សេវាកម្មព័ត៌មានរបស់ប្រទេសចិនបុរាណ៖ របៀបដែលរបាយការណ៍ទំនាក់ទំនង ឬ 'ឌីបាវ' នៅក្នុងសម័យហាន គឺជាទម្រង់ដំបូងនៃកាសែត

The main news items were generally concerning policies implemented by the government in the name of the emperor, but there was also a ‘royalty section’

This information structure, where news was sanctioned and disseminated by the central government, continued throughout the imperial period

Journalists Maria Ressa (left) and Dmitry Muratov won this year’s Nobel Peace Prize for their courageous journalism work in the Philippines and Russia. Ancient China also had its own way of spreading 

The journalists Maria Ressa and Dmitry Muratov won this year’s Nobel Peace Prize for their efforts to champion freedom of expression in the Philippines and Russia, their respective countries. Their investigative work often involves great personal risks, for which they deserve respect and recognition.

For most journalists, however, the biggest challenge is staying relevant for the TikTok and Instagram generation, who rarely read anything that requires more than a flick of the thumb.

Ancient China also had a news channel. Soon after the nation became an empire, in the 3rd century BC, the heads of local governments began sending representatives to the capital. By the early Han period (202BC-AD220), these liaison agencies (di) had become a permanent fixture.

Besides submitting various reports from regional heads, liaison agencies also conveyed documents back to the provinces, including dibao (“liaison reports”), an early form of newspapers. These reports were posted at the entrances of local government offices, marketplaces and other locations for public viewing. In AD981, all the regional liaison agencies were placed under the command of the central government. Henceforth, all official news carried the imperial imprimatur.

The main news items in dibao were policies implemented by the government in the name of the emperor. There was also a “royalty section”, detailing the lives of the emperor and his family. Readers were also informed of new appointments as well as crime and punishment. As a tool for controlling and pacifying the people, dibao did not carry any news about natural disasters, armed rebellions or any other issues deemed sensitive by the government.

Compiled at regular intervals, sometimes even daily, dibao were disseminated by the central government through the postal relay stations dotted all over the empire. Once issued, they could be reproduced and the copies were allowed to be sold. The people who bought them were usually intellectuals who might wish to read the news more closely at leisure, which was hard to do when one had to elbow one’s way through the hoi polloi at a notice board in the marketplace.

This information framework, where news was sifted, sanctioned and disseminated by the central government, continued throughout the imperial period.

Interestingly, the first Chinese-language news periodical that we know of, one that was recognisably modern, appeared not in China but in the Malay Peninsula. The short-lived Chinese Monthly Magazine (1815–1821) was published by Christian missionaries in British-ruled Malacca (present-day Melaka). Although it was primarily a religious magazine that targeted the Chinese community in the territory, the monthly had sections set aside for news and general knowledge for the edification of its readers.

Today, news is no longer the preserve of governments or even print and online outlets. Social media is the chief source of news for most and given its inherent echo chambers, divisions in communities – as we have seen in Hong Kong – have intensified to a point of no return.

SCMP