NEW YORK (Reuters) – Shoppers spent only 3 percent more during the 2012 holiday season than they did a year earlier, the National Retail Federation said on Tuesday, citing economic uncertainty for tempering consumers’ enthusiasm.
The NRF’s data, based on U.S. government figures, fell short of the trade group’s own forecast, which called for a 4.1 percent jump. In 2011, such sales rose a stronger 5.6 percent. The NRF looks at U.S. sales from November and December excluding automobiles, gasoline stations and restaurants.
After a strong showing over the Thanksgiving weekend in late November, when many consumers start their Christmas shopping, their willingness to spend was dented by concerns about the sluggish pace of job recovery and the possibility of higher taxes.
“The larger impact is simply the fact that the economy has been growing slowly, employment has been growing slowly and consumers are still in a deleveraging mode,” said Ira Kalish, Director of global economics at Deloitte Research, noting that many Americans are giving priority to paying down their debt.
Total spending during the holiday season rose to $ 579.8 billion, the NRF said.
Non-store sales, which are mostly online, rose 11.1 percent. The group had forecast online sales growth of 12 percent. Non-store sales were not included in the 3 percent figure.
The NRF will issue its 2013 forecast next week. Many analysts and economists are not expecting a big jump, with consumption likely to be curbed by the recent 2 percentage point increase in payroll taxes that is leaving consumers with less money in their paychecks.
“Heading into 2013, consumers could continue to think twice about their discretionary purchases as they face decreases in their paychecks and other concerns with their household budgets,” said NRF Chief Economist Jack Kleinhenz.
The trade group also called on U.S. lawmakers to put their differences aside and work on improving the level of employment. The U.S. unemployment rate stands at 7.8 percent.
Earlier on Tuesday, the U.S. Commerce Department reported that its broader measure of U.S. retail sales rose 0.5 percent in December, after rising 0.4 percent in November. That was better than the 0.2 percent increase expected by economists polled by Reuters.
(Reporting by Phil Wahba and Jessica Wohl in New York; Editing by Gerald E. McCormick and Tim Dobbyn)
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NEW YORK - Stocks cut earlier declines on Tuesday, with the Dow turning positive as shares of retail companies rose.
The Dow Jones industrial average <.dji> edged up 2.44 points, or 0.02 percent, at 13,509.76. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.spx> slipped 0.12 point, or 0.01 percent, to 1,470.56. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.ixic> was off 5.69 points, or 0.18 percent, to 3,111.82.
(Reporting by Leah Schnurr; Editing by Kenneth Barry)
Gun violence recommendations are expected from Vice President Biden on Tuesday
The proposals are expected to contain substantive and symbolic ideas to curb gun violence
Presidents use symbolism to shift public opinion or affect larger political or social change
Washington (CNN) -- The pictures told the story: Vice President Joe Biden looked solemn, patrician and in control as he sat at a long table in the White House, flanked by people on both sides of the gun control issue.
The images conveyed a sense that the White House was in command on this issue.
And that's the point. Historically, presidential administrations have used symbolic imagery—at times coupled with marginal actions—to shift public opinion or affect larger political or social change.
"Politics is a risk taking project," said Julian Zelizer, a Princeton University historian and CNN contributor. "They put together these commissions in response to some crisis. You try a hundred things and hope something works."
As Biden's gun control task force recommendations land on the desk of President Barack Obama, political experts say it is important that his administration sends a clear signal that it has things in hand.
Obama says gun lobby stokes fear of federal action
That is especially critical in what will likely be an uphill battle to push specific changes, like an assault weapons ban, as part of a broader effort on gun control.
The first move in the image battle will be to appear to move quickly and decisively.
"You have to give the Obama administration credit for one thing: They've learned from history to do things quickly," Larry Sabato, director of the University of Virginia's Center for Politics, said of previous task force initiatives that fizzled.
In 2010, Obama appointed a bipartisan commission headed by former Republican Sen. Alan Simpson of Wyoming and Erskine Bowles, a former Democratic White House chief of staff, to come up with a proposal to balance the budget and cut the debt.
Like the gun task force, Simpson-Bowles reviewed current regulations, gathered input from the public and engaged in tense internal conversations. But after months of working on a proposal—a blend of steep revenue increases and spending cuts—the group struggled to agree to a solution. The president did not take up the recommendations.
Obama largely avoided the issue of gun control during his first term.
He wrote an opinion piece two months after the 2011 assassination attempt on Rep. Gabrielle Giffords of Arizona, acknowledging the importance of the Second Amendment right to bear arms. In the piece he also called for a focus on "effective steps that will actually keep those irresponsible, law-breaking few from getting their hands on a gun in the first place."
Newtown searches for answers a month later
But in the aftermath of that shooting and as the election season loomed, the Justice Department backed off from a list of recommendations that included a measure designed to help keep mentally ill people from getting guns.
For now, at least, there is a sense in Washington that the Newtown, Connecticut, school shooting where 26 people -- 20 of them young children -- were slaughtered could lead to meaningful legislative reform.
Public opinion would seem to suggest that the White House efforts are well timed.
In the month since the massacre, a new poll showed the percentage of Americans who said they were dissatisfied with America's gun laws has spiked.
The Gallup survey released on Monday showed 38% of Americans were dissatisfied with current gun regulations, and wanted stricter laws. That represented 13-point jump from one year ago, when 25% expressed that view.
"You want to strike while the iron is hot," Sabato said. "We Americans have short attention spans and, as horrible as the Newtown shooting was, will anyone be surprised if we moved along by spring?"
The White House has since worked overtime to show it considers gun control an urgent matter.
The vice president has spent the last week meeting with what the White House calls "stakeholders" in the gun control debate.
On Monday, Biden was to meet with members of a House Democratic task force on guns, along with Attorney General Eric Holder, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, and Kathleen Sebelius, the secretary of Health and Human Services.
Universal background check: What does it mean?
In a series of face to face discussions on Thursday, Biden sat down with the National Rifle Association and other gun owners groups before conferring with representatives from the film and television industry.
In a sign the White House is prepared to move aggressively on its proposals, Biden made public comments just before meeting with the National Rifle Association, the country's most powerful gun lobby.
"Putting the vice president in charge of (the task force) and having him meeting with these groups is intended to show seriousness and an effort to reach out and respond to concerns and wishes of various groups," said Alan Abramowitz, a political science professor at Emory University.
Still, the NRA expressed disappointment in its discussion with Biden and later released a statement that accused the administration of mounting "an agenda to attack the Second Amendment."
Organizations seeking tougher gun control laws insist an assault weapons ban is critical to addressing the nation's recent rash of mass shootings. However, such a ban could be difficult in a Congress mired in gridlock.
"The bully pulpit is limited. It's hard for the president to sustain that momentum," Zelizer said of the White House's gun control efforts after the Newtown shootings. "The thing about symbolism is, like the shock over Newtown, they fade quickly."
Newtown opens eyes to other gun violence against young people
CNN's Jim Acosta and Kevin Liptak contributed to this report
LONDON (Reuters) – American poet Sharon Olds won the T.S. Eliot Prize for Poetry on Monday for “Stag’s Leap”, a critically acclaimed collection that traces the end of her marriage 15 years ago.
The annual award, celebrating its 20th anniversary, goes to what a panel of poets decides is the best collection of verse published in the United Kingdom and Ireland each year, and is considered to be one of the world’s top poetry prizes.
Stag’s Leap, published in Britain by Jonathan Cape, was chosen from a record 131 submissions and a shortlist of 10.
“From over 130 collections, we were particularly impressed by the strong presence of women on the list and were unanimous in awarding the 2012 T.S. Eliot Prize to Sharon Olds‘ Stag’s Leap,” said Carol Ann Duffy, chair of the judges.
Duffy, also Britain’s poet laureate since 2009, called the work “a tremendous book of grace and gallantry which crowns the career of a world-class poet.”
Olds wins a cheque for 15,000 pounds ($ 24,000) for the prize, which is administered by the Poetry Book Society and supported by the estate of leading 20th century poet T.S. Eliot whose works include “The Waste Land”.
When her marriage ended, Olds, now 70, promised her children she would not write about the divorce for 10 years. In fact, it took her 15 years to get around to publishing a collection which some critics said was her best yet.
“Olds, who has always had a gift for describing intimacy, has, in a sense, had these poems thrown at her by life and allowed them to take root: they are stunning – the best of a formidable career,” wrote Kate Kellaway in The Observer.
The critic added that the collection was surprisingly kind considering its subject matter.
In “Unspeakable”, from Stag’s Leap, Olds writes:
“He shows no anger,/I show no anger but in flashes of humor/all is courtesy and horror. And after/the first minute, when I say, Is this about/her, and he says, No, it’s about/you, we do not speak of her.”
Olds was born in San Francisco in 1942 and her first collection of poems, “Satan Says” (1980), received the inaugural San Francisco Poetry Center Award.
She went on to win a string of other prizes and currently teaches creative writing at New York University.
(Reporting by Mike Collett-White, editing by Paul Casciato)
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Pensions Minister Steve Webb: “People will retire with a single, simple, decent state pension”
Plans for a “simple” flat-rate state pension have been unveiled, but many of those entering the workforce now will be worse off than under current rules.
The government’s White Paper shows that there are short-term gainers but longer-term losers from the policy.
Instead of a basic pension of £107 a week plus various mean-tested top-ups, recipients will get £144 in today’s money from 2017 at the earliest.
The government said this was fairer for the self-employed and many mothers.
Figures in the White Paper, published on Monday afternoon, suggested that at least half of all people reaching state pension age before 2050 were likely to have a better outcome under the new system than they would if the current system were to continue. Of these, the majority would be better off by at least £2 per week.
However, by 2060, more than half would be worse off than if the current system continued, because they could not build up a state second pension.
After April 2017, people will also have to work longer, making 35 years’ worth of National Insurance (NI) contributions, rather than the current 30, to qualify for the full pension.
Continue reading the main story
Pension facts
Currently 11.5 million people claim the state pension
2.8 million women receive a state pension of less than £80 a week. Only 474,000 men do so
3.2 million individuals receive pension credit to supplement their retirement income
Source: DWP
Anyone who has not paid NI for at least 10 years will not qualify for the new state pension at all.
‘Complicated’
The current full state pension is £107.45 a week, but can be topped up to £142.70 with the means-tested pension credit, and a state second pension which is based on National Insurance contributions.
Anyone who qualifies for the state pension before April 2017 will continue to receive their entitlement under the current system.
For new pensioners from April 2017, the second state pension and pension credit will be abolished. The replacement – the universal flat-rate payment in England, Wales and Scotland – will be the biggest overhaul of the pension system for decades.
Pensions Minister Steve Webb said that the single payment would make it clearer for people to see how much extra they needed to save, in private or workplace pension schemes, for a comfortable retirement.
He told MPs that 10 million people were not saving enough for their pension.
Continue reading the main story
Winners and losers
Winners include:
The self-employed, who currently do not build up a state second pension
Those who have spent time out of the workforce, such as mothers and carers of those with disabilities, will benefit in the short-term
Losers include:
Those entering the workforce now are likely to receive less than they would have done had the current system remained in place
Those who have fewer than 10 years of National Insurance contributions, who will get no state pension under the new rules
“The current state pension system is too complicated and leaves millions of people needing means-tested top-ups,” he said.
“Our simple, single-tier pension will provide a decent, solid foundation for new pensioners in an otherwise less certain world, ensuring it pays to save.”
But Labour said that the government had “dithered and delayed” over proposing reforms.
“We support sensible pensions reform but this government has consistently acted with secrecy and incompetence and we will study these plans very closely to ensure ministers are completely straight with the millions of hardworking people who will lose out under these plans,” said Gregg McClymont, the shadow pensions minister.
Overhaul
The change involves merging the state second pension with the basic state pension, to create one flat-rate payment.
The self-employed will benefit, as they tend to get a lower state pension. Women who have taken time out of the workplace to bring up children are also set to benefit.
“[These are] people who don’t make enough contributions throughout their working life to, in particular, the state second pension, which includes people with intermittent work patterns, periods of low earnings and the self-employed,” said Chris Curry, from the charity the Pensions Policy Institute.
Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith said: “This reform is good news for women who for too long have been effectively punished by the current system.
“The single tier will mean that more women can get a full state pension in their own right, and stop this shameful situation where they are let down by the system when it comes to retirement because they have taken time out to care for their family.”
Under the new system, anyone who works, has been claiming benefits for being unemployed, has been looking after children aged 12 or under, or caring for sick or disabled adults for 35 years will receive a fixed pension of £144 a week when they reach state pension age.
The amount will be lower if their if they have fewer “qualifying years” of this kind.
However, it will be updated each year – as the state pension is now – in line with earnings, prices, or 2.5%, whichever is higher.
Under established plans, the state pension age is rising to 66 for both men and women by 2020, with further plans for this to increase to 67 between 2026 and 2028.
Mr Webb told MPs that he wanted to see a review of the state pension age every five years, starting in the next Parliament.
He also said that all current workers’ accrued pension rights will be recognised, so the new system will have to involve some future pensioners being paid a top-up to the new, merged, flat-rate payment.
BBC News – Business
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The nationwide housing market is now in full recovery mode after suffering greatly during and following the market meltdown, and it’s believed that 2013 will be a big year for many markets. However, some cities did better than others.
Las Vegas and Seattle had the two biggest year-over-year improvements in home asking prices between 2011 and 2012, according to data from the real estate tracking firm Trulia. Las Vegas saw prices climb 16.3 percent in 2012 after falling a total of 11.2 percent over the course of 2011, marking a total jump of 27.5 percent. Meanwhile, Seattle’s total appreciation was 24 percent behind a 10.2 percent appreciation in 2012 after a 13.8 percent decline the year before.
[Related Article: Why You Can't Get a Home Loan]
“What a difference a year makes,” said Jed Kolko, Trulia’s chief economist. “In 2012, prices rose in 82 of the 100 largest metros, compared with just 12 metros seeing price increases in 2011. The 2012 price turnaround was strongest in the West and Southwest, where steady job growth and vanishing inventories lifted home prices by more than 10 percent in many markets.”
Rounding out the nation’s top three largest appreciations was Phoenix, which saw a 21.8 percent overall improvement, where prices have risen in both of the last two years (26 percent in 2012 and 4.2 percent in 2011), the report said. Oakland and San Jose, Calif., where the year-over-year differences came in at 21 and 20.8 percent, respectively. Oakland saw prices rise 12.7 percent last year after an 8.4 percent decline in 2011, while San Jose’s spiked 16.1 percent following a 4.7 percent drop the year prior.
[Related Article: Will 2013 Be the Year You Can Finally Get a Mortgage?]
Kolko also noted that all these improvements bode well for property values nationwide headed into 2013, the report said. He added that because prices particularly accelerated in the third and fourth quarters of the year after a slow start, it’s reasonable to assume that rising prices will encourage more new constructions, and entice more existing homeowners to put their properties on the market once again.
However, some experts have also said that there may be some amount of slowdown in acceleration over the coming year, simply because the improvement in the last six months or so have been so impressive that they likely cannot be repeated.
More from Credit.com
This article originally appeared on Credit.com.
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NEW YORK (Reuters) - Wall Street slipped on Monday, weighed down by shares of Apple in the face of demand concerns, while investors faced a busy week for earnings in what is expected to be a lackluster quarter.
Apple lost 2.8 percent to $505.84 as the biggest drag on both the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 <.ndx> indexes after reports that the tech company has cut orders for LCD screens and other parts for the iPhone 5 this quarter due to weak demand. The stock earlier hit a session low of $498.51, the first dip below $500 since February 16.
"There is this speculation building 'Is this the end of Apple?'" said Carol Pepper, chief executive of Pepper International in New York.
But Pepper said Apple also "doesn't have to grow at the rate it was to do extremely well. It's still going to be one of the marquee companies of the U.S. and the world."
Apple suppliers also lost ground, with Cirrus Logic off 6.8 percent to $29.43 and Qualcomm down 1.2 percent to $64.13. The S&P tech sector <.gspt> gave up 0.9 percent as the worst perfumer of the 10 major S&P sectors.
The pace of earnings season picks up this week with 38 S&P 500 companies set to report, including Goldman Sachs , Bank of America, Intel and General Electric.
Overall earnings are expected to grow by just 1.9 percent in this reporting period, according to Thomson Reuters data.
President Barack Obama is expected to hold a news conference, which will cover looming budget and debt ceiling due dates on Monday, White House officials said.
"We could have some more noise because they are trying to get people to focus on their issues, but I don't think they are going" to allow the government to default, said Pepper.
Separately, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke will be speaking on monetary policy, recovery from the global financial crisis and long-term challenges facing the American economy at 4 p.m. (2100 GMT).
The Dow Jones industrial average <.dji> added 6.79 points, or 0.05 percent, to 13,495.22. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.spx> shed 3.37 points, or 0.23 percent, to 1,468.68. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.ixic> lost 14.16 points, or 0.45 percent, to 3,111.48.
Appliance and electronics retailer Hhgregg Inc slumped 9.6 percent to $7.13 after the electronics and appliance retailer cut its same-store sales forecast for the full year.
Transocean Ltd has disclosed that billionaire activist investor Carl Icahn has acquired a 1.56 percent stake in the offshore rig contractor and is looking to increase that holding. Its shares rose 2.5 percent to $55.43.
The Dow, which does not list Apple as one of its components, fared better than the other two indexes as Hewlett-Packard rose 3.8 percent to $16.78 after JPMorgan upgraded its rating on the stock and raised its price target to $21 from $15.
(Reporting by Chuck Mikolajczak; Editing by Kenneth Barry)
One game is a rematch. The other might feel like one — at least to one of the teams.
For the second straight year in the AFC, the New England Patriots will host the Baltimore Ravens with a trip to the Super Bowl on the line.
In the NFC, it will be San Francisco traveling to Atlanta, with the Falcons defense trying to stop a versatile, running quarterback for the second straight week.
"Russell Wilson and Colin Kaepernick are mobile quarterbacks who throw the ball at extremely accurate levels," Falcons safety Thomas DeCoud said. "We can use this game as a cheat sheet to prepare for next week."
On Sunday, the Falcons barely got past Wilson and the Seattle Seahawks, who overcame a 20-point deficit to take a one-point lead, but gave it up after Matt Ryan drove Atlanta into field goal range and Matt Bryant made a 49-yard kick with 8 seconds left.
Atlanta is the only team not making a repeat appearance in the NFL's final four. Last year, it was the Giants playing, and beating, the 49ers for the NFC title.
On Saturday, Kaepernick passed for 263 yards and rushed for 181 — a playoff record for a quarterback — to defeat Green Bay 45-31.
"We're one step closer to where we want to be," said Kaepernick. San Francisco hasn't been to the Super Bowl since 1995, when Steve Young led the 49ers to their fifth Lombardi Trophy.
Though the Niners must travel cross country for the game, they opened as 3-point favorites in a meeting of teams that played twice a year until 2003, when Atlanta was moved from the NFC West to the NFC South. Their only previous playoff meeting was a 20-18 win for the Falcons in the 1998 divisional playoffs. Atlanta won at Minnesota the next week to make its only Super Bowl.
San Francisco's 20-17 overtime loss last year to the Giants was part of a tense day of football that began with New England's 23-20 victory over the Ravens in the AFC title game.
In that game, Billy Cundiff missed a 32-yard field goal that would have tied the game with 11 seconds left.
This season, Justin Tucker beat out Cundiff for the kicker's job. Tucker hit a 47-yarder against Denver on Saturday to lift the Ravens to a 38-35 win in double overtime, extending Ray Lewis' career for at least one more week and putting the 17-year veteran one win away from his second Super Bowl.
"We fought hard to get back to this point and we're definitely proud of being here," Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco said. "We feel like it's going to take a lot for somebody to come and kick us off that field come the AFC championship game."
Lewis and the Ravens will have to stop the NFL's most potent offense. The Patriots put up 457 yards in a 41-28 victory over Houston, which left them one win away from their sixth Super Bowl in the 2000s.
"I think the two best teams are in the final," Patriots quarterback Tom Brady said. "Baltimore certainly deserve to be here and so do we."
The Patriots were made early 9½-point favorites against the Ravens.
These teams met in the regular season and that game was also decided by a kick — Tucker's 27-yard field goal that sneaked through the right upright for a 31-30 victory. Or did it?
While the Ravens were celebrating, Pats coach Bill Belichick ran to midfield and grabbed a replacement official's arm as he tried to exit the field. The NFL fined Belichick $50,000 for the gesture.
New England is the even-money favorite in Vegas to win the Super Bowl. San Francisco is next at 2-1, followed by Atlanta (5-1) and Baltimore (8-1).
Among the possible Super Bowl story lines:
—The Harbaugh Bowl. Jim Harbaugh coaches the 49ers and John Harbaugh coaches the Ravens.
—A rematch of San Francisco's 41-34 win at New England on Dec. 16 — one of the most entertaining games of the regular season.
___
Online: http://pro32.ap.org/poll and http://twitter.com/AP_NFL
A protester calls for greater media freedom outside the headquarters of Nanfang Media Group in Guangzhou on Jan. 9.
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
Young: Handling of Southern Weekly row demonstrated tolerant side of new leadership
Traditional, newer media can serve as tools for achieving goals in China's modernization
The fight against corruption in China is at the top of the list for incoming leader, Xi Jinping
Young: Media has also emerged as an important tool for combating other social problems
Editor's note: Doug Young teaches financial journalism at Fudan University in Shanghai and is the author of The Party Line: How the Media Dictates Public Opinion in Modern China published by John Wiley & Sons. He also writes daily on his blog, Young's China Business Blog, commenting on the latest developments in China's fast-moving corporate scene.
Shanghai, China (CNN) -- China's traditional iron-handed approach to the media has taken a surprise turn of tolerance with Beijing's soft handling of a recent dispute with local reporters, in what could well become a more open attitude toward the media under the incoming administration of presumed new President Xi Jinping.
The new openness is being driven in large part by pragmatism, as the government realizes that both traditional and newer media can serve as powerful tools for achieving many of its goals in the country's modernization.
The recent conflict between reporters at the progressive Southern Weekly and local propaganda officials over a censorship incident left many guessing how the government would respond to the first clash of its kind in China for more than 20 years. The result was a surprisingly mild approach, including mediation by a high-level government official and a vague promise for less censorship in the future.
Read: Censorship protest a test for China
The unusually tolerant tack could well reflect a new attitude by Xi and other incoming leaders set to take control of China for the next decade, all of whom have come to realize the media can serve many important functions beyond its traditional role as a propaganda machine.
At the top of Xi's list is the fight against corruption, a problem he has mentioned frequently since taking the helm of the Communist Party last year. The party has tried to tackle the problem for years using its own internal investigations, but progress was slow until recently due to protection many officials received through their own sprawling networks of internal relationships, known locally as guanxi.
Read: Corruption as China's top priority
All that began to change in the last two years with the rapid rise of social media, most notably the Twitter-like microblogs known as Weibo that are now a pervasive part of the Chinese Internet landscape and count hundreds of millions of ordinary Chinese among their users. Those social media have become an important weapon for exposing corruption, allowing thousands of ordinary citizens to pool their resources and build cases against officials they suspect of using their influence for personal gain.
This increasingly sophisticated machine was on prominent display last year in a case involving Yang Dacai, a local official in northwestern Shaanxi province who infuriated the online community by smiling at the site of a horrific accident scene. Netizens quickly turned their outrage into an online investigation, and uncovered photos of him wearing several luxury watches he could hardly afford on his government salary. As a result, the government ultimately opened an investigation into the matter and Yang was sacked from his posts.
In addition to its role in battling corruption, the media has also emerged as an important tool for combating and addressing many of the other social problems that China is facing in its rapid modernization. Barely a week goes by without a report on the latest national food safety scandal or case of illegal pollution in both traditional and social media, with such reports often followed by government investigations.
Beijing leaders have also discovered that the media can also be an important vehicle for improving communication between the government and general public -- something that was a low priority in previous eras when officials only cared about pleasing their higher-up party bosses.
Following a Beijing directive in late 2011, most local government agencies and other organizations have all established microblog accounts, which they use to keep the public informed about their latest activities and seek feedback on upcoming plans. Such input has become a valuable way to temper traditional public mistrust toward the government, which historically didn't make much effort to include the public in any of its internal discussions.
Lastly, the government has also discovered that media, especially social media, can be an effective tool in gauging public opinion on everything from broader national topics like inflation down to very local issues like land redevelopment. Such feedback was difficult to get in the past due to interference by local officials, who tried to filter out or downplay anything with negative overtones and play things up to their own advantage. As a result, central government officials often received incomplete pictures of what was happening in their own country.
With all of these valuable roles to play, the media has become an increasingly important part of Beijing's strategy in executing many of its top priorities.
The government also realizes that a certain degree of openness is critical to letting the media perform many of those roles, which may explain its relatively tolerant approach in the recent Southern Weekly conflict. Such tolerance is likely to continue under Xi's administration, helping to shift more power towards a field of increasingly emboldened reporters at both traditional and new media and away from their traditional propaganda masters.
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Join us at Facebook/CNNOpinion.
The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Doug Young.
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Pop star Justin Timberlake unveiled on Sunday his first single in more than five years, “Suit & Tie,” featuring rapper Jay Z and producer Timbaland and said a new album would be released later in 2013.
Timberlake, 31 and newly married to actress Jessica Biel, had teased his fans last week with a cryptic tweet saying “I think I am ready” and linking to a video showing him walk into a studio.
Timberlake, a six-time Grammy winner and former member of boy band N’Sync, took a break from music after his 2006 album “Futuresex/Lovesounds” and worked as an actor in movies such as “The Social Network.”
He said in an open letter on his website that the new album is titled “The 20/20 Experience” but gave no further details.
(Reporting by Piya Sinha-Roy; Editing by Jon Boyle)
Music News Headlines – Yahoo! News
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