Additionally
selection than those in other newspapers.
it could be that they are winning back some former
readers who may not be so embarrassed to be seen with a pro-communist journal now that conditions are more
normal.
21.
The current communist press circulation of
265,000 represents nearly 20% of all newspapers sold each day in the Colony compared with the figure of
29% which had been achieved in the period immediately
prior to confrontation. If the generally accepted rule of thumb regarding newspaper circulation figures is applied, i.e. that each newspaper is seen by approximately
three people, then nearly 800,000 people could be
exposed, to some degree or other, to communist propaganda each day. While this figure may be slightly inflated, communist newspapers, particularly the Wen Wei
Pao and the Ta Kung Pao, are displayed on notice-boards
in communist unions and schools and are used for current
affairs study groups in all communist organisations
copies of newspapers so used are, of course, seen by far more than three people. In any event, it is a safe
assumption that communist newspapers are seen by a considerable
proportion of the reading public. The doctrinaire
newspapers account for 94,000 copies between them each
day; the remaining communist journals having a wider
readership because of the considerable space they devote
to non-political topics.
22.
A survey, commissioned by Government at the
end of 1967, but carried out by an independent
organisation, showed that the majority of the people who
buy communist newspapers also read at least one other
non-communist paper. It is possible, therefore, that as
/the..
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