IPO 'People's Daily' no surprise - Jeremy Goldkorn

Jeremy Goldkorn

The announcement the People's Daily, the daily newspaper of the Communist Party, is going - at least partially - public did not come as a surprise to media watcher Jeremy Goldkorn from Beijing, he tells AFP.

"This has been brewing for some time," said Jeremy Goldkorn, founder of Beijing-based media research firm Danwei. "Why not get the money from the market, instead of the government, if they can," he told AFP. Up to 10 state-owned media websites, including those of the People's Daily, state broadcaster China Central Television and the Xinhua news agency -- are planning domestic stock listings, state media said last year. "If they are going to have state-controlled media companies that are successful in holding people's attention, then being run like commercial enterprises is going to be better," Goldkorn added.

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