Social responsibility makes its last stand
Print Edition
Three years ago, a short Japanese documentary about how 80-year-old Kato Takao, printer of a one-man newspaper in a tiny village, swam against the tide of change as news printed with ink on sheets of paper gradually disappeared. It touched the hearts of many Chinese viewers.
The pathos of the changing media scene is also reflected in a one-man newsstand at China Post’s Hongkou branch. It has been in business for 30 years and is one of the last in Shanghai.
Jiang Jun, 59, who runs the newsstand, worries about his readers more than the demise of print in a digital age.
He gets up before dawn to pick up his newspapers from a supplier on Hutai Road where he sorts and packs them.
Every day, at about 6am, Jiang’s newsstand opens for business; hail, rain or shine, even on Chinese New Year, when most everything is closed.
Jiang knows the location of every one of the 500-plus newspapers and magazines on sale, as well as their codes and prices.
He knows cycles of interest. For example, Xinmin Evening News sells best on Tuesdays because of its travel section. So he gets extra copies for that day and keeps some in case someone missed the edition and wants it.
“I started work for China Post when I was in my 20s,” he told Shanghai Daily. “At that time, being a postman was my dream. In the old days, communications were not as easy as they are now, and the postman who delivered the mail was welcomed by everyone. It was a very prestigious job.”
He later switched from delivering the mail to working in newspaper distribution. In 1988, the previous newsstand keeper retired and Jiang took over.
“This newsstand was already well-known when the old man retired,” he said. “I thought it would be challenging to keep that prestige going.”
So he tried do the best job possible. Customers repaid his services with loyalty. Many became friends.
He sells nearly 2,000 papers and magazines every day.
Some newsstand owners select only the most popular newspapers and magazines to sell, but Jiang caters to the tastes of all readers.
“A few belles-lettres magazines that are rarely seen locally can still be found at my newsstand,” said Jiang.
If a customer asks for a newspaper or publication he doesn’t have, he does his best to find it. He also helps readers fond of collecting to find papers published on special dates, such as July 1, 1997, when China resumed sovereignty over Hong Kong, or editions marking this year’s China International Import Expo.
Jiang used to keep orders in notebooks, which piled up. Now they are printed on a large board for easier searching. Some things they order are available the next day.
There is a large metal bookshelf divided into boxes for storing the things readers ask for.
Some elderly people come to the newsstand only once a week or even once a month. Jiang is always ready with what he knows they want.
On the top of the shelf is a box with several volumes of Xiaoshuoyuebao, or the “Novel Monthly Journal,” which were ordered by one of Jiang’s “old friends,” who had been coming to the newsstand since before Jiang’s time.
Jiang hasn’t seen him in two years. He recalls the day when the old man, suffering from advanced liver cancer, came to the newsstand with his son. He told Jiang to keep the magazines he wanted and he would come back. Jiang has kept his promise, though he knows the old man may never return.
One of his current customers, a 64-year-old Wu, has known Jiang since he was “a thin young man.”
“I love reading newspapers and can’t live without them,” Wu said. “Other local newsstands have closed, so I come here every day.”
Another woman in her 60s praised Jiang for his unerring customer service.
“In the past,” she said, “unscrupulous neighbors would pinch newspapers from our mail boxes. Here we can feel sure we will get what we want.”
Jiang has sacrificed a lot to keep the newsstand open all day, 365 days a year. He is always the last one to arrive at friends’ parties. On his daughter’s wedding day, he took a half-day off. He remained open when his parents died, and doesn’t get to see his cute little granddaughter often enough.
Some people might consider him foolish, but Jiang said it was a matter of pride and duty.
“Our post office and my newsstand have a social responsibility,” said Jiang. “For my customers, especially the elderly ones, I’m their most familiar stranger.”
Can Jiang’s newsstand survive? Most of his customers are middle-aged or elderly. As they pass on, the future is uncertain. Young people are obsessed by digital media.
“But these young people will grow older,” Jiang said. “Someday, they may return to printed newspapers and magazines.”
Due to retire next year, Jiang says that as long as the newsstand remains open, he will be behind the counter, but China Post has arranged two other people who can step in and help if needed.
“Even as I get old or if get I sick and cannot be here, I believe that someone else will inherit the spirit of the newsstand and keep it open.”
That’s the spirit portrayed in the Japanese documentary. As Kato Takao said, “Maybe the end of typography is nigh, but if it ends and I am the only person left doing it, I will keep going.”
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