[ncdnhc-discuss] Govt orders end to news from Internet and news that can cause instability...

[Manon Ress]

Thanks to Chris Chiu for pointer

http://www.asiamedia.ucla.edu/Weekly2002/02.26.2002/China.htm
The Straits Times 
Monday, February 25, 2002 
Beijing reins in media with new rules 

Govt orders end to news from Internet and news that can cause
instability, while citing 'misdeeds' in coverage 

BEIJING - Beijing has issued a new set of guidelines to rein in the
country's media, including ordering a stop to the indiscriminate
selection and sensational presentation of news from the Internet. 

The guidelines, released recently in a report by the Central Publicity
Department of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), also ban reports -
regardless of how objective they might be - that could potentially
jeopardise the stability of the country, such as arousing unrest among
the people, Hongkong's Ming Pao Daily News reported on Saturday. 

Caution must be exercised, therefore, when reporting on such sensitive
issues as the Taiwan problem, separatist movements in Xinjiang and
Tibet, extremist cults and the Falungong, said the publicity department. 

It stated a golden rule for the media reporting in China: Guide
positively, never spark controversy. 

The government's overriding concern about stability was the central
principle of the guidelines, the Chinese-language newspaper said. 

Just months away from the 16th party Congress scheduled to be held in
the autumn, the CCP is adamant about maintaining social control as the
country's top jobs are handed over to a new generation of leaders. 

The department also cited in their report 10 misdemeanours that the
country's media were guilty of in their coverage last year. 

The misdeeds included articles that purportedly incited the people to
sue party officials, sensationalism and the leaking of internal party
information, such as a 30 per cent pay raise for civil servants and the
party's plan to sell shares in state-owned enterprises in the domestic
market. 

Media reporting on the latter sent shock waves through the stock market,
eliciting a sharp backlash from top leaders. 

Tread with extreme caution, they had warned the media. Err on the side
of caution to avoid incurring the wrath of 60 million stock investors,
the leaders said. 

The report also highlighted 'inappropriate' reports that hurt relations
between different ethnic groups, those that dwelled on the Aids epidemic
in central China, and inaccurate and tasteless articles. 

Apart from publishing articles they downloaded from the Internet
indiscriminately, the Chinese media were further censured for allegedly
propagating Western perspectives and values. 

Putting the media in their place, the CPD guidelines decreed that all
future reports on important official policies must use a standardised
copy from Xinhua news agency, Beijing's official mouthpiece. 

Articles featuring the country's leaders or their relatives must be
sanctioned by the authorities before they can be published. 

It is believed that the new rule was decreed because of the
Beijing-based Securities Market Weekly faux pas in November last year,
when it published an article accusing the family of National People's
Congress chairman Li Peng of improper business practices. The magazine
was forced to publish a long apology a few days later. 

  
 
 
-- 
Manon Anne Ress
mress at essential.org, voice: 1.202.387.8030