{"id":35297,"date":"2024-08-03T19:00:13","date_gmt":"2024-08-04T02:00:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/?p=35297"},"modified":"2024-08-03T19:00:14","modified_gmt":"2024-08-04T02:00:14","slug":"sing-tao-reclassifies-breeds-mayors-column-after-ethics-questions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2024\/08\/03\/sing-tao-reclassifies-breeds-mayors-column-after-ethics-questions\/","title":{"rendered":"Sing Tao reclassifies Breed\u2019s \u2018Mayor\u2019s Column\u2019 after ethics questions"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"A by\u00a0YUJIE ZHOU<\/a><\/strong> AUGUST 1, 2024 (MissionLocal.org)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A
Screencaps from the Sing Tao Daily. Left: The Mayor\u2019s Column on July 14, 2024. Right: Sing Tao Daily\u2019s opinion page on July 29, 2024, with Mayor London Breed\u2019s piece on the top, accompanied by other opinion pieces.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Mission<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Sign up below to get Mission Local\u2019s free newsletter<\/strong>, a daily digest of news you won\u2019t find elsewhere.Sign up<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u95b1\u8b80\u4e2d\u6587\u7248<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mayor London Breed\u2019s six-year gig as a star columnist for San Francisco\u2019s largest Chinese newspaper, Sing Tao Daily<\/em>, saw a big change on Sunday, with her allotted space in the paper vastly diminished. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The change came three days after a Mission Local article<\/a> detailing questions of press ethics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After six years on a dedicated, full-page spread in the news section, Breed\u2019s column was moved to an opinion page, as of Monday\u2019s print issue<\/a>. Breed had been the only candidate for mayor in this election given such a regular platform in the paper \u2014 crucial in a year when the Chinese vote is paramount.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Mission<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Stay informed on local elections \u2014 sign up for Mission Local’s free daily newsletter<\/strong> today!Sign up<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The latest piece from Breed only took up a third of the page<\/a>, and was accompanied by other opinion pieces, like two<\/a> from a Hong Kong politician. On other days, the same page also featured opinion pieces on the Olympics<\/a>, poem on the heat wave<\/a> in Salt Lake City, Utah, and single-panel comics<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Breed\u2019s signature, two QR codes for her official WeChat account, and event photos \u2014 features of the earlier spread<\/a> \u2014 were all gone. Moreover, in contrast to the earlier column, which appeared in the news pages<\/a> and alongside stories by Sing Tao<\/em> staff reporters on evictions<\/a> or public transportation<\/a> in San Francisco, the page where her article now appears makes clear that it and the other opinion pieces on the page are in a space for \u201creaders to speak freely<\/a>\u201d and \u201cthe published articles don\u2019t represent the view of Sing Tao Daily<\/em><\/a>.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"August<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Breed, who, like former mayors, began writing the column when she was elected, had recently used the column to tout her accomplishments as mayor on public safety and homelessness, issues central to her campaign<\/a>. In interviews with Mission Local<\/em><\/a>, editors and academics raised questions about the column giving Breed unfair access to a prized platform during a heated electoral campaign.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They argued that all candidates should be given equal access during an election year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A dedicated megaphone to Chinese voters is particularly relevant in this year\u2019s race, when all the major candidates are vying for the 15 percent<\/a> of the electorate that identifies as Chinese. Chinese newspapers are one of the very few ways to access monolingual Chinese-speaking voters, and campaigns have sought to win coverage in Chinese outlets<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Jennifer<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

World Journal<\/em>, the city\u2019s second-largest Chinese outlet, also carries a biweekly personal column<\/a> from Breed. As of July 28, that column was unchanged, with Breed\u2019s signature, QR code, photos at events, a different layout, and captions that read \u201cprovided by the mayor\u2019s office.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The mayor hopes to \u201cuse the platform of our newspaper to publicize political views and ideologies, interact with the Chinese community and our readers, and jointly promote municipal construction,\u201d reads World Journal<\/em><\/a>.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sing Tao Daily<\/em> started the column during late Mayor Ed Lee\u2019s era as part of its effort to close the gap between City Hall and the city\u2019s non-English speaking constituents. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Joyce Chen, Sing Tao Daily<\/em>\u2019s western edition\u2019s deputy chief editor, said on Wednesday that the paper had already had conversations<\/a> about whether to move Breed\u2019s column to the opinion section before Mission Local\u2019s story. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Other public officials, she said, are also published in the opinion section, \u201cso we decided just to treat it as a regular opinion piece.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

READ MORE<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"The<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The top columnist for SF\u2019s largest Chinese newspaper? Mayor London Breed.<\/a><\/a><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

YUJIE ZHOU<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

yujie@missionlocal.com<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

REPORTER. Yujie Zhou came on as an intern after graduating from Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism. She is a full-time staff reporter as part of the Report for America program that helps put young journalists in newsrooms. Before falling in love with the Mission, Yujie covered New York City, studied politics through the \u201cstreet clashes\u201d in Hong Kong, and earned a wine-tasting certificate in two days. She\u2019s proud to be a bilingual journalist. Follow her on Twitter @Yujie_ZZ.More by Yujie Zhou<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by\u00a0YUJIE ZHOU AUGUST 1, 2024 (MissionLocal.org) Sign up below to get Mission Local\u2019s free newsletter, a daily digest of news you won\u2019t find elsewhere.Sign up \u95b1\u8b80\u4e2d\u6587\u7248 Mayor London Breed\u2019s six-year gig as a star columnist for San Francisco\u2019s largest Chinese newspaper, Sing Tao Daily, saw a big change on Sunday, with her… Continue reading → <\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35297"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35297"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35297\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":35298,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35297\/revisions\/35298"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35297"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35297"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35297"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}