CHINA: Government cracks down on fake news reporting

In brief: After a public health scare in the news, state media now says that journalists and media that fabricate stories will now face severe penalties

By Melissa Wang
AsiaMedia Staff Writer

Tuesday, July 31, 2007

The Chinese government announced last Wednesday that it will severely punish journalists and news media that fabricate stories.

The combined declaration was made by the three departments that control the media: the Communist Party's propaganda Department, the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television, and the General Administration of Press and Publications. It came after the arrest of Beijing TV journalist Zi Beijia for manufacturing a news report on cardboard steam buns.

On Jul. 8, domestic and international news organizations aired Zi's report showing a street vendor filling steam buns with a mixture of pork and scrap cardboard soaked in caustic soda.

Beijing TV broadcast an apology for the report ten days later. They said that their freelance reporter, Zi, fabricated the video. The station apologized in its evening news for having aired the piece and said that it did not thoroughly examine its content.

Liu Aiqin, the head of Beijing TV, was publicly reprimanded, the editor-in-chief, Zhang Xiao, was given a warning and a deputy editor-in chief was punished with a demerit. All three were asked to compose self-criticisms, according to Xinhua. Seven other people are also under investigation in connection with the story.

The three institutions said that the media must ensure the truthfulness of sources and facts and control the manner of news editing. Editors are not allowed to publish or broadcast pieces that are not verified, reported the state-run People's Daily Online.

In a statement, the All-China Journalists' Association (ACJA) criticized Zi and said that his actions violated journalism ethics and tarnished the image and credibility of the Chinese media.

According to the journalist advocacy group Reports Without Borders, the crackdown on fake news in China was also a reaction to by the foreign media reports that Chinese products were health risks to the consumer. In Panama, almost 100 people died after taking Chinese medicines containing deadly substances, while stories about contaminated seafood, toothpaste and pet food from China have been featured in the foreign press recently.

Date Posted: 7/31/2007