Chapter 6.
PRESS
The English-language newspapers at present published in Hong Kong are the "China Mail" (daily, excluding Sundays), the "Sunday Herald" which is published by the same company as the "China Mail"; the "South China Morning Post" (daily, including Sundays); and the "Hong Kong Telegraph", an after- noon paper published daily excluding Sundays The last two papers are produced by one company. There are seven morning and seven afternoon papers, representing all shades of opinion, published daily in Chinese. Of these, the leading morning paper is the "Wah Kiu Yat Po" (B). This paper, the "Sing Tao Jih Pao" (H) and the "Kung Sheung Daily News" (I H) form the backbone of the local vernacular press and it is in these three newspapers that Government notices are published. The history of the English newspapers in Hong Kong is a long one, dating back to the earliest days of the Colony. The earliest paper "The Hong Kong Register" was a development of the "Canton Register" which was printed in Canton about 1827 and was the first English newspaper to be produced in the Far East. In 1850 a daily edition was being produced in Gage Street, but three years later publication ceased.
The oldest publication still being produced in Hong Kong is the Government Gazette whose history goes back to the earliest years of the Colony. The Gazette was started in 1841 in Macao for the purpose of publishing such proclamations as the British authorities desired to issue to their merchants who had left Canton. When Hong Kong was ceded, printing presses were imported and a weekly newspaper entitled "The Friend of China and the Hong Kong Gazette" began publication on 17th March, 1842. In 1845 the newly-founded "China Mail" became the vehicle for Government Notifications and the name "Hong Kong Gazette" was dropped by the "Friend of China" which carried on until 1860 before ceasing publication. The first separately issued Government Gazette appeared on 24th September, 1853, and the first Chinese issue of the Gazette on 1st March, 1862.
The oldest English newspaper still in publication is the "China Mail" which began as a four-page weekly on 20th February, 1845. In the '50's the paper became a daily publica- tion specialising in shipping. In 1863 the "China Mail" moved to Wyndham Street behind the old Hong Kong Club (now the King's Theatre) where it remained until 1940 in which year
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