BPA Notice

Danwei recently obtained a copy of a notice from BPA, the global organization that audits the circulation of print publications (click on image at left to see full text).

The notice says that Business Travel magazine (商务旅行) has been kicked off BPA's list of audited publications:

While conducting an on-site print run of the April 2010 issue, BPA audit staff was presented with taped boxes allegedly filled with over 210,000 printed copies of BUSINESS TRAVEL, which upon further inspection, were empty. BPA Worldwide confirmed that 13,360 copies were printed. The average print claim for the twelve month period ending December 31, 2009 was 210,347. The publisher refused access to complete the twelve month ended December 2009 audit.

This type of trickery is all too common in China's media business, but it's unusual for a publication audited by BPA to act with such chutzpah.

Business Travel is owned by 21st Century News Group, a affiliate of Nanfang Daily Media Group (南方报业). 21st Century News Group is best known for the business newspaper 21st Century Business Herald (21世纪经济报道).