It does say the typhoon is not expected to hit Shanghai, so it makes sense that they downplay the seriousness of it and focus more on the upside.

Cheung is right. Shanghai Daily is a local newspaper, and the news mentioned is a weather report only about the Shanghai city. So when the typhoon Sepat can only affect the Fujian province, the only thing the newspaper can care about is the incoming cooler temperature.

china maybe has limited press freedom, but for a weather event? you are over paranoid, shanghai are most selfish city in china, what can you expect.

The weather man at my local TV station said something like this about Katrina, "It will bring us some much wanted rain." This doesn't mean the local paper or local TV station doesn't care people several thousand miles away, but they should focus on local impact.