History and relation to Falun Gong
The Epoch Times was founded in 2000 by John Tang and other
Chinese Americans affiliated with the
Falun Gong new religious movement.
[27] Tang was a graduate student in
Georgia at the time; he began the newspaper in his basement.
[21] The founders said they were responding to censorship inside China and a lack of international understanding about the Chinese government's repression of Falun Gong.
[28][29]
By 2003,
The Epoch Times website and group of newspapers had grown into one of the largest Chinese-language news sites and newspaper groups outside China, with local editions in the U.S., Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Indonesia, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and major Western European countries.
[30] The first English edition launched online in 2003, followed by the New York print edition in 2004.[
citation needed]
Nick Couldry and James Curran wrote in 2003 that the paper represents a "major step in the evolution of Falun Gong-related alternative media", and may be part of a
de facto media alliance with democracy activists in exile.
[31] In 2003 sociologist
Yuezhi Zhao wrote that the paper "displays an indisputable ideological and organizational affinity with Falun Gong" and that it strongly emphasizes negative portrayals of the Chinese government and positive portrayals of Falun Gong. Per Zhao,
Epoch portrays itself as neutral, independent, and public-interest oriented.
[30]
In 2005, the
San Francisco Chronicle reported that "three new U.S.-based, Chinese-language media outlets that provide provocative reporting about the Communist Party, government oppression and social unrest in China (namely
The Epoch Times,
Sound of Hope, and NTDTV) have ties to the Falun Gong spiritual movement." When interviewed, executives at each outlet claimed they did not represent the Falun Gong movement as a whole.
[20]
Associated Press reporter
Nahal Toosi wrote in 2006 that it is "technically inaccurate" to say that Falun Gong owns
The Epoch Times, although many of the newspaper's staffers are Falun Gong practitioners.
[32] Toosi noted "many observers" have said Falun Gong uses the newspaper for its public relations campaigns, and the paper is connected with the group and carries sympathetic coverage of it.
[32][33][34][35][36]
The English
Epoch Times chair Stephen Gregory denied in 2006 that
Epoch Times is directly connected to Falun Gong.
[32] Independent reporters in the US repeatedly confirm the connection.
[18][21]
In 2008, David Ownby, director of the Center for East Asian Studies at the
Université de Montréal and the author of
Falun Gong and the Future of China, said the newspaper is set up by Falun Gong practitioners with their own money.
[37] He described
The Epoch Times as wishing to be taken seriously as a global newspaper rather than being judged on the basis of its strong association with Falun Gong.
[37][38] He wrote: "
Epoch Times is a newspaper with a mission, that of reporting on issues bearing on
human rights throughout the world, which allows for considerable focus on China and Falun Gong."
[39]
Canadian scholar Clement Tong wrote
[33][40][41][42][43] The Epoch Times "operates as a mouthpiece for" Falun Gong without an official statement of affiliation with the movement.
[41]
In 2009,
Li Hongzhi, the founder of Falun Gong, appeared at the newspaper's headquarters in Manhattan and called for the expansion of
The Epoch Times to "become regular media."
[18] Li has referred to
The Epoch Times as "our media", along with the NTD digital production company and the Shen Yun dance troupe.
[18][44] Two former employees said that top editors traveled to meet with Li at Falun Gong's compound,
Dragon Springs, where Li weighed in on editorial and strategic decisions;
The Epoch Times denied that a meeting took place.
[21]
Former employees of
The Epoch Times have noted the involvement of Falun Gong practitioners in the management and editorial process.
[18] Three anonymous former employees said
Epoch Times workers were encouraged to attend weekly "Fa study" sessions outside work hours to study the teachings of Li Hongzhi.
[45] Former employees have said that speaking negatively about
The Epoch Times amounts to disobeying Li.
[21]
The Epoch Times runs frequent promotional stories about the
Shen Yun dance troupe that is affiliated with Falun Gong.
The New Yorker's review of Shen Yun called
The Epoch Times "the world's foremost purveyor of Shen Yun content."
[46]
In a 2018 report, conservative think-tank the
Hoover Institution commented that "the space for truly independent Chinese-language media in the United States has shrunk to a few media outlets supported by the adherents of Falun Gong, the banned religious sect in China, and a small publication and website called
Vision Times", the report noting that the latter is also associated with Falun Gong.
[47] Similarly, in a 2019 report,
Reporters Without Borders commented that "Aside from the Epoch Times newspaper and New Tang Dynasty Television, which are run by the Falun Gong, a religious movement persecuted in China, and
China Digital Times, a website founded by a leading US-based critic of the regime, the United States now has few truly independent diaspora media."
[48]
In 2019, an
NBC News investigative report suggested
The Epoch Times's political coverage may be affected by Falun Gong believers' anticipation of a judgment day in which communists are sent to hell, and Falun Gong's allies are spared. Former
Epoch Times employees told NBC News that President Donald Trump is viewed as a key anti-communist ally,
[18] allegedly hastening that judgment day.
[49]
In 2020,
Vox identified
China Uncensored and NTD as affiliates of the
Epoch Times, as part of a multilingual "media empire".
[50]
