March 6, 2010
March 5 marked the opening of the Third Session of the 11th National People’s Congress.
Opening Day varies little from year to year. The politburo makes its entrance. Wu Bangguo emcees. Wen Jiabao delivers the annual work report while everyone else follows along in their print copies. Then during the break-out sessions, Hu Jintao presents some important remarks to a provincial delegation (Jiangsu these days). Then on March 6, the People’s Daily publishes a newspaper that is practically indistinguishable from years previous.
Well, not this year. Today’s People’s Daily features a front-page that makes some innovative layout choices.
Vertical composition is passé in 2010, so the paper features a horizontal headline over a row of photos. Hu Jintao’s remarks have been shifted to the bottom left, leaving the upper right free for news bites from the NPC and CPPCC. And the lead editorial returns to the front page after a two-year absence.
For the past few years, bloggers and forum commenters have ridiculed the People’s Daily‘s unchanging March 6 layout. Has someone been listening?
