This extends on a question I recently answered on Quora, about alternative news in China. Included here is a huge list of news outlets, mostly in Chinese. For English versions, from within China and out, see the China news wall
All journalists in China must have a license, and in getting a license you must vow to uphold party values. Also, journalists are required to do a training session in party ideology. There are some recent new rules which are reviewed here at Xinhua 国家新闻出版广电总局:禁止记者和记者站未经本单位同
There are many reasons for tight media control, not only politically motivated. Chinese have this bizarre love of gossip and easily get caught up in rumors and speculation which can have chaotic effects. Recently there was a clean up of online news sites (News programs shut down for running own reporting) that clamped down on re-posting of news from official sources and spreading gossip etc. Also, many people try to profit from spreading fake news, and even spreading fake news stories about competitors. It’s a complex society.
There is one news site that stands out to me which is 澎湃新闻-专注时政与思想-ThePaper.cn but in an interview, the editor is quite clear on the fact that even they must work within and be aligned with party values to survive. But at least, they do break a lot of stories that bring improvements to daily lives by exposing wrongdoings.
The most well-known newspapers in China with English editions are
Xinhua – http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/
People’s Daily – http://en.people.cn
Global Times – http://www.globaltimes.cn
China Daily – http://www.chinadaily.com.cn
South China Morning Post – http://www.scmp.com (HK Based and privately owned)
Here is a list of traditional news outlets in China
National newspapers
- China Daily – English language national daily
- China Economic Daily – daily
- China Education Daily (Zhongguo Jiaoyu Bao)
- China News Digest (Hua Xia Wen Zhai) – independent online media run abroad
- China Public Security Daily – official public security bureau paper
- China Youth Daily (Zhongguo Qingnian Bao) – quasi-liberal daily; state-run, associated with the Communist Youth League of China
- Economic Information Daily (Jingji cankao bao)
- The Economic Observer – classical liberal weekly; English edition website of the privately owned weekly newspaper
- Global Times – Chinese Communist Party aligned, nationalist tabloid with two language editions – Chinese and English;the English edition is much more moderate, even liberal in some cases
- Gongren Ribao (Workers’ Daily)
- Guangming Daily – conservative daily, close to the Communist Party of China
- Legal Daily (Fazhi Ribao) – supervised by the Ministry of Justice
- Nongmin Ribao (Farmers’ Daily) – agricultural and rural issues
- People’s Court Daily
- People’s Daily (Renmin Ribao) – voice of the Central People’s Government and CPC Central Committee (Communist Party daily); conservative most of the time, but also tends to be openly liberal in some situations
- PLA Daily (Jiefangjun Bao) – official daily of the People’s Liberation Army
- Reference News – has the largest circulation in mainland China, published by Xinhua News Agency
Regional newspapers
Anhui
Beijing
- Beijing Daily
- Beijing Daily Messenger – prints 180,000 to 200,000 — 60,000 for subscribers; of the 120,000 retail copies, at least one-third is unsold
- Beijing Entertainment News
- Beijing Evening News – prints 700,000 copies — 450,000 for retail and 250,000 for subscribers; of the retail copies, 50,000 to 100,000 are unsold
- Beijing Globe
- Beijing Morning News – prints 180,000 — 130,000 are for subscribers; of the 50,000 retail copies, at least 20,000 are sold by the distribution center director as waste paper
- Beijing News (Xin Jing Bao) – third best-selling daily in Beijing; newly launched daily with reformist ambitions, very liberal
- Beijing Portal
- Beijing Ribao
- Beijing Times (Jing Hua Shi Bao) [7] – People’s Daily-affiliated tabloid, centrist/liberal, second best-selling tabloid in the capital
- Beijing Today – an English weekly covering cultural events and embassy news published by the Beijing Youth Daily
- Beijing Youth Daily – fourth best-selling daily in the capital
- China Newsday – an English China news aggregation which covers political, environmental and economic discussion
- Freezing Point
- Legal Mirror (Fazhi Ribao)
- A Liar’s Digest – a Beijing-based underground newspaper in mainland China, which pokes fun at the state-controlled media
Chongqing
- China High Tech
- Chongqing Evening News
- Chongqing Globe
- Chongqing News – Chinese, English
- Chongqing Today
- Qianjiang Evening News
Fujian
Gansu
Guangdong
- 21st Century Business Herald
- Guangzhou Daily
- Guangzhou Metro Daily
- Guangzhou Morning Post
- Information Times
- Panyu Daily
- Shenzhen Daily – one of China’s three English language daily newspapers
- Shenzhen Dushi News
- Shenzhen Economic Daily
- Shenzhen Evening News
- Shenzhen Special Zone Daily
- Shenzhen Youth News
- Southern Daily
- Southern Metropolis Daily
- Southern Weekly
- Xin Kuai Bao
- Yangcheng Evening News
- Zhongshan Daily
Guangxi
Guizhou
Hainan
Hebei
- Hebei Daily – CPC official paper
- Hebei Youth Daily – tabloid covering Shijiazhuang, operated by Beijing Youth Daily
- Shijiazhuang Daily – CPC official paper
- Yanzhao Evening Post – tabloid covering Shijiazhuang, the capital of Hebei
- Yanzhao Metropolis Daily – tabloid covering Hebei and sold in 11 cities around Hebei Province
Heilongjiang
Henan
Hubei
Hunan
- Changsha Evening News – Chinese, English
- Hunan Daily
- Sanxiang Metro News
- Xiaoxiang Morning News
Inner Mongolia
- Hohhot Evening Post
- Hohhot Morning Post
- Hulunbeir Daily
- Inner Mongolia Daily
- Northern News Daily
- Northern Family Daily
Jiangsu
Jiangxi
Jilin
Liaoning
- Dalian Daily
- Dalian Evening News
- Liaoning Daily
- Liaoning Farmer
- North Morning News
- Peninsula City News
- Peninsula Morning News
- Shenyang Wanbao
- Times Business Daily
Shaanxi
Shandong
- Dazhong Ribao
- Jinan Ribao
- Jinan Times – daily
- Life Daily – published by Shandong Dazhong Daily News Group
- Qilu Evening News – 1.2 million circulation; published by Shandong Dazhong Daily News Group
- Qingdao Daily
- Qingdao Globe
- Qingdao News
Shanghai
- Jiefang Daily (Liberation Daily)
- Shanghai Daily
- Shanghai Evening Post & Mercury
- Shanghai Morning Post
- Shanghai Post
- Shanghai Star
- China Daily Weekly tabloid providing reports on people and issues in Shanghai and neighboring regions
- Shanghai Xinmin Evening News
- Oriental Morning Post
- Wen Hui Bao
- Wenhui Book Review
- Xinmin Evening News(Xinmin Wanbao)
- China Youth Daily (Youth Daily)
Shanxi
Sichuan
Tianjin
Tibet
Xinjiang
- Qapqal News, the world’s only Xibe-language newspaper
- Xinjiang Daily
- Xinjiang Economic Daily
- Xinjiang Newspaper
Yunnan
- Chuncheng Evening News (Spring City Evening Post)
- Yunnan Daily
Zhejiang
list collated from Wikipedia, China Daily and memory.