-language edition of The Epoch Times, received a special media prize from the International Society for Human RightsInternational Society for Human Rights
The International Society for Human Rights is an international non-governmental, non-profit human rights organization with Participative Status with the Council of Europe and is a member of the Liaison Committee of the Non-Governmental Organisations at the Council of Europe...
(IGFM) for "extensive and regular reporting about violations of human rights in China
Human rights in the People's Republic of China
Human rights in the People's Republic of China are a matter of dispute between the Chinese government, other countries, international NGOs, and dissidents inside the country. Organizations such as the U.S. State Department, Amnesty International, and Human Rights Watch have accused the Chinese...
." In August 2005, the English version of the paper was awarded the top award in the category "Asian American Issues - Online" by the Asian American Journalists Association
Asian American Journalists Association
The Asian American Journalists Association was founded in 1981 by several Asian American journalists who felt a need to support greater participation by Asian Americans in the news media.Its goals are:...
(AAJA). In September 2005, the Chinese version of the paper was recognized during the National Ethnomedia Week 2005 in Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
as a "strong defender of human rights and free democratic values."
Criticism
In the view of some observers, the newspaper's credibility was damaged by Wang Wenyi, who used her Epoch Times journalist pass to gain access to a White HouseWhite House
The White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., the house was designed by Irish-born James Hoban, and built between 1792 and 1800 of white-painted Aquia sandstone in the Neoclassical...
lawn press briefing where she yelled at Chinese President Hu Jintao
Hu Jintao
Hu Jintao is the current Paramount Leader of the People's Republic of China. He has held the titles of General Secretary of the Communist Party of China since 2002, President of the People's Republic of China since 2003, and Chairman of the Central Military Commission since 2004, succeeding Jiang...
over recent allegations of organ harvesting from Falun Gong practitioners in China. In turn, The Epoch Times apologized to the U.S. President, whilst denying any direct ties to, or funding from, Falun Gong.
Dr. Liu Kang, professor of Chinese Cultural Studies at Duke University
Duke University
Duke University is a private research university located in Durham, North Carolina, United States. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present day town of Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1892. In 1924, tobacco industrialist James B...
, claimed in 2006 that the paper did not adhere to basic journalistic standards of professionalism and objectivity, and is "not viewed as an independent objective news media" by members of the Chinese Diaspora; he also referred to the Wang incident. Liu remarked that the newspaper is seen by the overseas Chinese community as "Falun Gong propaganda".
James Bettinger, a professor of Communications at Stanford University
Stanford University
The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...
and the director of the John S. Knight Journalism Fellowships, said "Even if the Epoch Times is not associated with Falun Gong, if they consistently write about Falun Gong in the same perspective, or if there are no articles examining Falun Gong, people would perceive it as being not credible."
Others critics have given different opinions. Orville Schell, dean of the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism, said in 2005 that "It's hard to vouch for their quality because it's difficult to corroborate, but it's not something to be dismissed as pure propaganda."
The paper's apparent lack of balance has been lauded by some Chinese dissidents. Jiao Guobiao
Jiao Guobiao
Jiao Guobiao was formerly an associate professor at Peking University's College of Journalism and Communications until he was dismissed. A prominent journalist at Chinese Cultural Newspaper from 1996 to 2001, he has published widely on issues of journalism in China...
, an outspoken dissident and former Beijing University journalism professor who was dismissed after criticizing the CCP's propaganda department, proposed that even if Falun Gong outlets published only negative information highly critical of the CCP, the weight of their attacks could never begin to counterbalance the positive propaganda the party publishes about itself. In addressing media balance, Jiao noted that the Chinese public lacked negative, critical information regarding their country. As such, he noted for a need of media balance based on the principles of freedom, equality, and legality, and that media balance "is the result of the collective imbalances of all"