Sing Tao Daily (Canada)

The Sing Tao Daily (Chinese: 星島日報; pinyin: Xīngdǎo Rìbào), or Sing Tao (Chinese: 星島; pinyin: Xīngdǎo) for short, is a Chinese language newspaper based in Toronto, Ontario. It is jointly owned by the Hong Kong-based Sing Tao News Corporation and the Canadian publishing conglomerate Torstar Corporation, parent company of the Toronto Star.

This article is about the Chinese-language newspaper in Canada. For the sister publication based in Hong Kong and New York City, see Sing Tao Daily.
Sing Tao Daily
Sing Tao Daily's head office in Markham, Ontario
TypeDaily newspaper
FormatBroadsheet
Owner(s)
Founded1978
Political alignmentpro-Beijing
LanguageChinese
Headquarters221 Whitehall Drive, Markham, Ontario
L3R 9T1
Circulation180,000
WebsiteSing Tao Canada (in Chinese)
Sing Tao Daily
Traditional Chinese星島日報
Simplified Chinese星岛日报

Sing Tao's connection to the Toronto Star was through Andrew V. Go, former Star vice president for business ventures.[1] Go's father, Go Puan Seng, was the publisher of The Fookien Times, then the Philippines' largest Chinese-language newspaper which also published the Philippine edition of the Sing Tao,[2] and was a family friend of then Sing Tao Group's Sally Aw.[3]

The Toronto edition is formally called the Canada Eastern Edition (加東版 Pinyin: Jiā Dōng Bǎn). A Canada Western Edition (加西版 Pinyin: Jiā Xī Bǎn) in Vancouver, British Columbia and an Alberta Edition in Calgary, Alberta have also been published since 1988.

The paper, the only Chinese language newspaper publishing in 3 different Canadian cities, is published 7 days a week in the broadsheet format. News coverage includes national, provincial, and local news, international news, Hong Kong news, news from Mainland China and Taiwan, plus business, sports, lifestyle, entertainment, etc.

According to former editor-in-chief of the newspaper, Victor Ho, and Jonathan Manthorpe, author of Claws of the Panda, the newspaper's editorial stance is pro-Beijing.[4][5]

Supplements (magazines)

The Sing Tao publishes several weekly magazines. Unlike the situation in Hong Kong where the magazines are sold as separate publications, these are more properly called supplements that come free with the paper. The pages inside the magazines are also printed on newsprint instead of glossy (coated) paper.

The free magazines that come with the Canada Eastern edition are:

  • Friday — Home Choice Magazine (雅居 Pinyin: yǎ jū), a tabloid-sized home living/buying magazine with about 1/4 editorial content (original editorial content plus a small but noticeable number of advertorials)
  • Saturday — the Sing Tao Weekly (星島週刊 Pinyin: xīng dǎo zhōu kān), an entertainment-and-lifestyle magazine with mostly local content
  • Sunday — the Star Magazine (星週刊 Pinyin: xīng zhōu kān), a tabloid-sized entertainment-and-news magazine with mostly Hong Kong content

From time to time, special supplements are also published.

Controversies

In 2009, the top editor of Toronto's Sing Tao Daily, Wilson Chan, was fired shortly after it was revealed that he drastically modified an original Toronto Star article on Tibet to remove criticisms of the Chinese government, before publishing the story in Sing Tao. The decision to remove Chan is said to have come from Torstar Corp, who owns a majority share in Sing Tao's Canadian edition.[6]

The original story, "Chinese Canadians Conflicted on Tibet",[7] which ran on April 13, 2008, was written by a reporter for the Toronto Star, an English-language newspaper also owned by Torstar Corporation. The relationship gives Sing Tao rights to translate and publish stories from the Star. Chan's edits to the Chinese language story, which were revealed by media outlets in 2009, included changing the headline to, "The West Attacks China With Tibet Issue, Inciting Chinese Patriotism Overseas". The edited version omitted all quotes critical of the Chinese regime's human rights abuses and added comments blaming the West for "suppressing China" with media reports of the crackdown in Tibet.

Offices

Rivals

Radio

Sing Tao Daily has a majority stake in Toronto First Radio AM 1540 with minority holder Fairchild Group. The station began operations on January 28, 2008 as A1 Chinese Radio.

See also

References
  1. "Felisa Go, 91". The Philippine Star. PhilStar Daily, Inc. March 10, 2003. Retrieved July 1, 2016.
  2. Blaker, James Roland (1965). "The Chinese Newspaper in the Philippines: Toward the Definition a Tool" (PDF). Asian Studies. University of the Philippines Diliman. 3 (2): 243–261. Retrieved June 28, 2016.
  3. nhunebrown (2010-06-01). "Lost in Translation". Nicholas Hune-Brown. Retrieved 2020-12-06.
  4. Blackwell, Tom (December 3, 2020). "Inside Canada's Chinese-language media: 'Beijing has become the mainstream,' says ex-Sing Tao editor". National Post. Retrieved December 5, 2020.
  5. Manthorpe, Jonathan (2019). Claws of the Panda: Beijing's Campaign of Influence and Intimidation in Canada. Cormorant Books. pp. 170–171. ISBN 978-1-77086-540-2. OCLC 1158965449.
  6. "Editor Dismissed Over Pro-Beijing Edits, Say Sources". Canada Free Press.
  7. Keung, Nicholas. 13 Apr 2008. "Chinese Canadians Conflicted on Tibet" Toronto Star
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