南方周末
The "Southern Weekly" is a liberal-leaning paper founded in 1984 in Guangdong, Guangzhou. It is a part of the Nanfang Media Group (), which is a provincial government-owned media corporation. Despite its ties to the Chinese Communist Party, "Southern Weekly" is known for hard-hitting journalism which tests the limits of free speech in China. The paper gained worldwide recognition in 2009, when United States President Barack Obama selected it, as opposed to the state television service, to interview him during his visit to China in that year. Notably, Southern Weekly's highest ranking editor, Xiang Xi, was demoted following the interview. Political theorists suggested that his demotion was punishment by the Party's propaganda department, angered because Southern Weekly did not seek its permission before agreeing to conduct the interview.