A Glimpse of Tibet's Media Today

　　Tibetan Daily is the official newspaper of the Communist Party of the Tibet Autonomous Region. In the 40 years since its launch, the Tibetan Daily has recorded the historical steps of Tibet from the abolition of feudal serf system to the implementation of the reform and opening policies to the adoption of a socialist market economy, which well reflect the great transition from a backward, dark Tibet to a bright and prosperous one. It serves as a window on the political, economic and cultural development in Tibet. Tibetan Daily is published in Chinese and Tibetan and distributed nationwide, with an increasing distribution from 6,000 copies at the beginning to more than 40 thousand at present. With 370 staff, the press has seven departments: General Editorial Office, Tibetan Language Editorial Department, Chinese Language Editorial Department, Journalists' Department, Political Department, General Office, and a printing factory. The executive editor takes on the responsibility of managing the press. Based on the plateau, tibetan Daily has opened up a series of special columns with a local and ethnic flavor. For example, in the Chinese Tibetan Daily', columns like "Talks on Tibetan Economy", "On the Way to a Better Life", "Fields of Science", and "Letters" have been warmly welcomed by readers. The Tibetan Daily in Tibetan language carries out the principle of serving farmers and herders and has opened up a dozen columns like "How to Become Rich", "Market Economy", "In the Big Family of the Motherland", and "Field of Law". It attaches importance to the quality of photographs and works of fine art so as to be informative, interesting and readable. With its rich information and service columns, the paper has become a good teacher as well as a friend of farmers and herders. Over the past 40 years the Han Chinese working for Tibetan Daily Press have overcome altitude-sickness, poor transportation services and lack of daily necessities and made great efforts to help develop the business of the press, which has been steadily improving. The printing technology has also improved, from stereotypy in 1965 to offset printing in 1989 to laser printing in 1994. Tibetan Daily boasts a team of reporters of different ethnic backgrounds, though the majority are Tibetan (73 percent). Among its 200-odd professionals, there are more than 30 senior journalists and editors and 120 mid-level professionals. Over the years, the press has adopted various measures to build up a quality team of reporters through training classes and advanced study in inland colleges. More than 100 journalists have received such training and Tibetan journalists and editors have become the mainstay of staff. In addition, the press has also established a nationwide network of communication with more than 1,000 Han and Tibetan correspondents.
Tibet People's Broadcasting Station: On January 1, 1959, the Tibet People's Broadcasting Station made its first broadcast, and since then it has developed steadily, in line with the progress of Tibetan society. Today, there are two broadcasting stations and 28 transmission and relay stations, covering 55 percent of Tibetan territory. In other words, the seats of 81 prefectures, cities and counties, and one third of the countryside can now tune in to the programs. Today there are 185 staff members working for the station, who are responsible for five channels of broadcasting, a total of over 70 hours a day. Among them, 14 hours of programs in Tibetan and mandarin are produced by the station, and II hours of stereo broadcasting and 35 hours of programs are transmitted from the Central People's Broadcasting Station. After years of exploration, the Tibet People's Broadcasting Station has come up with a group of programs with a local flavor that is popular among audiences. For the programs broadcast in the Tibetan language, there are segments covering news, entertainment, economy and so on. As for entertainment, the station boasts segments like "Local Tibetan Operas", "Stage on the Air", and "Music from Ethnic Groups". Other interesting programs include "Galsang Maidoi", "A Seminar on Tibetan History", "Friend of Seniors", "To Farmers and Herders" and "To Tibetans Abroad". Programs on economy include "Views on Economy" and "Agriculture Broadcasting School". Each of these pro-grams has a large audience. Chinese programs also cover news, entertainment, special topics and economy. News programs include "Tibetan News" and "Top Hour News"; entertainment programs include "Snow Lotus on the Air", "Weekly Song" and "Rhythm of the Plateau". Special topics include "Time and Space of the Plateau", "Army on the Plateau" and "Tibetan Language Lessons". Economic programs include "Views on Economy" and "Advertising". Tibet has a population made up of 80 percent farmers and herders sparsely scattered on the vast plateau. Due to poor transportation services, the Tibetan government attaches great importance to broadcasting and aims to let people in remote places and of different social status hear and understand the broadcast. Over the years, the broadcasting station has persevered in broadcasting mainly in Tibetan, with Chinese programs in between. It publicizes the Party's policies on ethnic groups and religion provides information on reform and opening policies and economic constructions and helps the audience to under .stand other parts 0f China and the world. Tibetan-language programs are given priority during airing time and are equipped with the best frequency and facilities. Relay stations are very active and up-to-the-minute in transmitting the programs in Tibetan produced by the Tibetan Broadcasting Station. On February 14 ,1964 the Tibet People's Broadcasting Station made its first broadcast to Overseas audiences. Since 1992 with the exception of Africa worldwide audiences can listen to its programs by satellite. For the past 30 years, the station has objectively reported the great changes in Tibet with the support of the people around the country. Today overseas programs are on air 24 hours a day, which consist of Tibetan news. state and international news, special topics and entertainment segments. Special topics for overseas audiences include "Hometown " "Tour China" and "East, West, South and North". "Hometown" introduces achievements made in the fields of economic construction in Tibet, stories about ordinary people who rely on their hands to become rich, and other information. "Tour China" introduces the achievements of some other ethnic groups outside Tibet and further introduces some special economic zones, developing zones and some areas open to the outside world. It also touches on key state projects, famous mountains and rivers, and other attractions of historical and cultural interest. "East, West, South and North" focuses mainly on four aspects: First, the life of foreign residents in Tibet and their suggestions and comments on Tibet's reform and opening to the outside. Second, articles and special reports by foreign visitors and scholars in Tibet. Third, views of Tibetan experts and scholars who have participated in economic and social activities abroad. Fourth, the opinion of celebrities on important domestic and international events. Since 1994, lively and timely reports have won attention and acclaims from overseas Tibetans, audiences from neighboring countries and regions as well as scholars on Tibetan studies. The Tibet People's Broadcasting Station has also launched an FM98MHz frequency specializing in economic reports. All programs are broadcast live. This special economic station is the first of its kind in Tibet and has ushered Tibetan broadcasting into a new phase. It has given the producers experience for later programming reforms. The programs of this economic station are mainly comprised of news, economic information, services and entertainment. For news, there are the segments, "Brief News of Politics", "City Perspectives", "Open Lhasa", and "The World of Law"; programs relating to economic information include, "Economic News", "Economic Information Network", "Stock Exchange News", "Reports on Occupations" and "Half Hour Information"; service programs include "Hello, Taxi!", "Express at Noon" (or "Medicine Information"), "Selected Songs by Audiences" and "Tibetan Customs"; entertainment consists mainly of "The Paradise of Music", "The Light of Home", "The Seven-Colored Musical Box" etc. Over 1,400 professionals (about 80 percent Tibetan) now work in the field of broadcasting. Many of them are dessendants of the liberated serfs. To improve their professional abilities, the Tibet People's Broadcasting Station has made great efforts to train them by sending them to inland colleges and institutes for advanced studies. As a result, the number of Tibetan cadres and staff has increased, and most of them have college and occupational school degrees or have acquired technical skills. Tibetan senior journalists , translators and hosts are now the backbone of this broadcasting sector.
The Tibet Television Station: When it was first established in 1985, there were just four people, one video camera, one black-and-white television transmission car, one 100-watt color television launcher and seventeen receivers. By its tenth anniversary, it had over 180 staff members and it was broadcasting in Tibetan and Chinese 14 hours a day. Its self-produced programs grew to a length of one and half hours from 40 minutes at the beginning, and could be received by one-third of the people in the Tibet Autonomous Region. Its broadcasts also covered inland China, the Korean Peninsula and most parts of Southeast Asia. At the beginning, the station mainly transmitted and replayed the programs produced by the China Central Television. After over a decade's development, it has made obvious improvements in program producing, translating and dubbing. Since 1994, the station has created new programs like "In Tibet", "Seven-Color Wind", "Horizon on the Snowy Land" and "Weekly Report", which have been warmly welcomed by audiences from all walks of life. "In Tibet" is the first program of its kind on the plateau, combining special topics, entertainment, and services into one program. Within the program are the segments "Tibetans", "Roaming the Roof of the World", "Interviewing stars",“Hot Topic Report" and "Gallery of Enterprises all quite popular with audiences in and out of the Tibet Autonomous Region. The sixth episode of the program was awarded second prize at the fifth National Ethnic Television Art Festival. "Seven-Color Wind" is a magazine-like program consisting of seven sections-art, stars on the plateau. customs on the snowy land, fashion trends, night talk on the roof of the world, a hot line, and colorful bleachers. "Horizon on the Snowy Land" focuses on the life, study and work of adolescents. "Weekly Report", broadcast in Tibetan and Han Chinese, is a news program presided over by a host in a new, creative way, which consists of "A Retrospective of Recent Key News", "Reviews on the News" and "Hot Topics". In the past ten years, the Tibet Television Station has made great efforts in functioning as an efficient distributor of information, entertainment and education as well as providing other services. It has also made great progress in dubbing movies, TV plays and other literary and art programs. TV plays, like A Journeys to the West, Woman Serf and Gods Enfiefed, which have been dubbed in Tibetan, have created a sensation among Tibetan audiences both at home and abroad. Dawa zholma, a television drama produced by the station. special programs such as "The Family in North Tibet" and "Missing the Snowy Land" as well as other news and entertainment programs have won domestic and international awards. Among them is the movie Hero of o Generation and the TV play The Winding Xioite River, produced by the station, and Kong Fonshen jointly produced by the China Central Television Station, Ciuangdong Television Station and Tibet Television Station. These three have won national awards for their artistic achievements.
Lhasa Television Station: This is a newly launched station, which made its first broadcast on December 12, 1994. Its staff members are a group of energetic people who are in their thirties. Business here has expanded quickly. On October 1.1996, the 153-meter-high transmission tower, a 5-mil-lion-yuan project financed by the Lhasa municipal government, was put into operation. As the most modern construction in Lhasa, it has become quite an attraction. The Lhasa Television Station has launched a cable branch station, which can receive 31 channels of satellite programs and attracts an audience of over 300 thousand per year. The station is now preparing to launch an FM radio broadcast.
The Lhasa Evening News: It is the official newspaper of the Communist Party of the Lhasa municipal government. Founded on July I, 1985 (it is the only evening newspaper) it is published in Tibetan and Chinese and is distributed nationwide.
The Cable Television Station of the Tibet Autonomous Region: Founded on December 27, 1993, it is received by nearly 40 thousand households. Its feature film channel includes items like "Overseas Film and Television", "The Love Theater" and "International Film and Television", which air dubbed foreign movies and famous domestic movies and TV plays. It also has a news roundup channel, broadcasting special reports produced by the China Central Television Station and other provincial television stations, such as "Overseas Waves", "Chinese Literature and Art" and "Happy Weekend". In 1996, the Cable Television Station built up a network using both optical and coaxial cables, providing 32 channels of programs. The station now has the best programs and the longest airing time in Tibet.