The Taipei Times is one of the three major English-language newspapers in Republic of China (Taiwan), the other two being the Taiwan News and the The China Post. Established in 1999, the Taipei Times is published by the Liberty Times Group, which publishes the Chinese language newspaper the Liberty Times. Frequently described as "the best newspaper in Asia," the newspaper's 2002 reported circulation was 285,130 copies[1] and it can be found at convenience stores across the island. In contrast to the China Post, it is widely regarded as taking an editorial line that leans toward the Pan-Green Coalition. However, most of the Taipei Times editorials focus on the reality of the given situation, transparency, and who's not being honest with whom. Letter writers to the Taipei Times are typically experts in their respective fields, and enlighten readers with relevant facts. Native Taiwanese Aboriginal writers who don't speak English are carefully translated by a remarkable staff. Along with such newspapers as The Guardian, it is a participant of Project Syndicate, established by George Soros. The Taipei Times sources articles from talented writers at The Guardian almost every day, including travel writers. In March 2005, the Taipei Times web site incorporated a "Wikipedia feature" for its online articles. By following a link marked "Wikipedia", the reader can view a new version of the article with links to the Wikipedia pages about certain subjects mentioned in the news article. Every year since it was founded, the Taipei Times has won awards for excellence in newspaper design from the Society of News Design.[2] Sidebars featured in the Taipei Times' layout provide readers with a daily recap of global mine deaths, bizarre stories similar to "News of the Weird", acts of extreme depravity and perversion, religous rituals, space achievements, who's on the lam, and more, sourced from all around the world.
Controversy
The Taipei Times received, and printed, harsh rebukes to its story headlined: "Zoo in Pachyderm Gender Shocker." And after a much-touted new EFL section, they printed the headline "todat's word" followed by a list of ten words. Recently, they misspelled "public" in an article, missing the 'l.' The seemingly intentional misspellings in the paper have earned it the name "Typo Times" among English-speaking foreigners in Taiwan.
References
- ^ Taipei Times - About Us. Retrieved on 2006-12-23.
- ^ Wen, Stephanie. "Society for News Design recognizes `Taipei Times'", Taipei Times, 2004-03-04, p. 2. Retrieved on 2006-12-23.
